Hello, and thank you for joining us for this edition of Rear View Mirror, a healthy trawl from a week of programmes here on China Radio International.

Programme 1 - http://english.cri.cn/4026/2007/08/17/191@262827.htm

Our first story this week is a Media Spin story. It's very long. So I'll only play you the beginning of it. 

Remember that you can hear the whole thing on the CRI website – www.crienglish.com at any time. 

Actually, this story was echoed by another, featured only on the website, about the ungrateful child recipients of donations for their schooling. What motivates such uncharacteristic "bad news" stories? Are we to question charity-giving as a form of welfare? Or was this just journalists reporting on something that just happened?

http://english.cri.cn/2946/2007/08/22/48@264609.htm

Now, in previous episodes of Rear View Mirror, we've heard from CRI writers, from English learners in Beijing, even from a listener in Pakistan. This week, it's the turn of expatriates living in China. What does CRI's English service mean to them?

I asked them, first of all, how they listen to CRI:

"Usually I'm forced to listen…like when I get in a cab, I'm forced to listen to this…"

"Usually, I'm listening to CRI when I'm in the car and driving. And honestly, I have quite a good time…"

"I like it. I listen to it when I'm driving, actually. That's the only time I listen to it."

"I listen to it online, which I think is very good. You can select what you want to listen to, and that you can listen to online"

I asked them for their opinions of CRI News

"You get it from, what, from the officials and from Yahoo. Why wouldn't I trust the news? (background) It's quite a wide range. Exactly"

"I'm not dependent on them for news coverage. I read a lot of different sources for news."

"I don't think it's particularly interesting. I don't think there's anything interesting enough, actually, to trust or not. So that would be my answer to that one."

"I'm a very critical person. So, no matter what kind of news I read or listen to, I'm always a bit skeptical. So it's our responsibility as listeners, also, to be very critical, but sure, I would trust."

I asked them how CRI compared with other radio services:

"I think it's much more in-depth. I think foreign media sources just can't go into that kind of depth on a story. They can never do eight stories on one single Chinese cultural subject. So, I would always look to CRI if I wanted to learn more."

"Yeah, it's pretty good. I mean, in Chinese radio, I think it's one of the better stations. I like bilingual radio, though, because it gives people an opportunity to learn some Chinese. And it gives people an opportunity to learn English, which is good."

"Well, I mean, sure, let CRI finally show a view on China that is not so entangled in all the clichés and taboos that we have in every kind of international media reporting on China. As you're working inside China, you should take advantage of that position."  

This is quite a responsibility for CRI, and a unique opportunity.

Show 2 - http://english.cri.cn/4026/2007/08/22/191@264696.htm

In our final section, we have Luo Dan's latest webcast interview. Here is the voice of a China-virgin.

"I think the way, which is more effective to host the Olympics, is by serving it as a catalyst for economic development, developing infrastructure and social movement. All these things... But it provides that political and economic will to achieve those projects that have been long in the making."

"A college graduate from the United States, Greg Groggel has been zigzagging his way across six Olympic host cities over the past year, notching-up Mexico City, Munich, Sarajevo, Sydney and Seoul, exploring the legacy left by the sports phenomenon in those cities.

"Now, he has concluded his trip, reaching Beijing, the last stop of his comparative study entitled "Chasing the Flame". He shares some of his insights with the audience in the Bookworm, a cafe and lending library in the city.

"The ESPN sports correspondent for the 2004 Athens Games has stayed in each city for two months, taking more than 3,600 pictures for his documentary photography, a major source guiding his study. He says that these images help him better understand how the Olympics can transform a city.

"I think one of the biggest messages that I've learnt from the series is the idea of "legacy" - the tangible and intangible legacy of hosting the Olympic Games. And the legacy is not static. It is a very dynamic thing. It changes over time, depending on local circumstance and on historical context. So you have the idea of the Olympic legacy, but it could mean different thing a year, two years, three years, even twenty years after the Olympics."

"Based upon this theory, Greg points out that the success of the Games can't simply be judged by the scale of the event or the amount of profit a city reaps. The Olympic legacy is an evolving one. It continues to change a city.

"Interaction with National Olympic officials, grassroots organizations and the academic community is another highlight of Greg's Olympic trip, because they each provide him with authoritative information and detailed local stories. Greg believes their assistance enables him to feel people's overwhelming enthusiasm about the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.

"I think Beijing's promise for a People's Olympic is completely fulfilled. I think people feel they have an ownership of the Olympics, and they think they are the participants of the Olympics, which is really important. Most of the polls indicate about 96 or 97 percent of Beijing citizens support the Olympic Games. That is a really enormous amount of people. Usually you see 80 or 90 percent low. But never that high. That is really unprecedented for the Olympic experience."

With that, we come to the end of this week's show. I hope you can join Rear View Mirror again next week. But from me, Matthew Stedman, it's goodbye.