A Tangled Web

IN THE BOWELS OF THE BBC....



Or something like that.



Well, I am back and rested up after my little lunch-time debating session on the BBC Radio Ulster "7 Days."



I enjoyed the discussion and was pretty relaxed throughout the programme - I got a little cross at the Irish oil company magnate who appeared proud of his trading relationship with Saddam's Iraq whilst seeking to impress with a sense of moral superiority but hey, forgive me that!



What I enjoy so much about radio programmes like this - and this is a non right/left point - is that they provide more of the necessary time for the issues to be explored. TV is so quick, so superficial, that it is much harder for the programme makers and guests to actually develop a point. Unless one is working from a script - as I will be later this week (My own, I hasten to add)- it's a self limiting whilst incredibly powerful medium ..and that is the conumdrum at the heart of political debate these days - unless you distil your opinions into snappy one-liners to suit the medium - you will come across very poorly.



My fellow panellists were very pleasant today - Suzanne Breen was her usual expressive and entertaining self - I disagreed with almost everything she said!! I tried to inject a bit of humour on a few occassions but otherwise thought it flowed pretty well. Anyone hear it - any feedback?