:00:04. > :00:14.That is the news. Now it is time for Newswatch. This week, how
:00:14. > :00:26.
:00:26. > :00:33.effective is the BBC's complaints Welcome to Newswatch. Later,
:00:33. > :00:40.complaints about the BBC's complaints process. It was goodbye
:00:40. > :00:44.from her. As Breakfast prefers -- prepares to move to Salford some
:00:44. > :00:50.viewers will be leaving the programme as well. Have you heard
:00:50. > :00:56.this braise special relationship this week? The Prime Minister
:00:56. > :01:03.visited Barack Obama and viewers were treated to views of his
:01:03. > :01:13.arrival, hot dogs, a gun salute, Banquet, and some politics. Shaun
:01:13. > :01:29.
:01:29. > :01:34.Wednesday saw a distressing reports about the coach crash in
:01:34. > :01:38.Switzerland which killed 20 people, most of them children. Fire crews
:01:38. > :01:43.had to cut through the mangled remains of the bus. There were no
:01:43. > :01:52.other vehicles involved. Helicopters and ambulances were
:01:52. > :01:56.used to take those he survived to fall nearby hospitals. -- those who
:01:56. > :02:02.survive to to Fort Austin nearby hospitals. At schools in Belgium
:02:02. > :02:12.the agony of not knowing who had survived, and waiting for the worst
:02:12. > :02:27.
:02:27. > :02:32.Foyers and was also on the might of Parts of the BBC are in the process
:02:32. > :02:37.of moving to their new base in Salford. A couple of weeks ago it
:02:37. > :02:40.was the turn of the sports news department to migrate, which means
:02:40. > :02:46.the news channel sports presenter is no longer in the same studio as
:02:46. > :02:50.the main news presenter. Time for sport now. A full round up
:02:51. > :02:57.from the sports centre. Thank you. We will start with football and it
:02:57. > :03:07.was a remarkable night. The change is not to the liking of
:03:07. > :03:17.
:03:17. > :03:22.David like that. -- David like that. What do you do if you object to
:03:22. > :03:27.something you have seen on the programme? Contact us and Newswatch.
:03:27. > :03:32.But what if you want to take things further? There will be a three-
:03:32. > :03:35.stage process. You can complain directly online or by post. If you
:03:35. > :03:40.are not satisfied with the response from the programme-makers you can
:03:40. > :03:43.go to the editorial complaints unit which will investigate
:03:43. > :03:48.independently of producers. If you are still not happy you can appeal
:03:48. > :03:52.to the BBC Trust. Changes are being suggested to the system. In a
:03:52. > :03:56.moment I will be asking what is behind the proposals, but before
:03:56. > :04:01.that, what is wrong with the way things are now? Frankly, I would
:04:01. > :04:08.have them all shot. Some complaints hit the headlines, many don't.
:04:08. > :04:15.30,000 people objected to Jeremy Clarkson's opinion about public
:04:15. > :04:23.sector workers being shot. And 55,002 Jonathan Ross and Russell
:04:23. > :04:33.Brand's prank phone message. The BBC handles a quarter of a million
:04:33. > :04:51.
:04:52. > :04:55.The House of Lords Committee report last year agreed, finding the whole
:04:55. > :05:00.process was convoluted and overly complicated. Investigating
:05:00. > :05:03.complaints can take a lot of money and time to the frustration of
:05:03. > :05:07.programme-makers as well as members of the public. These people are
:05:07. > :05:14.effectively in control of their town. It to two years before the
:05:14. > :05:24.BBC Trust found an article broadcast by Jeremy Bowen had
:05:24. > :05:28.breached impartiality guidelines. One of Lord Patten's Thurston us
:05:28. > :05:38.was when he took over as chairman was the complaints procedure can I
:05:38. > :05:41.should be improved -- first announcements. I'm joined by the
:05:41. > :05:48.member of the BBC Trust responsible for the complaints process, Richard
:05:48. > :05:52.Eyre. A lot of people find the process complicated, convoluted. I
:05:53. > :05:59.even heard the word Byzantine used. What will you do to improve it?
:05:59. > :06:03.For we are consulting on a range of measures. We will shorten the
:06:03. > :06:08.length of time we hope it takes if you choose to go through the whole
:06:08. > :06:15.system, from your first complaint up to an appeal to the trust, it
:06:15. > :06:18.should be quicker. We will prioritise the handling of
:06:18. > :06:26.complaints that raised serious editorial issues, things like
:06:26. > :06:30.impartiality, accuracy. We will prioritise those at the expense of
:06:30. > :06:35.the small but significant number of complaints that did Brady raise
:06:35. > :06:40.significant issues at all. -- but do not really a race.
