11/11/2011 Newswatch

Fang Q. -- thank you. Was there BBC's coverage of the M5

crash guilty of televisual Will continue his watch. The term

rubbernecking was coined to talk about drivers who slowed down to

hang her neck out of the window to look at an accident. But is there

such a thing of televisual rubbernecking? Despair if from

motorists as they drive past the pile up.

Some of these cars and lorries were exploding on impact. And an

believable was what some viewers thought of the BBC pause might use

There was an objection to some more Another viewer by the name of Paul

Another concern about the coverage of the crash centred around some

reports like this. It be have been no clear the debris, but this

investigation is very much active. Its primary focus is a role that

the fireworks display at a local rugby club played. This amateur

footage showed the scale of the I have been pursuing those points

to Our Correspondent from the BBC news channel. I asked whether the

BBC got the tenor of its coverage right. Overall, I think we did.

was a horrific crash, very upsetting for people involved. It

was one of the worst of motorway crashes for many years. I think

that, because we are I news channel, the audience to an extent can

expect to see some quite strong images. If they are out of the way,

potentially, distressing, we will warn people before we show it. We

come up against this dilemma every day. We are in a completely

different here are to say, even 10 years ago. Everybody has a mobile

phone. Everybody has access to the Internet. There is a lot more

material out there and available to us and to anyone who wants to go

and find it. I am aware of the accusation of rubbernecking. I hope

it does not sound crass, but our job is to rubber neck on behalf of

the public. It is our job to explain to the UK and the rest of

the world. It is our job to tell the story using the pictures

available - not all, I have to say. One reviewer compares it to a snuff

movie. That is the most difficult decision we have to take. We have a

general policy in the BBC which is not too sure the moment of death of

any individual. The pictures that we showed of the firewall from the

other side of the motorway were not specific enough for anyone to be

able to say, that is the moment that that person died and we just

don't know. Some people would say the at the BBC indulged in too much

speculation before the fact were known. I think that, not just as a

journalist but as a human being, once you have got over it and had

the initial reaction of your hard going out to the people involved,

surely, as a human being, you very first responses, how on Earth could

this have happened? What could have caused such a horrendous crash? I

think we are responsible in the way in which we tried to get to the

causes. The police were talking quite soon about the wet road, the

fog, the smoke from the fireworks display near by. That was what

people wanted to know about. How did it happen? Now for some of your

other thoughts. Tuesday night's late evening news.

And a late breaking story to go with it. Tonight at 10, Michael

Jackson's Dr or is found guilty of manslaughter.

He was convicted during a six-week trial in which she refused to

testify. Outside the court, Jackson fans welcomed the verdict they had

been demanding for two years. Are you utterly unaware of what is

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 48 seconds

We were given a statement in Meanwhile, we were contacted on

On Thursday, David Cameron was shown on the news channel making a

speech about the economy in London. We're not going to do that with a

permanent state of warfare between the banks and politicians.

We sat down with the bankers and said, if you lend more to small and

medium-sized businesses... We will leave the Prime Minister for now.

More or at the top of the hour. Now, time for the weather. The

Audiences for news bulletins at the BBC and elsewhere tend to be older

than the average for general television viewing. Does that

suggest I young viewers are not interested in news? Or does it mean

that the BBC is catering less well for them. One of those two things

the latter is the case is this person. I and 17, but when I was

younger I used to watch Newsround which I used to love, because it

was simplified but I could understand what was going on in the

world. Now, when I watch the news,

although I get most of it, there are things I still do not get and

if I want to find out things it is important that the news gives me

this kind of information. Then uses for a slightly older people, there

is nothing targeted specifically at people around the Newsround age. It

assumes that people watch it every day. I wish I could watch the news

every day, but if you do not know the whole story, and you get bits

and pieces, baby start assuming stuff and you get the wrong idea. -

- maybe you start assuming staff. I was watching the St Paul's protest

and I did not understand why they were protesting outside St Paul's.

It made me think that there might be young people out there who do

not understand about stock exchange and politics. It is definitely true

of economic stories, because unless you have had teaching on economics,

he would not be able to understand it. Unless you are all there and

you have had it explained to you. What is actually happening in

Libya? Unless you are following up the whole time, you would not know

exactly what is happening. That is the sort of thing I would like to

see. Next Friday, some BBC newscasters will be making fools of

themselves in aid of Children In Need. This year, and dancing