Does Alastair Campbell make you angry?
This week's New Statesman is guest-edited by Alastair Campbell, an event that has garnered the magazine more coverage than it has enjoyed in a long time. Responses in the press have been mixed, but largely positive, with praise from the Spectator and Iain Dale's Diary. Even Robert Colvile in the Telegraph, who calls the magazine issue "a triumph of spin over substance" describes Campbell's editorial as "lively and well-written" and his interview with Sir Alec Alex Ferguson as "top-notch".
Campbell's stint as editor has, however, provoked a protest by Suzanne Moore, and if you look at the comments posted under her Daily Mail article it is clear that Campbell is still a controversial figure for many.
On tomorrow night's Culture Show, Mark Kermode and Alastair Campbell watch Armando Iannucci's new feature film In the Loop and give their verdicts. Featuring many characters from The Thick of It caught up in a war in the Middle East, we thought that Campbell's view of the political satire would be very interesting.
Let us know what you think of Alastair Campbell's appearance on the show and his abilities as a reviewer.
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Comments
Oh dear. The red card. It's ALEX Ferguson.
Can't wait to see the film though!
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Eek. can't believe I didn't check that. Does it show that I don't know one end of a football from another? I did enjoy The Damned United, however...
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Does Campbell make me angry ?? Of course he does.
Why on earth are the BBC using my money to employ this parasite? Someone who went to great lengths to humiliate the corporation for having the temerity to tell the truth about how an unelected hoodlum such as himself was influencing some of the most important political events of our time.
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In The Loop clearly touched a nerve with Alastair Campbell. Even the sight of cameras made him bristle as he entered the screening room!
Campbell talks bullishly about his involvement in the difficult world of politics and that he is more sinned against than sinner - and yet such complaints completely fly in the face of what the overwhelming majority of people (including many in the Labour party) actually witnessed.
His irritating habit of questioning the intelligence of those who disagree with him and calling them cynics (stating it's easy to be a cynic) is itself lazy and narrow minded.
Go Mark Kermode!!
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lennynero: Andrew Gilligan misled the British people. It's a well-known fact that the Today Programme changed the wording of Gilligan's report throughout that morning.
Get your facts rights.
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Alistair Campbell does not make me angry. He's never fazed or cowed by interviewers no matter how grand or prestigious their credentials or reputations. I wish more people were as adept as he is at disrupting the strategies of journalists and prevailing upon them to reveal the tactics and agenda underpinning their questions.
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I personally don't mind Alistair Campbell, he does a good job interviewing and asking questions I want to hear answers to. Glad to see more of him. -- Tom [Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]
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