:00:03. > :00:13.Now it is time for Newswatch. Has the coverage of the Euro 2012
:00:13. > :00:25.
:00:25. > :00:31.football tournament focused too Welcome to NewsWatch. Coming up,
:00:31. > :00:35.why this piece to camera and this one provoked the ire of viewers.
:00:35. > :00:40.The Euro 2012 football tournament in Poland and Ukraine kicked off
:00:40. > :00:47.all week ago. Much of the coverage focused on the behaviour of fans in
:00:47. > :00:51.the host countries. Here is the Sports Editor last Friday. Under
:00:51. > :00:57.way but overshadowed, Euro 2012 opened in Warsaw with a colourful
:00:57. > :01:04.ceremony. After so many problems for the organisers, a relief to see
:01:04. > :01:08.the first game between Poland and Greece. But it is racism which is
:01:08. > :01:15.dominating the agenda. But should it racism have been dominating the
:01:15. > :01:18.BBC's agenda? Some spectators were recorded making monkey noises at
:01:18. > :01:24.the Dutch players and there were clashes between Russian and Polish
:01:24. > :01:28.fans. The allegation of racist abuse during the matches was made
:01:28. > :01:38.against Spanish spectators. Several viewers thought the BBC was taking
:01:38. > :01:45.things out of proportion and two up and join us now. With me is a James
:01:45. > :01:50.Stevensons, the editor. What was it you did not like about the coverage
:01:50. > :01:56.of the pre-tournament games and activities? I didn't like the fact
:01:56. > :02:02.that the BBC was looking for the sensation before anything happened.
:02:02. > :02:08.I didn't like the facts that they were scaring people off from coming
:02:08. > :02:18.to Poland. They make the whole nation looking like a nation of
:02:18. > :02:19.
:02:19. > :02:25.racists and anti-Zionist -- and it could not be further from the trees.
:02:25. > :02:29.Some fans were recorded making monkey noises. Yes, it is true
:02:29. > :02:33.unfortunately, every country has problems with racists. It is not
:02:33. > :02:37.much different here. The handful of people should not overshadow the
:02:37. > :02:42.whole country. A fantastic welcoming that most of the nation's
:02:42. > :02:52.got from the Polish fans. What do you think of the BBC's coverage
:02:52. > :02:58.before the tournament started? Imagine if someone goes... If
:02:58. > :03:03.someone in Poland started the news showing last year's riots in London.
:03:03. > :03:08.You can have lots of videos and incidents of people being
:03:08. > :03:12.aggressive and damaging property, cars on fire and houses on fires.
:03:12. > :03:17.People being injured. Does it say the whole of England is like that,
:03:17. > :03:23.does it say it is not safe to come for the Olympics here because that
:03:23. > :03:30.would not be the full picture. James, respond to the viewers and
:03:30. > :03:35.the facts What You reported may have happened and is given a false
:03:35. > :03:39.impression. I understand the concerns, is Poland or the Ukraine
:03:39. > :03:45.painted as a racist country when we are focusing on specific incidents
:03:45. > :03:52.but having said that, these are serious and major issues and it
:03:52. > :04:00.does seem that there are small pockets of racist fans in Poland
:04:00. > :04:03.and I think it is an important story we should tackle. I
:04:03. > :04:07.understand the concern about does it portray the whole of Poland,
:04:07. > :04:13.that is not the intention, it is not what we have done but it is
:04:13. > :04:17.something we will seek to avoid. You sexy gave it a lot of
:04:17. > :04:20.prominence and do you consider changing the nature of British
:04:20. > :04:26.society, there are hundreds of thousands working and living here,
:04:26. > :04:30.your viewers. Yes, we did in its prominence, deserves prominence. It
:04:30. > :04:35.is right we should give it better attention. I do not think we are
:04:35. > :04:39.giving it disproportionate coverage. Would recover events in this
:04:39. > :04:43.country in a similar way, I think we would. Racism in this country is
:04:44. > :04:48.a serious issue and racism around football is a serious issue which
:04:48. > :04:54.we have covered in this country. I feel it is something the audience
:04:54. > :04:57.takes seriously and I take the point if you are here and your
:04:57. > :05:03.roots are in Poland, you're not pleased to see your country held up
:05:03. > :05:07.in that light but it was an issue we needed to tackle. An important
:05:07. > :05:12.story that was news and deserve to receive that attention. Fair enough
:05:12. > :05:17.we should focus on incidents, they should not happen in the first
:05:17. > :05:24.place and if they happen, the Polish authorities should do
:05:24. > :05:29.everything to punish people who were involved. But there was 20,000
:05:29. > :05:36.people supporting the team and the only news I could here on the radio
:05:36. > :05:43.or TV was about them few silly stupid people, hooligans, not
:05:43. > :05:47.football supporters who were -- should be ashamed of themselves.
