ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
After years in the ratings doldrums, the ABC’s flagship forum programme, Q+A, is back in the minds of the wider politically engaged public thanks to the sacrifices of countless community elders.
Producers for the once-popular show have commented that they’re ‘really enjoying’ this rich vein of old, out-of-touch Australians willing to come onto the show and ask a question that results in them being humiliated on a national level.
Little known to the lay person, in order to appear on Q+A and attend the recording in person, you need to fill out a survey and write down what kind of question you’d ask of the panel.
“That’s where people like me come in,” said Jonty Donald, a junior producer who spoke briefly to The Advocate this morning.
“We see that an older member of the public, who votes for the Coalition, wants to come on and ask a question about the failed state of multiculturalism in Australia. Producers from past iterations of the show would scrunch that up and chuck it in the bin. You know, this is a show for intelligent debate on a wide range of topics, not some degenerate rabble fuelled by a toxic mix of fear, xenophobia and the first signs of dementia,”
“But things have changed here. When we find someone willing to ask a question like that, we give them front billing. We let the audience and Tuesday morning media pile on them, just for sharing their opinion on something. It’s working.”
The Advocate reached out to the ABC for comment but it’s the last Tuesday of the month so they’re unable to process our request until the following Wednesday, which is previous Tuesday processing day.
More to come.
