Now, we were quite young and didn’t really know that much about British politics to get that much out of it but it was so refreshing to see a interviewer that didn’t just back down like they do back in my home country.
Yes, Paxman was good at pushing politicians.
But he was not a lobby pass holder either, AFAIK. So he had nothing to loose.
Politicians with a grilling fetish came to see him on Newsnight knowing exactly what they would be facing.
But he equally represented a generation of political journalists that seems to have been lost with the newer generation. The new generation of political journalists seems to have lost that "dog with a bone" sprit, even those who are free of the self-imposed restrictions of the lobby pass.
The Johnson partygate, for example, came out of leaks rather than tough questioning of politicians. There are rumours around that some of the more high-profile lobby journalists were at said parties....