The historian who took down Davos just did the same to Andrew Neil’s This Week
You might remember the Dutch historian called Rutger Bregman who went viral after he used a session at the Davos World Economic Forum to take billionaires to task for not paying tax.
‘It feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water.’ — This historian wasn’t afraid to confront the billionaires at Davos about their greed pic.twitter.com/TiXSJZd89M
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) January 29, 2019
Well now he’s done something similar to the BBC’s This Week programme presented by Andrew Neil.
Bregman was invited onto last night’s show to talk about his new book but he wasn’t entirely impressed by what happened next, so he shared his experience on Twitter.
And no matter which side of the argument you agree with, it’s a gossipy treat. Funny, insightful, and no doubt about to go viral all over again.
1.
1. Last night, I was invited to be on the BBC show ‘This Week’. I thought that Davos was a bewildering experience, but this beat everything.
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
2.
2. A bit more background on how incredibly stupid the show really is. First they invite you to talk about your book, and pretend to be really interested in your ideas.
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
3.
3. Then they ask: ‘Can you make a statement about the European Union?’
⁰Me: ‘No. That’s not my expertise.’ ⁰
Producer: ‘Can you say something about the terrorist attack in Utrecht?’⁰
Me: ‘No, that’s not my expertise. Didn’t you invite me to talk about my book?’— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
4.
4. Producer: ‘Yes, we want to get into that. But what do you think about Brexit?’
A couple of hours before the show, they want you to do a video of 2 minutes in which you have to summarise all your ideas. (‘And can you say something about Brexit please?’).
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
5.
5. When you arrive at the studio, you quickly find out that nobody has actually read your book. The producer, the presenter – they all couldn’t care less. They don’t even have a copy.
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
6.
6. The show starts. They play the badly edited video, after which three right-wing dinosaurs – two of them politicians from the Stone Age – start teaming up on you. Clearly, not one of them has read a page of your book.
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
7.
7. They make up facts about inequality (‘hasn’t grown’) and the economy (‘never been better’). They change the subject every 10 seconds. They hardly let you finish a sentence. Then it’s over.
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
8.
8. This was the worst experience I’ve had with UK media, but after quite a few interviews in different countries, I think I can say that, on average, British journalists are the least curious of all. So often, being ‘critical’ is just a pose.
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
9.
9. Many are not really engaging with the questions. For example, compare this interview I did with the genuinely curious Trevor Noah in the U.S (https://t.co/yUzA1Y1Ktt), with this interview on BBC Newsnight (https://t.co/9W04WpXobR).
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
10.
10. The good news: there are new media in the UK filling the gap. Smartest questions (and best criticisms) I got this week were from Aaron Bastani of @novaramedia – a tiny startup with really smart, young journalists. https://t.co/k6xjf7Mkv0 [the end]
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
11.
11. And to clarify – I think my politics are quite different from those of @novaramedia. I’m not a fan of Corbyn, absolutely don’t identify as a ‘communist’ (trying to save capitalism instead…) etc.
But they actually read the book, can’t say that of many other UK journalists.— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) March 22, 2019
You can see last night’s This Week in its entirety on the BBC’s iPlayer here.
And really, you only have to watch the first 10 seconds to understand what might have given him the fear.
‘Bon soir my British chums. Zis week on Eurotrash … ooh la la, Michael and Alan compare their sausages …’
Bregman’s film begins around the 10 minute mark and it’s followed by quite the debate (Portillo says his film is ‘ill-informed’, Bregman tells him he’s being ‘fact free’).
And here were some of the things people had to say in response.
Set out like this and with the slight estrangement effect of someone who doesn't take all the ridiculous forms for granted, this is quite the indictment of the total unseriousness of British political programming. https://t.co/KqnXQPumXG
— Tom Gann (@Tom_Gann) March 22, 2019
We are bewildered by so much at the minute, Rutger.
— Ern FBPE Laver (@ErnieLaver) March 22, 2019
If you thought the state of our politics was a national embarrassment, we regret to report that the world has now also found out about our political media. https://t.co/X2xDDrw903
— Ally Fogg (@AllyFogg) March 22, 2019
Think how we feel as viewers. It’s like screaming into the endless void of nothingness.
— Mahmood (@mahmoods27) March 22, 2019
This only confirms what many of us have observed- that ‘This Week’, with its Statler & Waldorf format, is well past its sell-by date. https://t.co/VwFuy7ov7s
— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) March 22, 2019
'British journalists are the least curious of all'. Must read thread on the failings of the BBC in particular. https://t.co/EZXKm6mv6d
— Tom Mills (@ta_mills) March 22, 2019
Reading through this thread it seems like your describing another BBC show… pic.twitter.com/jm0rWjQ8Q0
— Declan Lynch (@lildec) March 22, 2019
A reminder that the UK broadcast media, BBC included, is profoundly anti-intellectual and hostile to challenge, and that THIS IS NOT NORMAL. Even in the US, you can get much more intelligent engagement on TV, let alone in the rest of Europe. https://t.co/MyopdsI7fX
— GeorgeMonbiot (@GeorgeMonbiot) March 22, 2019
You and Bobby Gillespie Rutger… check his face when the ‘dance off’ starts https://t.co/PsDEY5Z3Yt
— d@m0 (@d__a__m__0) March 22, 2019
How could anyone forget?
Bobby Gillespie regretting his decision to appear on this week while the others dance is my new jam pic.twitter.com/6z306L8ET2
— Dave Gorman (@DaveGorman) October 18, 2018
