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What’s going on with Newsnight?

Funny business: Newsnight recently featured an interview with Cookie Monster (Credit: BBC)

What’s up with ‘Newsnight’? It’s all gone a bit strange recently, hasn’t it? Viewers tuning into the BBC’s flagship news and current affairs programme on Tuesday evening were treated to the sight of the usually stoic and straight-faced host Jeremy Paxman bidding them ‘good nite’ by showing off two fists’ full of tattooed knuckles. Okay, so they weren’t real tattoos (we presume). But it’s still pretty odd watching a man who you only normally see crack a smile when a student from King’s College Cambridge confuses Manet and Monet on ‘University Challenge’ (the idiots!), loaded with prison tats.

Watch the video below...


Don’t worry, Paxman’s not gone mad, it was a cheeky homage to the surprise recent inking of fellow broadcaster and ‘Question Time’ presenter, the 75-year-old David Dimbleby...

It’s not just JP that’s been messing about during the ‘play outs’ (sign-offs over the credits), though. Emily Maitlis interviewed Cookie Monster (as you do, like) and Newsnight’s other main anchor, Kirsty Wark, ended Halloween’s show with a rather impressive ‘Thriller’ dance routine.

Watch the video below...


There’s been a somewhat more obvious pop culture tinge to proceedings of late as well. We’ve seen ‘Breaking Bad’-style end credits,  interviews with people like Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys and Woody Allen. They even cut short a discussion on the economy this week in favour of an interview with Lady Gaga.

And then there’s that Russell Brand interview, of course. The backcombed comedian’s rather iffy Che Guevara-lite comments about ‘revolution’ wound up quite a few of the programme’s more serious viewers. To compare Russell Brand on ‘Newsnight’ with Dick n’ Dom on ‘The South Bank Show’ might be a tad harsh, but the man’s hardly a political heavyweight, is he?

[Russell Brand: Politicians are FRAUDS AND LIARS]


So what’s behind the recent shift in attitude? Well, perhaps the biggest factor is the programme’s desperate need to recover from the damage done by the scandal of failing to tackle the Jimmy Savile business. And of course there was the tricky episode where they falsely accused a Tory peer of child abuse. Drastic steps had to be taken to get back on track after those rather hefty clangers.

And there’s a new man behind it all. The BBC recruited former Guardian Deputy Editor Ian Katz to head things up behind the scenes back in July. And he seems pretty intent not only to heads things up, but to shake them up too.
 
Of course, this new approach isn’t to everyone’s taste. After Kirsty’s recent zombie dance moves, journo Mark Seddon took to Twitter to moan: ‘[The] dumbing down of Newsnight continues apace.’ Former BBC bigwig Roger Mosey disagrees with Seddon though - as do quite a few people - and backs the Beeb’s new(snight) attitude, saying: ‘I admire what Ian Katz has done to Newsnight. It's now talked about for the right reasons; and you need a dash of humour to end the day.’

If you ask us, it’s a positive move. There’s still plenty of meat on the bones. It’s just that the meat’s now on the funny bones. But what do you think of the new ‘Newsnight’? Is it dumbing down or widening its appeal? Let us know your thoughts below.