Jeremy Paxman

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Image:Jeremy Paxman Newsnight.jpg Jeremy Paxman (born 11 May, 1950) is a BBC journalist, news presenter and author. He is most famous for his abrasive and forthright style of interviewing on the BBC's Newsnight programme. Paxman is a well-known public figure, nicknamed "Paxo", which is both a contraction of his surname and a jocular reference to a popular brand of British stuffing mix. Any kind of tough questioning is routinely described as Paxmanesque in recognition of his style.

Journalistic career

Paxman was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire and educated at Malvern College. He read English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the student newspaper Varsity. His career began on local radio before he moved to Belfast as an investigative journalist. In 1977 Paxman moved to London to work on the BBC television programme Tonight. Two years later he transferred to Panorama. After seven years on that programme, working from locations as diverse as Beirut, Uganda and Central America, he accepted a job presenting the Six O'Clock News. In 1989 he moved to his current job as presenter of Newsnight. Whilst maintaining his spot fronting that show, his career has diversified into the presentation of a number of television programmes, such as the quiz programme University Challenge and You Decide.

When interviewing, Paxman's line of questioning is often criticised as offensive and irrelevant. However, this is exactly what fans find entertaining, particularly if they themselves do not respect the interviewee. Paxman is occasionally characterised as 'anti-establishment' due to the lack of deference that he shows his interviewees.

One of Paxman's most famous Newsnight interviews took place on 13 May 1997, with Michael Howard, who had until 13 days earlier been Home Secretary. Howard was questioned regarding a meeting he had convened with the head of the Prison Service, regarding the potential dismissal of the head of Parkhurst Jail, following a well-publicised jail-break. The head of the Prison Service had argued against dismissing the head of Parkhurst. During one continuous sequence Paxman put the same question - "Did you threaten to overrule him?" - twelve times to Howard, who on each occasion gave a qualified or evasive answer, such as "I did not overrule him".

This was later revealed to be a stalling strategy by Paxman on being told that the studio was having technical trouble with one of the reports which was to follow. In 2004 Paxman broached the subject with Howard — then Conservative leader — again; Howard laughed the question off, but did say he "didn't" threaten to overrule the Head of the Prison Service. The clip was later repeated on the satirical news quiz Have I Got News for You, and has been voted the best Newsnight moment ever by members of the show's production team.

In recognition of Paxman's tough reputation, when in 2003 Prime Minister Tony Blair decided to make the case for the Iraq war directly to the public, he chose Paxman as the presenter of a TV special question-and-answer session with a public studio audience.

Paxman attracted attention to his robust interviewing of party political leaders during the 2005 United Kingdom general elections. The BBC received complaints from some viewers that in the interviews Paxman was rude and insufficiently deferential.

Paxman's role interviewing candidates on the 2005 election night drew some attention, particularly after a 5am interview with George Galloway. His persistent questioning focusing on the race and sex of the defeated candidate, Oona King, has been criticised by some (including Oona King herself).

Author

Paxman is also an author of non-fiction books. His first book arose out of a Panorama programme that he worked on with Robert Harris on biological and chemical warfare. Together they wrote A Higher Form of Killing (1982) ISBN 0099441594 exploring its history; a revised edition completed in late 2001 included a chapter asserting that Iraq possesses both chemical and biological weapons. Working on his own he wrote Friends in High Places: Who Runs Britain? (1991) ISBN 0140156003 which investigated the labyrinthine connections between those in power in early 1990s Britain. A study of the English nation entitled The English: A Portrait of a People followed in 1998 ISBN 0140267239 to considerable critical acclaim. His most recent work is The Political Animal (2002) ISBN 0140288473, which discusses the character traits of those that enter into politics.

Other

Paxman became a focus of media attention in his own right in October 2000 when the stolen Enigma machine which had been taken from Bletchley Park Museum was inexplicably sent to him in the mail. He had it returned to its rightful location.

Paxman has also presented the BBC quiz programme University Challenge since 1994, bringing to the job his trademark sardonic manner as well as a propensity for mispronouncing words.

Paxman's name provided inspiration for the England-based cult band Jeremy and the Paxmen. In a similar vein, the cartoon planet devised by American marketing executives for the cover of US editions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was nicknamed "Jeremy Pacman" by fans [1]. Douglas Adams hated this character, though it seems unlikely he was aware of its nickname.

Paxman was made an honorary graduate of the University of Bradford in December 1999. His brother Giles Paxman is the British Ambassador to Mexico.

References

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/Jeremy_Paxman.html"


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