20/04/2012

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:00:02. > :00:12.That looks like a really good movie. Now on BBC News it is time for

:00:12. > :00:22.

:00:22. > :00:26.Welcome to Newswatch. Coming up shortly, it is almost goodbye to

:00:26. > :00:31.one old friend, 100 more days of built up to a certain sporting

:00:31. > :00:34.event, and 100 years since the Tanit when -- since the Titanic

:00:34. > :00:38.went down, more criticism that the BBC went overboard on the

:00:38. > :00:41.anniversary. Some types of complaint keep recurring, the

:00:41. > :00:45.perceived tendency of the news channel to stay with one big story

:00:45. > :00:49.for too long to the exclusion of all others, and the allegation of

:00:49. > :00:53.too much graphic detail being given about crimes and natural disasters.

:00:53. > :00:57.A third objection is that BBC News provides publicity for criminals

:00:57. > :01:01.justifying their actions. Another charge is that of too many report

:01:01. > :01:06.has been sent on location, sometimes interviewing one another.

:01:06. > :01:10.On Monday, or four accusations were being levelled about the same event.

:01:10. > :01:13.The trial of the man who killed 77 people in Norway last July was

:01:13. > :01:19.always going to attract worldwide attention. It is likely to last 10

:01:19. > :01:22.weeks, but by mid-morning on the first day many viewers had had

:01:22. > :01:32.enough after the prosecution lifted -- listed the victims and how they

:01:32. > :01:32.

:01:32. > :01:36.Andrew Taylor asked, what information and relevance to we

:01:36. > :01:39.gain from this ceaseless barrage of death delivered monotone by a

:01:39. > :01:45.translator? Has nothing of note happened elsewhere in the last 24

:01:45. > :01:49.hours? Although some of the most distressing detail and testimony

:01:49. > :01:52.was not broadcast, others subjected to the repeated use of the far

:01:52. > :02:02.right salute seen in court and be in the wake of coverage served as a

:02:02. > :02:20.

:02:20. > :02:25.It was a danger acknowledged in a conversation on Monday between Jon

:02:25. > :02:29.Sopel and Oslo and one of his guests. The get the impression that

:02:29. > :02:33.he is relishing this, that this is exactly what he wants, to be able

:02:33. > :02:38.to stand up in court. We are giving him the microphone that he wants.

:02:38. > :02:48.On Monday and Tuesday's lunchtime news, Jon Sopel had another

:02:48. > :02:53.

:02:53. > :02:58.interviewee, BBC colleague Matthew Has BBC News devoted too many

:02:58. > :03:04.resources Adalat too much airtime to the trial of Anders Breivik? --

:03:04. > :03:07.and allowed. And joined by the control of the BBC News Channel,

:03:07. > :03:13.and in our studio in Jersey is one of the viewers who contacted us

:03:13. > :03:17.this week. What did you make of the coverage of this event? Why it

:03:17. > :03:21.concerned me greatly, and it is no fault of you as the transmitters of

:03:21. > :03:27.what is being purveyed in the court, but it is the prosecution case has

:03:27. > :03:31.put forward in its explaining in graphic detail the entry and exit

:03:31. > :03:35.When's of all the injuries inflicted by Anders Breivik on his

:03:35. > :03:44.hapless victims. -- war wounds. I felt it went too far when it was

:03:44. > :03:49.repeated time and again. Was too graphic. And was it too much in

:03:49. > :03:54.terms of the sheer volume of coverage as well? Well, the total

:03:54. > :03:57.coverage, I understand it is a big news case, and you have got a

:03:57. > :04:03.present outside the court building. I would have thought it may have

:04:03. > :04:06.been better, once we had two or three descriptions of the injuries

:04:06. > :04:09.inflicted on the victims, it may have been better to move to the

:04:09. > :04:15.outside presenter so that he could have finished off with a summary of

:04:15. > :04:21.what was going on in the court house behind him. Kevin Bakhurst,

:04:21. > :04:24.too much detail about the injuries, and necessary detail. I think Mr

:04:24. > :04:29.Russell obviously has a point. I think the details were quite

:04:29. > :04:32.upsetting. However, they were as laid out by the prosecution, pretty

:04:32. > :04:37.straightforward medical details, although the story of each

:04:37. > :04:43.individual victim is obviously incredibly sad. The difficulty was,

:04:43. > :04:47.for us, we did consider this during the reading out of this, is to you

:04:47. > :04:52.look like you are devaluing some of the individual victims by coming

:04:52. > :04:56.out after three or four and sane, we have had enough of that? Each

:04:56. > :05:01.individual story, you know, adds to the understanding of what this

:05:01. > :05:07.killer carried out. Colin Russell, you think there is a danger that by

:05:07. > :05:11.giving so much attention that you are actually giving this dreadful

:05:11. > :05:16.person the oxygen of publicity? Well, I think that is a danger that

:05:16. > :05:20.you are fuelling his desire for the oxygen that he requires to actually

:05:20. > :05:25.put his very perverted agenda across that he feels he is acting

:05:25. > :05:32.in his own deluded way in the best interests of his country. Another

:05:32. > :05:38.viewer has complained to us about you taking a still image of the

:05:38. > :05:42.right-wing summit and, as he says, turning it into an iconic image.

