CONFIDENTIAL
Mr Clift, Hong Kong Department
HKK040/1
ECEIVED IN REGISTRY AUD 1983
DESK OFFICEM
INDEX
Anter
040/1
Hey minted to
(420)
peipt. w/ 21/8
cc: Mr Donald
Ivor Roberts o.r. Richard Clarke
m
CMasty
HONG KONG : BRIEFING THE PRESS
1.
At lunch yesterday, the Foreign News Editor of The Times, Ivan Barnes, bemoaned the fact that no one in The Times had any idea of HMG's strategy on Hong Kong. He quite understood that we were inhibited from briefing the diplomatic corres- pondents. He also accepted that the Government was right to concentrate its efforts on private diplomacy. But he claimed that we were in danger of losing unnecessary tricks in the press because editorial staff lacked even the most general steer about the Government's approach to the negotiations.
2.
Mr Barnes commented that we would surely lose nothing by taking into our confidence the Editors of the four heavies. Unlike writing journalists, the Editors were usually willing to be briefed on a strictly 'not for writing basis'. They were all reliable men. And an understanding of HMG's strategy would enable them to handle reports about Hong Kong from wherever they emanated in a way which was more helpful
to HMG.
3.
-
This suggestion is clearly premature but, in my opinion, we would do well to consider it in the not too distant future. I can confirm Mr Barnes' comments about the reliability of the four Editors. They would not pass on to their writing staff what they learned in a 'not for writing' briefing. We could not guarantee that better informed Editors would prevent embarrassing articles about Hong Kong, but the risk of their picking up disinformation from the Chinese- or muddled re- porting from other sources would be very much diminished.
Any briefing on these lines would, of course, have to be done by a Minister, preferably the Secretary of State, and with the Prime Minister's explicit agreement.
4.
See (433)
12 July 1983
129/2 Mr. Minis
aulden
P J Goulden News Department
CC
I Thousan
FED
for obs,
27/2
CONFIDENTIAL
Pl. yeah sometime