:05:47. > :05:53.Did you know there were thousands of people wearing orange T-shirts
:05:53. > :05:58.supporting the team as well? No one could really hear that here. What
:05:58. > :06:00.do you think of what you have heard? One thing is to present
:06:00. > :06:08.facts how they are but the other thing is in the meantime asking
:06:08. > :06:14.questions like, some footballers asks if they would go on the street
:06:14. > :06:18.or are you a friend, are you afraid you will end up in a coffin, or if
:06:18. > :06:23.the fans did not behave how they should. It only seems to be focused
:06:23. > :06:30.on one nation and there is never any mention of the positive side, a
:06:30. > :06:39.nobody says anything about it, only looking for the holes. Two negative
:06:39. > :06:44.over all? I do not think so. I hope it will progress in a success away
:06:44. > :06:48.and if the host countries do well and the event may move on from this
:06:48. > :06:54.and we will cover that and to cover the exuberance and excitement. It
:06:54. > :06:58.would be wrong not to cover this and I think while I take what is
:06:58. > :07:02.taking -- said, we must not diminished downplaying something
:07:02. > :07:08.which is a major issue, it is not the whole of the Polish population
:07:08. > :07:18.but it's a major issue worthy of serious news coverage in my view.
:07:18. > :07:20.
:07:20. > :07:24.Thank you. There have been other Euro 2012 related complaints in the
:07:24. > :07:34.postbag, the televising of matches on BBC One has led to schedule
:07:34. > :07:43.
:07:43. > :07:47.changes with Isobel Morrison e- The News at Six appeared at 7pm and
:07:47. > :07:53.there was more annoyance when the English team played his first match.
:07:53. > :07:57.The news channel carried this update. Yes, typical England, we
:07:57. > :08:01.have had smiles and cheers when England scored and a few minutes
:08:01. > :08:09.later France equalised and the fans had their heads in their hands.
:08:09. > :08:19.Let's get the people's verdict. Johnny, how did it go?
:08:19. > :08:28.
:08:28. > :08:33.Clearly not a fan. There was an equally frosty response from this
:08:33. > :08:41.piece to camera David Sillito at the funeral of the singer Robin
:08:41. > :08:47.Many are remembering summer he was a member of the community for 30
:08:47. > :08:57.years. But the fans are remembering one of Britain's greatest
:08:57. > :09:16.
:09:16. > :09:22.songwriters. Michael had this There was another reporter centre
:09:22. > :09:25.stage this week following flooding caused by persistent rain. Here is
:09:25. > :09:29.how the news at six reported the story.
:09:29. > :09:36.Our correspondent joins as from West Sussex. It has been
:09:36. > :09:46.particularly bad. Really bad. The best thing we can say is the rain
:09:46. > :10:08.
:10:08. > :10:13.is finally stopping. Keith Rose e- Finally, the Prime Minister has had
:10:13. > :10:17.a challenging week appearing at the Leveson Inquiry on Thursday and
:10:17. > :10:20.facing considerable embarrassment over the story.
:10:20. > :10:24.David Cameron it is distraught after realising he accidentally
:10:24. > :10:28.left his eight year-old daughter in a pub after Sunday lunch with
:10:28. > :10:38.friends. Downing Street design -- described it as a mix up because
:10:38. > :10:39.
:10:39. > :10:49.his wife and the Prime Minister were travelling in separate cars.
:10:49. > :11:10.