I once sat opposite famous journalist and editor Rosie Boycott at a business industry lunch, organised to discuss the issue of access to broadband for the British people. This was about three years ago when the issue was really quite political. People were generally concerned that lack of broadband access was was going to leave whole swathes of the UK population languishing in a primordial narrowband soup. In the end perhaps we worried too much?

Anyway, Rosie sat largely silent over the lunch, while various journalists quizzed people from BT, mostly about how crap BT was in reducing prices. She said almost nothing throughout. She basically had nothing to contribute about an issue which had the potential to deprive millions from a hugely liberating medium like broadband Internet access.

Today, she sits on Newsnight Review chatting about cultural issues. Now, unlike myself, she is clearly far more than qualified than most to talk about the latest films, books, TV shows and plays. Like Germaine Greer, I even look forward to her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.

What I do find bemusing is that in 2005, Newsnight Review itself is basically not interested in anyone coming on the show to give a response from an online perspective about culture. This, in an age when the Guardian (I’ll post a link later) has been exhorting the online population not to let the mainstream media forget the Asian Tsunami. Well, thanks for the reminder guys. Well try to keep up the pressure shall we? Sheesh…

In the online world there is always a far more immediate reaction to any cultural issue. And yet no Review guest ever gives any view other than the accepted London “literati” opinion. It’s incredibly boring. Invariably they realise, about two weeks later, that an entire online movement is being mounted in favour or against some play or film and then they have to play catch-up.

Get with the programme Newsnight! And maybe ask Rosie the last time she checked a few blogs…