:00:25. > :00:34.liver problems. Welcome to Newswatch. The biggest
:00:34. > :00:41.strike in a generation, or a damp squib? Industrial action by a
:00:41. > :00:49.public sector workers has caused a number of different views. I'll be
:00:49. > :00:56.asking whether the BBC coverage was even-handed. Rubbish piling up on
:00:56. > :01:03.the streets, the dead lying on buried, at the 1970s worry time
:01:03. > :01:13.where industrial action featured nightly on the news. Arguments
:01:13. > :01:35.
:01:35. > :01:45.raged over where the disruption There are objections to this
:01:45. > :01:50.interview last Sunday. What are you moaning about? The figures seem
:01:50. > :02:00.very Claire, we can go through the figures cards we? Are your pensions
:02:00. > :02:00.
:02:00. > :02:59.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds
:02:59. > :03:03.Come Wednesday, the complaints kept Some dealers objected to graphics
:03:03. > :03:13.showing people shaking their fists. It was described as frightening and
:03:13. > :03:14.
:03:14. > :03:19.than necessary. It was also contrasted against the BBC strike
:03:19. > :03:26.earlier this year. It was OK by the BBC to go on strike, but it is not
:03:26. > :03:31.OK for nurses, and binmen. I'm sick of the journalists are sticking up
:03:31. > :03:36.for the Conservatives rather than or the working man. That is the way
:03:36. > :03:46.that it feels. Can you not try and be independent? It doesn't sound
:03:46. > :04:06.
:04:06. > :04:10.like a for where I am sad. Whether or not we are up -- we are
:04:10. > :04:18.gearing up for Ray "winter of discontent", there is at a deep
:04:18. > :04:26.feeling about the strikes. The BBC is trying to make sure their
:04:26. > :04:33.coverage is as fair as possible. The was on both sides of the fence
:04:33. > :04:39.see bias. How do you ensure fairness in your coverage? This is
:04:39. > :04:44.a very big story. Strength of feeling is very strong on all sides.
:04:44. > :04:49.Our job is to report, to report as objectively as we can, to establish
:04:49. > :04:55.the facts, to find out what is going on. It with something that is
:04:55. > :05:00.very contentious, to make sure we ate a very wide range of views. We
:05:00. > :05:07.make sure we speak to people from every side of the story. We try and
:05:07. > :05:12.challenge unions and ministers. We are trying to hear from people
:05:12. > :05:17.affected, those not affected. of viewers thought that union
:05:17. > :05:21.leaders were put under pressure much more ferociously that the
:05:21. > :05:26.government are to justify the changes to public sector pensions.
:05:26. > :05:30.A I would not agree with that. We do indeed challenge union leaders,
:05:30. > :05:37.what are they looking for, their roles in negotiations, what they
:05:37. > :05:39.once compared to pensions in the private sector. Just as strongly to
:05:39. > :05:44.we challenge ministers, the many ministers we have had on the air
:05:44. > :05:51.waves of the last bidets, to explain their proposals, and why
:05:51. > :05:55.are they fair, are they negotiating. We challenge all sides of the story.
:05:55. > :06:01.Wednesday was an important day for the government. The BBBC come under
:06:01. > :06:06.pressure from that quarter? constantly know that all sides in
:06:06. > :06:11.these big stories have a sense of what they would like us to say. We
:06:11. > :06:21.make up our own mind about what we are going to do. Where there were
:06:21. > :06:22.
:06:22. > :06:26.specific complaints from Downing Street? We are in touch with all
:06:26. > :06:31.sides. The key job brass is that we carry on doing the job we are meant
:06:31. > :06:36.to do. Another issue raised was that he spent too much time looking
:06:36. > :06:40.at the disparity between public sector and private sector pensions,
:06:40. > :06:45.and not the inequality in earnings between some of the poorest workers
:06:45. > :06:50.and some of the richest. These are both a very big issues. I'm
:06:50. > :06:53.interested about the e-mail that you had saying this is not a strike
:06:53. > :07:01.about pensions, there are many more issues. We did report that the
:07:01. > :07:05.strength of feeling was felt by many issues. Primarily the strike
:07:05. > :07:10.was focused on pensions according to unions. We wanted to explain the
:07:10. > :07:18.pensions issue, the captives, private and public, that is a lot
:07:18. > :07:23.of the part of the argument. There were other issues that we have
:07:23. > :07:28.looked out, we have challenged issues about pay, fairness,
:07:28. > :07:35.equality for the country as a whole. Was it difficult for journalists
:07:35. > :07:39.covering the strike to cover it properly, when not so long ago they
:07:39. > :07:47.were striking over their pensions? I can assure you that in the
:07:47. > :07:52.newsroom, the editors were focused on the task in hand. That was
:07:52. > :08:00.reporting the issues objectively, and all of the debate. Thank you
:08:00. > :08:05.very much indeed. The strike was a topic under
:08:06. > :08:14.discussion on Wednesday, with the provocative presenter Jeremy
:08:14. > :08:21.Clarkson. Keeping the strikes are a good idea? Fantastic. London was
:08:21. > :08:31.empty. You can whizz about. It is like being back in the 1970s. We
:08:31. > :08:41.have to balance it. This is the BBC. Frankly I would have them all shot!
:08:41. > :08:44.
:08:44. > :08:54.1002 saw the programme, rang to complain. -- thousands who. Last
:08:54. > :09:04.week saw the death of the former Wales prop Paul and Gary Speed --
:09:04. > :09:24.
:09:25. > :09:34.footballer. It also saw the death Well, we put those objections to
:09:35. > :09:38.
:09:38. > :09:48.BBC News, and were given that this BBC News, and were given that this
:09:48. > :10:14.
:10:14. > :10:18.Finally, back to the strike, or at least the build up to it. This
:10:18. > :10:28.included a live link to Heathrow Airport, which elicited a familiar
:10:28. > :10:40.
:10:40. > :10:47.Airport, which elicited a familiar Thanks for your comments. If you