comparison that cannot cogently be made. I hope that these were not, as appears, the attributes which in fact gained it a place in the programme. You will notice also, on the other hand, that Mr. Pettifer's questions to Mr. Davies virtually invited replies hostile to this Government.
To
After an attempt to make me lend my presence to supporting unjustifiable imputations, then, two short extracts of alone interview were actually broadcast as purporting to convey the views of the Governor on the current situation in Hong Kong. pretend that these extracts fairly represented those views as they were actually expressed, or to pretend that your audience was been given valid first-hand information on the subject matter of the programme. is to affront the intelligence. The fact is that programmes of this type, containing interviews such as this, are mere fabrications of the BBC's masquerading under the guise of truth. They are falsified material, issued by means of a species of confidence trick in violation of the name and personality of the unfortunate person subjected to this kind of treatment.
If the BBC wents its audiences to know what people on the spot think about any given situation, why cannot they select those who are most familiar with it and let them have their say is answer to straightforward questions? The result will sometimes need to be shortened, no doubt, but why cannot the essence of what is said be held in respect? This, in my experience, is the more usual practice with similar television programmes in other English speaking countries; and the results appear to me to command just as much attention as do BBC programmes. Furthermore, being obviously more honest, they are that much the more credible.
I regret writing to you in these terms, but I do feel some obligation to try to protect this complex, courageous and self-reliant community from the gratuitous misrepresentation it has too often suffered
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