Around 8million viewers tuned in last week to watch the BNP’s Nick Griffin on Question Time in what was dubbed ‘a moment in television history.’ (In the run up, the show got more hype than if Whitney had actually stripped naked and blazed a crack pipe during her X Factor performance last week). But what exactly was the hype about? Was it a race issue or a censorship one?

In the week before the show, the tabloid press seemed to be doing what they do best - creating a moral panic about allowing the BNP freedom of political speech. The week of the show consequently saw universities across London campaigning to join the storming of the BBC in protest, outraged politicians gave their verdicts in opposition, and erm, Alesha Dixon went on The One Show. So what’s the issue?

Question Time is a particularly interesting forum to try and discuss these issues from a political angle as it differs from news or documentaries; in that the BNP can be subjected to detailed tough questioning which can expose them as ‘Nazis’. This essentially means that any questions can be asked, and the ratings went up because basically the one we all wanted to hear was: ‘Are you a racist?’ (For those of you who missed the show, the answer to that was a big old ‘Yes’)

So, onto the show. Me and around 8million others tuned in to see if the hype measured up, waiting to see exactly how Nick Griffin would justify his views. In the hour-and-a-half show he told us that homosexuals kissing is ‘creepy’ (don’t homophobes say the darndest things?), that he just wanted Britain to return to an ‘indigenous’ time... and admitted that we are dealing with a guy that rolls with the KKK. THE KKK. As in, the most infamous racist organisation IN THE WORLD. No wonder Bonnie Greer looked like she was gonna clap him.

After five minutes I was riveted by the cringe-worthy answers Nick ‘I’m basically just a racist’ Griffin gave, but equally as relevant for me was cataloguing the real responses to the programme which were documented through Facebook and Twitter. There was a shift in Facebook statuses of about 80% of my friends, including comments like ‘Lets see Nick Griffin sweat’ and ‘Everyone shut up! This is the ONLY thing that matters right now’. 

This, alongside monitoring Twitter, was evidence of one thing - politics is relevant to the youth. Even if it does take extreme circumstances, any sign that shows that young people aren’t politically apathetic is good enough for me.
With comments such as these from ‘ThierryJay’: “ONE QUESTION: WHY IS THERE NO YOUNG PEOPLE ON THE QUESTION TIME PANEL... EFFECTIVELY... IT IS US WHO WILL BE SUFFERING”, and ‘rahooligan’:  “So bored of middle class disgust at BNP. They exist. People vote for them. Address the issues rather than ranting at a legitimate party” to LoukiaC: “Nick griffin, suck your mum rudeboy”. The politically passionate voice of young people was being represented despite having no young people on the panel. As the show went on, after each sensationalist statement like, "I want to keep indigenous English people in their country," I turned to my Twitter screen and my thoughts were echoed alongside hundreds of others who felt politically passionate.

I love that we still get pissed off enough about racists that we have to watch footage of people literally getting dragged by their legs out of a BBC building. That’s not exactly my style of protest, but I respect that people get angry about the issue of race. I love that it is relevant enough to make the headlines, because ours is a generation that remembers stories of Black and Asian people being misrepresented through examples of institutional racism, like the Stephen Lawrence case, to name but one.

That anger for me was what was most relevant about last night’s slot, not necessarily a debate about censorship or of the existence of a party like the BNP, but one of voice. I'm a journalist that is aware of political corruption and voicelessness around the world, having read about corrupt Afghani voting and Palestinian civilians censored from having a political voice. But what Nick Griffin on Question Time gave us was the next generation of voices, an opportunity to be provocative in our responses.

So has this week been about racism or censorship? It’s time to learn that sometimes it’s not about the questions being answered and more about appreciating the right to be able to ask them.

Words: Kieran Yates. Kieran is hustling in the journalism game 24/7 (with interludes on Twitter on Facebook).
 

Photo: Flickr user virgorama