PR appreciation

You need some figures for a piece you are writing. But you can't find them. You are not even sure they exist. So after a bit of digging around, you call the press office of what you reckon is the relevant government department.

Chances are, you get an answer like this:

"Sorry, we don't keep statistics on that."

Any idea who might? Or who could help shed light on recent trends?

"Not really. Sorry."

And that's an end of it.

Last week it was different. A Whitehall press officer got kinda interested. She knew straight off that no statistics were collected, but offered to email round all the 40-odd regions and ask for impressions. Purely anecdotal, she stressed, but could be useful.

Since then, two or three emails have been arriving daily, with cogent, informed impressions from people in a position to know. Marvellous stuff. Saved me hours of phone work. Genuinely illuminating. And just because I chanced upon a helpful press officer.

Thank you. You won't catch me belly-aching about government press officers again. (Not till next time, anyway.)

Les