'Backers of partisan news' are a danger to democracy, says Nick Robinson

Fawning and partisan podcasts that give politicians hours of unchallenged airtime pose a danger to democracy, Nick Robinson has said.

- Michael Savage

The BBC presenter said a "nostalgia brigade" pining after confrontational TV interviews, in which Brian Walden grilled Margaret Thatcher and Jeremy Paxman took on Michael Howard, had lost sight of how politicians now used the media.

Robinson pointed to partisan or obsequious media platforms that risked damaging "a shared space for a national debate".

He told the Guardian: "The shared enemies, fellas, are the backers of partisan news. The backers of soft, creepy, chummy interviews on favoured networks or favoured platforms. The people who want to avoid scrutiny altogether and just broadcast a speech or an interview on YouTube or their social media channel.

"Britain could easily go down the route of the United States, in which people are shoved into partisan silos. It's a danger not because it's a threat to the BBC; it's about democracy. Is there a shared space for a national debate?"

He added: "People might shout at the radio and television, asking: 'Why didn't you ask that?' or 'You should have been harder,' or 'Why are you so rude to my guy?'

"But you see people who want control over your lives quizzed and questioned, challenged and tested and held to account. That's what matters, not the format."