:06:40. > :06:44.The person who complained that the passionate about them and you might
:06:44. > :06:47.enrage more viewers. Nearly everybody who makes a
:06:47. > :06:51.complaint to the BBC believes in it and often they are passionate about
:06:51. > :06:55.it. It doesn't follow they are always right. We guarantee every
:06:55. > :07:01.complaint will be read, every complaint will receive an answer.
:07:01. > :07:06.Those that really did raise issues of substance should not have
:07:06. > :07:11.licence-fee payers money spent on them -- those that really do not
:07:12. > :07:16.raise issues. One big issues like bias or
:07:16. > :07:20.impartiality, one thinks of the Middle East, hundreds if not
:07:20. > :07:23.thousands are convinced the BBC is pro Israel, and in equal number
:07:23. > :07:27.think the opposite. How to adjudicate on matters as
:07:27. > :07:30.complicated as that. It is extremely difficult, almost
:07:31. > :07:36.impossible for the BBC to do a news report on the Middle East without
:07:36. > :07:40.getting complaints alleging we are partial on one side or the other,
:07:40. > :07:44.sometimes on both. Each of those complaints, however often we
:07:44. > :07:48.receive them, even when they come over and over again from the same
:07:48. > :07:52.people, have to be taken seriously and sometimes that takes a long
:07:52. > :08:00.time. I know one of the consent of critics is some complaints take
:08:00. > :08:04.months or even years before they are resolved. Ahead of the lot of
:08:04. > :08:08.work goes into it. As for legal advice, the BBC does take legal
:08:08. > :08:11.advice when it feels it needs to. It is in the interest of licence-
:08:11. > :08:16.fee payers the courts do not end up determining what content should or
:08:16. > :08:20.should not be on BBC programmes. You spend most of your working life
:08:20. > :08:24.on BBC News. Is there a danger having spent so much of life in
:08:24. > :08:27.that culture you may not be the ideal person to handle independent
:08:28. > :08:32.editorial complaint? I am sure I am not ideal but there
:08:32. > :08:35.are 12 members of the BBC Trust, only three of us have previous
:08:35. > :08:41.broadcasting experience, all three of those have experience in the
:08:41. > :08:46.outside world after he stopped working for the BBC. -- After we
:08:46. > :08:50.stop. What I have had my other colleagues have and the other nine
:08:50. > :08:54.members of the trust share is a passion for the BBC's editorial
:08:54. > :08:59.independence, a passion for the BBC setting the highest editorial
:08:59. > :09:03.standards in the broadcast world, and the determination to hold the
:09:03. > :09:08.BBC programme-makers to account, when and if they let audiences down
:09:08. > :09:13.by a beach near standards, that is what trust is there to do. --
:09:13. > :09:18.breached standards. He firmly for the perception of
:09:18. > :09:25.things, wouldn't it be better for the appeal process to be handled by
:09:26. > :09:29.an external body? -- if only. Those things are granted through
:09:29. > :09:34.royal charter, the BBC Trust has the legal responsibility for
:09:34. > :09:39.oversight of the complaints process. Audiences can complain also to
:09:39. > :09:46.Ofcom, or to them as an alternative if they wish, except on some key
:09:46. > :09:53.areas where Ofcom has no involvement, the BBC's impartiality,
:09:53. > :09:58.accuracy and fairness. Finally, tears were being shed on
:09:58. > :10:01.the breakfast -- Breakfast sofa on Thursday when Sian Williams
:10:01. > :10:07.presented with a gravel the last time in advance of its move to
:10:07. > :10:12.Salford. It will be broadcast from next month, but without her. Such a
:10:12. > :10:22.wonderful audience, thank you very much. I will miss you usually.
:10:22. > :10:22.
:10:22. > :10:27.we will miss you. It has been a joy and pleasure. Good luck. The tears
:10:27. > :10:37.were not just in the studio. Claire Winchester was just one of many
:10:37. > :10:48.
:10:48. > :10:58.For other viewers there tributes were a come in by a sting in the
:10:58. > :11:19.
:11:19. > :11:23.We hope to discuss that move north in the coming weeks. Let us know