This ‘adventure in democracy’ is unfair and unbalanced

Wednesday, 3rd March 2010

Far from representing a democratic spread of opinion, the ABC’s Q&A program overwhelmingly favours progressive types over conservatives, argues John Styles

Going by the behaviour of audiences week after week — the loud cheering and clapping for progressive causes, and jeers and hissing for conservative ones — the selection process doesn’t seem to be working.

There was a defining Q&A moment in that Jon Faine interview 12 months ago. Discussing the panel guests who would be on the show that night, Faine hammed it up a bit. ‘And, ladies and gentlemen, in one corner, which one I won’t say, we have?’

‘Andrew Bolt, provocative Herald Sun columnist,’ Tony Jones answered.

‘And in the other corner?’ Faine asked.

‘Well, we may have two people in the other corner,’ Jones admitted.

And, of course, they did. Andrew Bolt in one corner. Louise Adler and Susan Carland in the other. And that kind of panel representation goes on week after week at taxpayers’ expense.

An adventure in democracy? More like a mockery of democracy.

John Styles is a Melbourne writer and editor of Australianconservative.com

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Brisbane Girl

March 6th, 2012 1:49am Report this comment

I think it's a positive step to have more programs offering the citizen audience opportunities to engage with the democratic process. If you want to wrestle Witt he intricacies then a more transparent process of the question selection would Be more enlightening. But it's worth considering the intermediatory role the media play between citizens and politics - Q&A have tackled it with aplomb. So I agree that to be genuinely democratic such an approach should be reflected in the selection of questions. But I disagree with your point about the show, I think it's excellent infotainment.

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