:05:43. > :05:47.did not create an iconic image. He did that in court for the first two

:05:47. > :05:51.days, and it was an image that was picked up by almost every media

:05:51. > :05:55.organisation, because it was one of the iconic images of him in court.

:05:55. > :05:59.The viewers and the audience are extremely well-informed,

:05:59. > :06:03.intelligent. They can listen to the accounts of what he did, they can

:06:03. > :06:08.see the way he behaves in court, and I have confident they can make

:06:08. > :06:13.their own judgment about what kind of individual he is. Another dealer

:06:13. > :06:17.has complained about BBC reporters interviewing each other. -- another

:06:18. > :06:23.viewer. They are surprised it is still going on in straitened times.

:06:23. > :06:28.Well, we have three reporters there, Jon Sopel, Matthew Price and Steve

:06:28. > :06:31.Rosenberg. Jon Sopel was doing all the live coverage for the news

:06:31. > :06:34.channel and BBC World, and by having him presenting it meant we

:06:34. > :06:38.could do a joint service for BBC World, so that was the most

:06:39. > :06:43.efficient way of doing it. Matthew Price was doing the packages for

:06:43. > :06:49.the news bulletins, which means he cannot do live coverage and after

:06:49. > :06:54.hour. We would not have been able to do the same the original events.

:06:55. > :06:59.He has been back to Norway to talk to families who had an interest in

:06:59. > :07:02.it, and he has an ongoing interest and understanding of the story

:07:02. > :07:05.itself and good relationships with many of the people involved and

:07:05. > :07:10.affected. I was keen that his understanding should be brought to

:07:10. > :07:14.the story. Colin Russell, what have you made of the case that Kevin

:07:14. > :07:19.Bakhurst has put, and how would you like to see the BBC cover the rest

:07:19. > :07:25.of this trial, which is expected to last as much as 10 weeks? A Well, I

:07:25. > :07:29.mean, I appreciate Kevin's explanation as to the coverage, but

:07:29. > :07:34.it still goes down... I am also concerned that he is talking about

:07:34. > :07:38.an iconic image. It is dangerous to have an iconic image of the likes

:07:38. > :07:43.of Anders Breivik. If anything, he should be consigned to the bins of

:07:43. > :07:47.history, because that is where he belongs. He does not need this...

:07:47. > :07:52.It is this sort of attention, this is why he went to create his

:07:52. > :08:00.notoriety about such a callous act. He knew that this is how the media

:08:00. > :08:05.would react, and we are feeding that desire to achieve his aims.

:08:05. > :08:08.Colin Russell, in our Jersey Studio, thank you very much. Also thank you

:08:08. > :08:14.to Kevin Bakhurst. This week's of the analogue signal being turned up

:08:14. > :08:16.in London and the surrounding areas, one of the last of the switchover.

:08:16. > :08:22.One consequence was that those affected will no longer be able to

:08:22. > :08:28.use Ceefax, broadcast on the analogue signal. It has allowed

:08:28. > :08:32.viewers to see facts since 1974. It is a source of nostalgia for many,

:08:32. > :08:38.and Kevin Wright called us with this play. Will somebody reconsider

:08:38. > :08:43.the abolition of the Ceefax pages? I am housebound, there are

:08:43. > :08:49.thousands and thousands of others like that, no paper deliveries in

:08:49. > :08:54.this area, so please, please reconsider the abolition of it,

:08:54. > :08:59.because I do rely on it so much. chance of the decision being

:08:59. > :09:09.reversed, I am afraid, but then maybe some words of comfort written

:09:09. > :09:25.

:09:25. > :09:30.by the editor of the BBC News It is still produced by the

:09:30. > :09:33.editorial team which has long provided Ceefax and the BBC News

:09:33. > :09:36.website. Whether you are still trying to get tickets to see Usain

:09:36. > :09:41.Bolt or have booked your summer holiday to avoid the whole thing,

:09:41. > :09:45.it can scarcely be aware that the London Olympics are looming. On

:09:45. > :09:48.Wednesday, BBC News reported there were just 100 days to go and tell

:09:48. > :09:58.the sporting extravaganza. Andy Smerdon is one of a number of

:09:58. > :10:01.

:10:01. > :10:05.viewers who have written to us It is a subject I am sure we will

:10:05. > :10:09.be returning to. Before we go, let's revisit one of last week's

:10:09. > :10:13.topics. You may remember that several viewers felt they had been

:10:13. > :10:17.too much coverage marking 100 years since the Titanic set sail. On

:10:17. > :10:23.Sunday, the anniversary of the sinking, it emerged that Andrew

:10:23. > :10:26.Marr agreed with those objections. We have had films, mini-series,

:10:26. > :10:31.cruises, pop art magazines. We have been treating this like a national

:10:31. > :10:35.celebration. Are we going to be doing is for fatal air crashes in

:10:35. > :10:39.future? I may be alone in his, but I think it has been sorted and

:10:39. > :10:45.tasteless and very dull, and I hope that after the day we hear nothing

:10:45. > :10:51.more about this sad story except from the driest of dry historians.

:10:51. > :10:55.Do you are not alone, Andrew. call for help this time, but the

:10:55. > :10:59.sound of remembrance. A number of viewers contacted us on Sunday, I

:10:59. > :11:09.objecting to what they saw as a deluge of Titanic related items.

:11:09. > :11:19.