For everyone with an interest in “the media”, the Yorkshire Centre’s first big event of 2007 was a ‘must’. Inspired by the rapid changes to control of the BBC and ITV not to say new technology and the seemingly headlong race towards so-called ‘reality’ programming, Graham Ironside’s and Geoff Druett’s ‘TV Question Time’ at The Venue in Leeds attracted a near-capacity audience. The distinguished media panel made up of Grant Mckee, Will Venters, David Eccles, Helen Thomas and Tony Parker fielded questions under the fair-minded stewardship of chairman Druett.
C4’s ‘Big Brother’ and ultra controversial ‘W*nk Week’ programmes got the evening off to a cracking start. A question from the floor suggested that Big Brother’s raw portrayal of alleged racism would never be handled in such a way had it been drama, another raised the unedifying spectacle of bullying and the age-old problem of ‘our gang’ mentality.
Political correctness raised its head and the dangers of putting people in boxes; for instance, the reality portrayed in the programme ‘Bus Pass Bandits’ ventured that pensioners are also criminals.
Criticism about the lack of cutting edge drama came from the floor. The inherent writing talent in Yorkshire belies the dearth of innovative drama, as it was in the heyday of YTV.
The producer of a documentary about Forest Gate, made from an Islamic perspective, wanted to know why he couldn’t get a transmission for his programme.
The predominance of students in the audience prompted questions about getting the right degrees to break into the media. The panel was united in response; ‘be proactive, break out of the restrictions of degree disciplines, find your own work experience, travel the world, don’t set sights too high, make sure your cv is devoid of spelling mistakes, be persistent and resist the ‘whingers’.
Everything from Children’s TV, to news dedicated to the 18-30 age group was fielded with aplomb by an able panel that paid tribute to an equally able audience. As Geoff Druett, in his summary said, ‘where else could you have gone tonight and freely discussed everything from W*nk Night to Youtube without being arrested’.
Chris Meehan