Something extraordinary happened on Wednesday:
a politician spoke without interruption. Sarah Smith's interview with Alex Salmond was amicable and smiling. Care was taken to show them shake hands. We don't often see that; normally the politician is already in place when the cameras roll, pinned under the spotlight.
In this pleasant interview, there was nothing combative; indeed, Smith's main interjection was something Salmond actually agreed with and it was rare to hear him — or any politician — speak without having to say "if you'd let me finish…". We all relished that infamous Paxman interview with Michael Howard but wasn't it mainly bluster and show?
Scotland 2014 seems fixed on a conciliatory style — being gentle on the politicians and gentler still on the civilian guests. Niceness is to be applauded but who will provide that applause? Viewing figures have collapsed. This is still TV after all, not a sociology experiment, and so we require something watchable.
During Scotland 2014's polite inaugural episode you could have switched to STV to relish the sparring between Sturgeon and Lamont, although even that was toned down from their last horrific one-to-one debate on the programme. The BBC may have the manners but STV have the guts. There is an abiding sense of Scotland 2014 being the posh, new kid in his stiff blazer who has wandered into the rough school and doesn't know what's required.
There is also the worry that the soft approach might too easily fade into trivia. Their guests this week have included a comedian and a former footballer. This may be an effort to connect with ordinary folk by inviting a footballer rather than a well-fed lord, but aren't footballers members of just another elite, equally removed from real life by their own unmerited wealth? If this was supposed to be an inclusion of "real people" then Scotland Tonight outdid them, having a panel of undecided voters in the studio to question Jim Murphy and Blair Jenkins — and not a Ferrari or suntan in sight.
To its credit, Scotland 2014 is making an effort to look beyond the indyref campaign. They've covered other topics and even promised a report on the kidnapped Nigerian girls although this ended up being two lines about the power of hashtags.
The show has been a disappointment. They may be trying to ease the theatrics and aggression of politics but they're starting that noble project at the wrong time.
Between now and the referendum all that matters are facts, not personalities. There will be time enough after September to be genteel but, right now, Scotland needs its news shows to be tough. We require scrutiny not smiles.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article