John Reid Comments .....

 

 In Australia, Alan Jones, probably has the most listeners of all Radio personalities. He presents the breakfast programme on 2GB Monday - Friday and there is no doubt that he is very entertaining and at times extremely eloquent. However, his entire programme is fast becoming an exercise in Propoganda against the current Labor Government.

 

Whilst some of the vitriolic attacks on the Government may certainly be jusitified, his venom against the Labor Party in general seems to be totally one eyed with rarely a realistic opportunity for any opposing views to be expressed. 

 

Barely a moment passes without Alan Jones ripping into the Labor Party and their independent supporters and what he sees as the shortcomings of the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, who he refers to as "this woman" or "Gillard" and the proposed Carbon Tax which he vehemently opposes.

 

I'm not sure exactly how much influence he actually has on the electorate but the constant and unwavering barrage against the Labor Party must be doing them considerable harm.  

 

The problem I have with all of this is that he does not allow meaningful debate on his programme. Sure, he occasionally interviews people with opposing views but he does all the talking. In a recent interview with a Professor who supported the Carbon Tax, Jones commenced the interview with a long editorial and then proceeded to contantly interrupt throughout the interview at times restricting the Professor to "yes" or "no" answers. 

 

OK, I know that there are time constraints but if you dont allow the other person to reasonably express their views then there is no point in conducting the interview.

 

Alan Jones employs the technique of interrupting routinely when doing phone interviews and quite obviously uses the fader to lower the volume on the caller so that he can constantly talk over the top of them. You can hear and sense the frustration in many of the people he interviews as they struggle to complete a sentence. If you dont agree with Alan Jones you are wasting your time attempting to talk to him.

 

The techniques that he uses are designed to be a vehicle for him to promote his views and opinions at the exclusion of any other point of view.

 

Alan Jones is a accomplished Broadcaster and very entertaining but he cannot be taken seriously as a credible Political Commentator whilst he continues to stifle real debate on his programme.

 

I'm John Reid