Newsnight has really got with the times. In spite of Jeremy Paxman's scepticism, it has free-to-download weekly audio and video podcasts, which often come in iTunes' top 10. The editor, Peter Barron, regularly contributes to his online blog, which is also available via email. More recently, Newsnight has launched a collective blog, which pulls together contributions from a variety of presenters (though so far limited to Paul Mason, Martha Kearney and Justin Rowlatt).

The programme is avant-garde in more ways than one. It has frustrated some "traditional" Newsnight watchers by juxtaposing serious reporting with more frivolous items - such as a quirky 1960s tourist video of Lebanon, driving a car clad in St George's flags in a rough part of Scotland, and, as mentioned before, the ethical man series.

Newsnight's willingness to embrace the broadband revolution has obvious democratising results - ensuring a closer connection between the producers of television and the consumers of it. I haven't always been convinced by this argument, but after making the following comment in response to a post by Justin Rowlatt...

I enjoy the Ethical Man programmes - they are suitably light-hearted while addressing serious issues.
One question, Justin - you apparently gave up your car as part of ethical living, but according to this report, you drove to the green festival. Something smells fishy - and not just your compost heap.

I've made quite a do about giving up my car for the project and yet as SPL noticed I said in my report on the Big Green Gathering that I drove to the festival. As SPL says "something smells fishy - and not just your compost heap."
So here's the mea culpa. We did indeed drive to the festival. The Big Green Gathering is scattered across some fields in the soft Somerset hills and is a good few miles from the nearest town. The event lays on buses from the station but with two toddlers and a two month old baby we can’t travel light. Bee and I reckoned we were justified in hiring a car. My first thought was to get a hybrid car. Wouldn’t this be the ideal opportunity to test one out? The problem is the only hybrid that might pack us all in is a Toyota Lexus. It is an SUV but uses hybrid technology. In fact, it’s the car that David Cameron uses. It had to be the most ethical option, surely. I couldn’t find a rental company that stocks the Lexus so I decide to try Toyota themselves. But when I called they didn't seem keen to help me get back behind the wheel. “You’d be better off with the diesel Aventis Estate”, Alan in the press office tells me, “it will give you up to 45 miles to the gallon on long journeys. The Lexus is based on a 3.3 litre V6 engine,” he explains, “You might get as much as 30 miles to the gallon in town but if you are driving on motorways a diesel would be better.” For all warm words we hear about hybrid technology it clearly has its limitations – certainly when
it’s used in a big four wheel drive SUV, as Toyota seem to acknowledge. Instead we hired a roomy, cheap and fuel efficient 1.6 litre Vauxhall instead. Meanwhile my car is still gathering dust in a car park.
I don't think I am cheating on the project. When I gave up the car I said the idea was to see how the family got on without one. We said we would look at what alternatives to car ownership there are and hiring a car is one of them.
Of course, if you think I am being an a*****e feel free to use the box below to tell me and - yes - the BBC will publish your reply (so long as it is not too obscene).