:00:02. > :00:12.Now it is time for Newswatch. This week, viewers' questions about
:00:12. > :00:23.
:00:23. > :00:27.Welcome to Newswatch. Later, should Andy Murray's semi-final victory at
:00:27. > :00:31.Wimbledon have displaced the local news? First, the top could debate
:00:31. > :00:34.programme Question Time has been a staple of the BBC One schedule for
:00:34. > :00:37.years. The format is simple - with a
:00:37. > :00:41.stupor and -- studio audience putting questions to a panel
:00:41. > :00:44.typically consisting of politicians from the three major parties, along
:00:44. > :00:49.with two others. One of the others last week was John Lydon,
:00:49. > :00:54.previously known as Johnny Rotten from the Sex Pistols. You do agree
:00:54. > :01:04.that a crime has been committed? The former punk rocker's appears
:01:04. > :01:42.
:01:42. > :01:47.It was iffy. This is not the first time Question Time guests have
:01:47. > :01:51.raised controversy. Pop stars have appeared before. That is what turns
:01:51. > :01:57.people off politics. As have comedians. They are allowed to
:01:57. > :02:04.strike! And newspaper journalists. They are the most disloyal
:02:04. > :02:10.creatures ever. And the winners of reality TV shows. I don't have a �2
:02:10. > :02:20.million house. The appearance of Katie Hopkins aroused the ire at
:02:20. > :02:20.
:02:20. > :03:12.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds
:03:12. > :03:15.Some viewers have wondered how the Achieving the right balance in the
:03:16. > :03:22.audience and on the panel has been the goal of Question Time
:03:22. > :03:26.throughout its 33 years on air, but has that goal been achieved? To
:03:26. > :03:30.face the public's questions today, I am joined by the executive
:03:30. > :03:34.producer of Question Time, Steve Anderson. What was your thinking
:03:34. > :03:39.behind putting Johnny Rotten on Question Time? Is he a Question
:03:39. > :03:43.Time person? The Sex Pistols and Johnny Rotten had legendary status.
:03:43. > :03:47.A lot of our audience will remember that. We thought it would be good
:03:47. > :03:52.to get him on in the programme leading up to the Queen's jubilee.
:03:53. > :03:58.We found out he was a big Question Time fan, but could not make it
:03:58. > :04:02.that week. He had a gig booked. But we talked about maybe getting him
:04:02. > :04:09.on to another show, and he could do this date, so that was how it came
:04:09. > :04:13.about. Another of the US says the BBC likes provocative questions,
:04:13. > :04:20.extreme guests and aggressive presenters. You like stirring
:04:20. > :04:24.things up. Was Johnny Rotten almost too well-behaved for your liking?
:04:24. > :04:29.Interestingly, some of the people who have criticised his performance
:04:29. > :04:35.almost wanted him to give a torrent of abuse and have me fired at the
:04:35. > :04:39.end of the show. Because that did not happen, they were disappointed.
:04:39. > :04:43.You have had pop stars and people from reality shows. Is that
:04:43. > :04:50.designed it to attract a younger audience? It is designed to broaden
:04:50. > :04:54.the appeal of the programme as much as possible. Over the years,
:04:54. > :04:58.particularly since we went to a fifth panellist on the show, we
:04:58. > :05:02.have broadened the franchise of the programme. There was a feeling that
:05:02. > :05:08.it was becoming too much a prisoner of Westminster and that if it was
:05:08. > :05:14.just dominated by politicians, they could all understand each other,
:05:14. > :05:17.but it was excluding a large part of the audience. The beauty of
:05:17. > :05:22.Question Time is that it brings in a broader audience and shines a
:05:22. > :05:26.light on what is going on at Westminster. Having these
:05:26. > :05:31.independent, freewheeling, outspoken people helps broaden the
:05:31. > :05:36.franchise. In is there a danger that sometimes, they might not be
:05:36. > :05:42.as well-informed as your average member? That can happen. Everybody
:05:42. > :05:45.who comes on the programme has been spoken to at length by our team, at
:05:45. > :05:49.least two research concessions to find out if they are clued-up
:05:49. > :05:56.enough on the stories of the day and have something to add. On this
:05:56. > :06:00.occasion, Johnny Rotten, or rather John Lydon, came out on three
:06:00. > :06:03.separate occasions with good points. He had things to say about the
:06:03. > :06:07.LIBOR scandal. He had a very provocative thing to say about the
:06:07. > :06:11.legalisation of drugs and took the audience on over the year Brady
:06:11. > :06:15.case. It was informed political stuff. We have had other people on
:06:15. > :06:21.who, when it has come to the crunch, the nerves have got to them, which
:06:21. > :06:27.is understandable. Even Johnny Rotten said it was the biggest gig
:06:27. > :06:33.he had ever had. One political question from a viewer. He wants to
:06:33. > :06:36.know why, in the days of a coalition, why you still give a
:06:36. > :06:41.separate lot for both the Conservatives and the Lib Dems? He
:06:41. > :06:46.says that on balances things and they should only have one of them.
