Monday, March 31, 2008

Rhodes To Hell Paved With Good Intentions

From Holyrood Magazine (The Scottish Parliament's version of Westminster's 'House Magazine', only more interesting) - an interview with Wendy Alexander. Go on - don your crash helmet and take a read.

Before getting involved in politics, I had no conception of how people's words could be edited sympathetically for TV and radio, or polished up by journalists and stenographers before they reach the public domain. Wendy's clearly been left to perform unplugged here by the magazine, and boy does it show.

What shines through is how the interviewer, Editor Mandy Rhodes, seems desperate to try and give Wendy as fair a crack of the whip as she can, yet in the end, just gives up. That in itself is as revealing as anything which Ms Alexander manages to say, or not to say, in the course of the interview...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Of course, you could presumably surmise that this article has simply been presented in the opposite way. After all Mandy Rhodes has developed a bit of a reputation as an editor who isn't shy about wearing her heart on her sleeve or in her print.

Richard Thomson said...

Of course, you could presumably surmise that this article has simply been presented in the opposite way.

You could, Anon. However, the quotes are extensive and are presumably completely verbatim. And the bit about being turned over on what was supposed to be an exclusive would be easy for Ms Alexander to disprove if it were not the case.

In the bits you can put down to personal comment, Ms Rhodes doesn't seem to me to be saying much which hasn't been said already. However, the overall effect is pretty devastating.

As for 'heart on sleeve' stuff, I'd agree. However, I can't say I've noticed any particular bias in any direction. A genuine interest in Scottish politics and its personalities alongside a pithy writing style seems to me to be more her stock in trade. Would that the same could be said about many of our newspaper scribblers...