BBC journalists - forget reporting the story, find the approved angle

David Maclean reports how a BBC local journalist tried to cover Leicester council's budget:

'Then a local BBC TV reporter – who shall remain nameless – bounded in half an hour late. He sat down, quickly glanced at the report, then said:

“Right how many old folks homes are closing?”

“Er, none” the officer replied.

“Right how many youth clubs are closing?”

“Er, none. Actually we’re just covering all this now.”

“Right what’s closing then. Come on, something must be closing. What’s closing?”

“Nothing that hasn’t already been announced,” the press officer interjected.

“Right well what’s being cut back?”

It was straight out of the booklet on how not to conduct interviews. You’re supposed to start with big open questions then move on to nail down the specifics, not the other way round.'

It must be wonderful working for the BBC where news is only important if it furthers your 'narrative'.