:06:46. > :06:51.Are all in different territory with the coalition government. But the
:06:51. > :06:59.next election will be fought by the three parties individually. They
:06:59. > :07:03.are still three separate parties. And as with last week, if we have a
:07:03. > :07:06.minister on who is a Liberal Democrat, we will seek to have a
:07:06. > :07:12.more independent, free-thinking Conservative backbencher on the
:07:12. > :07:15.programme. We do not seek to put on a Lib Dem minister and a
:07:15. > :07:18.Conservative minister. We will put on a minister from one of the
:07:18. > :07:23.parties and a backbencher from one of the other parties. If we didn't
:07:23. > :07:29.do that, we would be in danger of under representing one of the major
:07:29. > :07:32.political parties in the UK. viewer complained about rows of
:07:32. > :07:38.lefties in the audience. How do you choose the audience, and what sort
:07:38. > :07:43.of balance do you try to achieve? Were do achieve balance. Each
:07:43. > :07:47.member of the audience is spoken to by the audience research team, and
:07:47. > :07:53.their voting intentions are recorded. Their past voting record
:07:53. > :07:57.is recorded, and they are compiled with that in mind. We have a fair
:07:57. > :08:00.proportion of Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats and other
:08:00. > :08:05.minority party voters. Now, what else has got the
:08:05. > :08:08.attention of BBC News viewers this week? Wimbledon aficionados can
:08:08. > :08:14.shelve their hopes of a British men's singles winner for another
:08:15. > :08:22.year. After the disappointment came the
:08:22. > :08:29.painful public display. The support has been incredible, so thank you.
:08:29. > :08:34.But before we forget the triumph and tears of Marray and Murray,
:08:34. > :08:44.here is a parting shot on the decision to show Murray's semi-
:08:44. > :08:58.
:08:58. > :09:08.final on BBC One instead of the And the complaints continued beyond
:09:08. > :09:17.
:09:17. > :09:22.It has been a week of technical problems for the BBC's internet
:09:22. > :09:27.services. A major technical issue let the website down on Wednesday
:09:27. > :09:31.evening. The iPlayer also went off line, while for a couple of days,
:09:31. > :09:35.the website selection of the day's was popular stories actually showed
:09:35. > :09:45.material that was a month old. Alex Wilson was one of those
:09:45. > :10:04.
:10:04. > :10:09.The BBC apologise for the problem, which was fixed by Thursday.
:10:09. > :10:19.For finally, it was goodbye this week to one bastion of BBC News,
:10:19. > :10:21.
:10:22. > :10:25.Bush House. Until now, the home of the BBC World Service. The service,
:10:25. > :10:30.which has programmes in 28 languages, has been broadcast from
:10:30. > :10:34.the imposing building in central London since 1941. Now the BBC is
:10:34. > :10:39.moving out and into a new extension of Broadcasting House, a mile or
:10:39. > :10:43.two away, where Newswatch will also move after next week. This was the
:10:43. > :10:48.final sign-off from Bush House on Thursday. So, the World Service and
:10:48. > :10:58.the news goes on, just not from here. From Bush House, that is the
:10:58. > :11:14.
:11:14. > :11:18.And it is goodbye from us, too. Thanks for your comments this week.