I posted recently about the BBC and China following a workshop I ran for a group of senior officials from Shanghai, who are in the UK to familiarise themselves with the Western media. They complained that it was almost impossible to have any kind of dialogue with the Beeb.
I was asked by the co-ordinator of the trip to see if I could arrange for the BBC to meet them while they were in the UK. I wish I hadn't bothered. I called on the goodwill of a friend and business associate, Frank Wintle who I knew had a good line into the BBC senior management.
He forwarded an invitation to meet the Shanghai delegation - and now both he and I wish he hadn't bothered. Instead of considering the invitation, Frank and I were treated to a patronising lecture on how busy BBC correspondents are and which implied we ('mere' was the implicit suggestion) PR people were looking for some kind of commercial advantage with the delegation from Shanghai.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Neither of us had any particular axe to grind. We both felt the BBC might want to take the opportunity for a bit of reputation management.
While Sky, Reuters, the Press Association and the FT all saw the trip as a good chance to forge some links with a group of influential officials from a key Chinese city that will be hosting a major international event next year, the BBC seems to have brushed the idea away without even having the courtesy to explain its reasons properly.
Is it any wonder there is so much animosity to one of our most important institutions?
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