´óÏó´«Ã½

The media centre here at the ExCel Centre is a case study in the lunacy of summit journalism.

Around a million accredited reporters are spread out in a cavernous space (room does not adequately describe it) and all are tapping away at their laptops.

Since only a dozen or so have any hope of getting a question at the press conferences, most are here for no good reason at all. They could be watching the whole thing in a suite in the Dorchester, or, frankly, at home in Ulan Bator. Although here the sandwiches are free (given that everyone here is being paid for by media organisations -why?) and the Champagne too (joke).

The halls hum with conviviality as old friends meet and old rivals lock horns: "My dear chap, I see you splashed the Russia stuff, grave mistake" or "we knew about the iPod long before it was public" etc etc.

At European summits, they give away tacky mementos of the nation holding the meeting. I still have a Portuguese beach towel which leaves you wet however much you use it.

What should they have given away here, I wonder - money would have been rather welcome and rather apt...

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?