12/11/2011

Download Subtitles

Transcript

:00:26. > :00:29.Welcome to the programme. The term rubbernecking was coined to

:00:29. > :00:33.describe the habit of driver slowing down to stare at the

:00:33. > :00:42.aftermath of an accident. But is there such a thing as televisual

:00:42. > :00:49.rubbernecking? Here is just one of many reports of the crash on the M5.

:00:49. > :00:55.Disbelief from motorists as they drove past the pile up. More than

:00:55. > :01:01.30 cars, vans and articulated lorries mangled and compacted, some

:01:01. > :01:05.of them exploding on impact. Unbelievable. And unbelievable was

:01:05. > :01:15.what some news which viewers thought of the BBC's use of mobile

:01:15. > :01:27.

:01:27. > :01:37.Meanwhile, I woman objected to some more footage shown on the BBC

:01:37. > :01:53.

:01:53. > :01:57.Another concern about the coverage of the crash centred around

:01:57. > :02:02.reporting such as this. motorway may now have been cleared

:02:02. > :02:10.of debris, but away from public view, this investigation is very

:02:10. > :02:13.much active. Its primary for -- focus is a local firework show and

:02:13. > :02:18.its role it may have played. This amateur video shows the scale of

:02:18. > :02:28.the event. The response of a woman, speculation of the cause of the

:02:28. > :02:35.

:02:35. > :02:39.I had been putting those points to a reporter from the BBC News

:02:39. > :02:43.Channel. I asked if he thought the BBC News channel got the tone of

:02:43. > :02:49.the response to the crash right? Overall, I think we did. It was a

:02:49. > :02:53.horrific crash. Really upsetting for people involved, for people who

:02:54. > :03:02.knew people who were involved. One of the worst motorway crashes we

:03:02. > :03:06.have had for many years. I think that because we are a news channel,

:03:06. > :03:14.the audience, to an extent, can expect to see some quite strong

:03:14. > :03:18.images. If they are out of the way, potentially distressing, then we

:03:18. > :03:25.will warn people before we shall it. Some viewers certainly think you

:03:25. > :03:30.should more than they wanted to see. We come up to this dilemma every

:03:30. > :03:35.day in the news business. We are in a completely different era to say

:03:35. > :03:39.even ten years ago. Everybody has a mobile phone. Everybody has access

:03:39. > :03:46.to the internet. There is a lot more material out there and

:03:46. > :03:52.available to us and soon anybody who wants to go and find it. I am

:03:52. > :03:57.aware of the accusation of rubbernecking. I hope it does that

:03:57. > :04:02.sound crass, but our job is to rubber neck on behalf of the public.

:04:02. > :04:06.-- does not. It is our job to report on behalf of the UK and the

:04:06. > :04:14.world. It was a major incident and we needed to tell it as best we

:04:14. > :04:21.could. When you're actually accuses the BBC of showing, in effect, a

:04:21. > :04:29.snuff movie. That is possibly the most difficult decision that we

:04:29. > :04:35.have to take. As you well know, we have a general policy in BBC News

:04:35. > :04:41.not to show the moment of death of any individual. The pictures that

:04:41. > :04:45.we showed of the fireball were from the other side of the motorway. I

:04:45. > :04:51.think they were not specific enough for anyone to be able to say that

:04:51. > :04:55.is the moment that a person died. We just do not know. Some viewers

:04:55. > :05:01.think the BBC does too much speculation before the full facts

:05:01. > :05:05.are known. I think, not just as a journalist, but as a human being,

:05:06. > :05:15.having heard about this awful crash in once you have had the initial

:05:15. > :05:19.reaction of your hard going out to the people involved, surely, as you

:05:19. > :05:25.need being -- as a human being, your first reaction would be how on

:05:25. > :05:29.earth could this happen? I think we're responsible in the way we

:05:29. > :05:35.tried to get to the causes. The police were talking quite soon of

:05:35. > :05:45.the wet road and fog, possibly smoke from the fireworks display.

:05:45. > :05:47.

:05:47. > :05:52.That was what people wanted to know Now for some of your thoughts on

:05:52. > :05:58.the week's output. Tuesday night's late news had a breaking story to

:05:58. > :06:06.deal with. Michael Jackson's doctor is found guilty of manslaughter it.

:06:06. > :06:13.Dr Murray is convicted after a six- Outside the court, fans welcomed

:06:13. > :06:23.the verdict they had been demanding for two years. A woman in now us to

:06:23. > :06:48.

:06:48. > :06:52.Well, we were given a statement in response to those complaints.

:06:52. > :06:57.Michael Jackson was a major figure in popular culture. The conclusion

:06:57. > :07:02.of the trial was a newsworthy moment it. We reflected this in a

:07:02. > :07:06.measured way, with a report from the court shortly after the verdict

:07:06. > :07:16.was announced. This was one of a number of stories covered on the

:07:16. > :07:52.

:07:52. > :07:56.day. Namer, a main contractor of us On Thursday, David Cameron were

:07:56. > :08:00.shown on the news channel making a speech about the economy in London.

:08:00. > :08:05.Let me say this, we are not going to do that with a permanent state

:08:05. > :08:10.of warfare between the banks and the politicians. So we sat down

:08:10. > :08:14.with the bankers and said, if you land war to small and medium-sized

:08:14. > :08:24.businesses... We will meet the Prime Minister there now. But right

:08:24. > :08:32.

:08:32. > :08:37.now, time for the weather. Now, audiences for news bulletins

:08:37. > :08:40.at the BBC and elsewhere tend to be older than the average for general

:08:40. > :08:50.television viewing. Does that suggest that young viewers simply

:08:50. > :08:53.

:08:53. > :08:56.are not interested in news? Or does it suggest that the BBC is not

:08:56. > :09:03.catering to them? One of them who thinks the latter is the case is

:09:03. > :09:10.this woman. Here are her views. am 17, but when I was younger, he

:09:10. > :09:14.watched things like news around. I was able to understand what was

:09:14. > :09:20.going on in the world. I think when I watch the news now, although I

:09:20. > :09:24.get most of it, there are things that I still do not get. If I want

:09:24. > :09:28.to find out things, I think it is important that the news is this

:09:28. > :09:35.kind of information. So I think the news is more for the older people.

:09:35. > :09:42.I do not think there is anything targeted above the age of younger

:09:42. > :09:47.children. It assumes that you watch it every day. I wish I could watch

:09:47. > :09:57.it every day, but I think if you do not, you do not know the whole

:09:57. > :10:00.story in the good bits of pieces of it. -- and you get. I was watching

:10:00. > :10:06.St Mawes processed and I did not understand why they are protesting

:10:06. > :10:10.outside it. -- St Paul's. Many think that there are the young

:10:10. > :10:15.people out there who do not understand about the Stock Exchange,

:10:15. > :10:19.or politics. I think it is definitely true of economic stories.

:10:19. > :10:29.Unless you have had the teaching in economics, you would not

:10:29. > :10:32.

:10:32. > :10:35.necessarily understand it. You need it explain the year. Unless you're

:10:35. > :10:38.following a story for the whole time, you would not necessarily

:10:38. > :10:46.understand what is happening. That is the sort of thing I would like

:10:46. > :10:53.Finally, some BBC broadcasters will be making fools of themselves in

:10:53. > :11:03.aid of children in Need. This year, strip become chanting -- strip

:11:03. > :11:07.

:11:07. > :11:16.The BBC monitors the news channel 41-day and donate �10 for every arm