The London Daily News

How on Earth could anyone live without Eastenders,Corrie, Holby etc? Well I can, easily. I have a life.I read books, I listen to music, I talk to friends,family members, strangers, I go out to the theatre, I walk.

TV used to be a major player in social cohesion, but that was before we had a million channels showing nothing worth watching. Back in the day, Eric andErnie could command 27 million viewers, nowadays some channels can’t even muster 27 viewers at any one time!

But what about the news? Now that’s an easy one toanswer. TV news is driven by pictures, they’d show aminor road accident if they had exclusive videofootage. If you want analysis then BBC radio is king.

If you want comment then we have the finest press commentators anywhere in the world and if you want tomake up your own mind, then go no further than theinternet. Case in point, the worlds TV media have been portraying Barack Obama’s pastor: Jeremiah Wright as a danger to truth justice and the American way, bylooping selected, out of context, 10 second soundbitesover and over again. Click on the internet and you can see and hear his entire 30 minute Q&A at the NationalPress Club in Washington and make up your own mind. What the TV networks didn’t show was him talking of his patriotism and his six years service in the military, which concluded with the barbed comment “howlong did Cheney do?” Whether you agree with his biblebashing rhetoric or are impressed by his showboating, it's for you to make up your own mind, rather than a special interest commercial network doing it for you.Obviously you can’t trust everything on the internet,or in the press, but can you actually trust anything?

Certainly not TV. It’s deceived us on competitions, quiz shows, documentaries, even the naming of a cat.And how close is the portrayal of real life to our ownlives? It's laughable. Talking of which, do I miss comedies? What about high quality drama? Premiermovies? Sporting events? Not at all! Sporting eventsare best watched in a pub with a crowd to accentuate the excitement and everything else will be availableon DVD to watch on my laptop at my convenience for£5.99 in a months time, should I choose to be influenced by the considered opinion (as opposed topre broadcast hype). TV used to be family friendly, so much so that it evenclosed down for an hour at 5pm to allow families timeto eat together. Now it dominates a room, its flat screen, the size of a small cinema, flickering awaydrawing eyes and minds away from the real world into acelebrity obsessed, lowest common denominator shallow existence. Now excuse me, I need to find out what'sreally going on!

Big George presents the most open phone in show on the radio every weekday morning 2-6am on BBC London 94.9.He has also appeared on TV numerous times, from presenting the award winning BBC2 education series:Music Files, being interviewed on Newsnight, anchoring the BBC1 series Inside Out for 2 years and being aturn on The Big Breakfast

photo of Big George taken by Nigel Howard