Well, I might take the Alan Yentob angle on the Camilla story a bit further after all!...
Like Sue, I'm not overly bothered that Kids' Company trustee and BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob rang Newsnight in an attempt (it seems) to get them to soften their initial report or that he accompanied Camilla (off his own bat) to the Today studio the following day to stiffen her sinews (to to speak).
Yes, it's hardly 'impartial' behaviour from a BBC boss, but it's not a hanging offence in my book - if the BBC registered his concerns but carried on regardless (as the BBC insists they did).
That was my thought anyhow until I caught up (tonight) with last night's Newsnight, expecting Chris Cook (who originally reported the story - alongside [and, I would guess, some way behind] Buzzfeed) to at least mention the Yentob angle, if only in passing. After all, the Yentob angle was reported in several newspapers yesterday (online), including The Times, and has some news value. Newsnight viewers might well have been intrigued by it.
Remarkably, Chris Cook didn't mention Alan Yentob last night. Not once.
So much for fiercely impartial BBC reporting, don't you think?
P.S. Newsnight's Chris Cook kept his mouth closed about on this during his 7.10 interview on Today too. He did, however, make a statement that genuinely puzzled me.
I have to say that from the start of Newsnight's Buzzfeed-driven reporting of this story, Chris Cook has been pushing an angle about the government being in the dock over this - even more, it seems, than Kids' Company itself. His final contribution to today's Today ended on the same note:
Having watched last night's report and read all the coverage, that's not the impression I got. As far as I can tell, it looks as if Kids' Company only said it might close tonight yesterday (i.e. nearly a week after the ministers dispatched that cheque).
Was Chris Cook getting carried away by the thrill of appearing on Today (and bashing the government)? Or am I missing something?
P.S. Newsnight's Chris Cook kept his mouth closed about on this during his 7.10 interview on Today too. He did, however, make a statement that genuinely puzzled me.
I have to say that from the start of Newsnight's Buzzfeed-driven reporting of this story, Chris Cook has been pushing an angle about the government being in the dock over this - even more, it seems, than Kids' Company itself. His final contribution to today's Today ended on the same note:
But there is a secondary question too, which is: why ministers ended up writing a cheque to a charity that told the government it would be closing up shop, you know, within a week?Did Kids' Company tell the government it would be closing up shop within a week before those ministers wrote that cheque last week, as Chris Cook said here?
Having watched last night's report and read all the coverage, that's not the impression I got. As far as I can tell, it looks as if Kids' Company only said it might close tonight yesterday (i.e. nearly a week after the ministers dispatched that cheque).
Was Chris Cook getting carried away by the thrill of appearing on Today (and bashing the government)? Or am I missing something?
