You weren’t dreaming. Britain’s broadcast media totally lost it last night.

Last night was an epic fail for mainstream British media, and it highlighted more than ever why movements like #ChangeTheMedia are needed. The BBC decided to put hate-spewing Rod Liddle on Question Time, and Sky News interviewed far-right leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (Tommy Robinson).

Liddle, currently associate editor at the Spectator, has previously been accused of misogyny and racism. Yaxley-Lennon, meanwhile, was sent to prison for allegedly endangering a trial involving paedophilia. Their TV appearances coinciding on British TV has not gone unnoticed:

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Tommy Robinson live interview tonight on Sky News. Rod Liddle on Question Time tonight. The UK's mainstream media has absolutely no problem with platforming and promoting racists and Islamophobes https://t.co/GsUksY118p

— Waqas Tufail (@_WaqasTufail) September 27, 2018

The two men were given airtime on mainstream TV on the same day a square was named after MP Jo Cox in Brussels:

Today, a street in Brussels was named after Jo Cox.
Meanwhile, in Britain, Tommy Robinson is interviewed by Sky News and Rod Liddle appears on #bbcqt.

— John Traynor (@Mr_JDTraynor) September 27, 2018

QT seem obsessed with giving legitimacy to far right racists like Liddle. They only exist to poison the debate and cause division . There's just been a memorial to Jo Cox and the BBC seem to have forgotten what's at stake. This needs to stop.

— Pedro Montoya (@senormontoya) September 27, 2018

What’s the point?

On the one hand, defenders of free speech suggest we need to ‘hear out’ the likes of Yaxley-Lennon. But others argue that airing hateful views is little more than a marketing ploy:

https://twitter.com/HKesvani/status/1045579731444404229?s=20

It seems neither Sky nor the BBC understand the implications:

People who think or argue that Nick Griffin going on Question Time killed the BNP ?

Nick Griffin went on Question Time in Autumn 2009

Here are the votes the BNP got in the two general elections either side of that

2005 GE: 192,745 votes
2010 GE: 564,331 votes

Hope this helps

— Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) August 2, 2018

Either this is a massive self-own and you’re saying that Sky News’ audience couldn’t possibly amplify Tommy Robinson’s audience of 1 million Facebook followers or you fundamentally don’t understand how any of this works. https://t.co/Wn7ICeSBQd

— Ryan Broderick (@broderick) September 28, 2018

https://twitter.com/HKesvani/status/1045336794429095937?s=20

Switch it off

People have expressed the need to question the mainstream media, and disengage from increasingly ridiculous programmes like Question Time altogether:

Turn it off. Our establishment media is willing to platform literal fascists on prime time, but throw their toys out of the pram if a leftie gets 5mins to make a point anywhere in our media landscape. https://t.co/TOm8niCTk1

— Kerry-Anne Mendoza (@TheMendozaWoman) September 27, 2018

Did you see the fascist with a swastika tattoo on BBC London news? Unchallenged when he said 'it's not racism' https://t.co/ImojAkXg8E

— m a r c u s (@marcusjdl) June 27, 2016

Although seeing Labour MP Ian Lavery say “I’m not your mate” to Liddle was definitely fun:

“I’m not your mate.”

God, it’s so refreshing to see @IanLaveryMP cut through the faux chumminess of media norms and properly take on a liar and a racist like Rod Liddle.

Mashallah Ian ?????? pic.twitter.com/UCelPXtB29

— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) September 28, 2018

When will the mainstream media learn? And for how long will it relegate the left to the margins, while putting far-right views like Yaxley-Lennon’s centre-stage?

If Jo Cox’s death has taught us one thing, surely it would be that hateful views do not deserve a platform in British media.

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Featured image via Twitter/YouTube