Columnist C Moore states: "The BBC never thought to contact Brits living in Bahrain," in the article 'It's time the BBC learnt its lessons,' (GDN, June 30).

Actually, I was contacted last year by the BBC's Today programme and hosted a visit by senior presenter James Naughty, the purpose of which was to gauge expatriate opinion of their reporting of the Bahrain situation.

I arranged a group of long-term British expats and the meeting took place in a local hotel.

In fact, one of your own columnists was present.

The opinions expressed were reported on the radio show, which has the largest audience of any current affairs programme - both radio and TV - in the UK.

Brian Davis

C MOORE replies: Kudos Brian for getting involved in such an initiative, although the fact remains that in the early days of the unrest there was little or no attempt to gauge the opinions of either British expats or Bahrainis who did not agree with the protests. While the BBC may have later sought feedback on its own coverage of events, by then the damage had already been done by what many regard to be one-sided reporting that failed to grasp the real complexities of the issue - something the BBC has now acknowledged. Perhaps if they had been on the phone to you sooner, it might have been a different story in more ways than one.