Getting information out of politicians on TV is proving difficult this election. Day after day of interviews on a range of programmes are testing parliamentary hopefuls on every policy they have, and straight answers are rare.
Television becomes the perfect climate for politicians to avoid tough questioning and instead get their planned party message across.
Alastair Stewart may have hosted British television’s first political leaders’ debate in April 2010 but, more often than not, it was Jeremy Paxman who had the last word at a rumbustious RTS Legends lunch in May.
Steve Hewlett was the ringmaster at this highly entertaining event, which sought to bring an insider’s perspective to the recent general election.
For much of the time, the two TV anchor men agreed to disagree. Paxman was as cynical as Stewart was enthusiastic. Maybe he’d recently attended a positive-thinking course.
The two seasoned broadcasters offered different perspectives on the recent general election to their interviewer, Media Show presenter Steve Hewlett.
"Monumentally dull" was the verdict of the erstwhile Newsnight attack dog on the campaign in which pollsters, pundits and politicians were all convinced would lead to another hung Parliament.
Paxman opined that TV networks had devoted so much attention to opinion polls because it was a "monumentally dull" campaign.
James Purnell makes the case for the future of the BBC
