20/07/2012

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:00:06. > :00:15.You are watching BBC News. Time for news watch. This week, is BBC News

:00:16. > :00:24.

:00:24. > :00:32.being too negative about the Welcome to the last Newswatch of

:00:32. > :00:36.the series, and the last before you knew what. We are already Sea Inc

:00:36. > :00:42.ticketing chaos, traffic gridlock, a security nightmare and it is

:00:42. > :00:47.still raining. Since the start of last week, the revelation that G4S

:00:47. > :00:57.was unable to recruit enough guards for the venues has been widely

:00:57. > :01:31.

:01:31. > :01:36.aired. Too widely for Trevor On Monday, competitors starting

:01:36. > :01:46.arriving from all over the world but was there too much focus on the

:01:46. > :01:58.

:01:58. > :02:00.difficulties so experienced by an More bad news the next day, or with

:02:00. > :02:10.the announcement that half-a- million football tickets had been

:02:10. > :02:16.

:02:16. > :02:26.withdrawn because of poor sales. It Mark Butler summed up the mood of

:02:26. > :02:44.

:02:44. > :02:53.To respond to those used, I am joined by senior editor on the BBC

:02:53. > :02:57.News Channel. Simon, a mind- boggling negativity? No. It is not

:02:57. > :03:01.our job to rubbish the Olympic Games, it is not our job to be a

:03:01. > :03:06.cheerleader for the Games, and we don't sit around and say to one

:03:06. > :03:12.another, let's really dig deep in the undergrowth and find something

:03:13. > :03:18.bad to say about the Games. These are actual events. They happened.

:03:18. > :03:23.It is arguably news. But have you got the tone and proportion wrong?

:03:23. > :03:28.Too much attention to the exclusion of things that are working well?

:03:28. > :03:33.is what you take away from the coverage. We have been covering the

:03:33. > :03:37.positive side. We have been talking about the preparations, the stadia

:03:38. > :03:42.and venues that are ready and on time and fabulous, the number of

:03:42. > :03:47.volunteers, we had been looking ahead to the British medal hopefuls,

:03:47. > :03:53.we have been examining why we are so good at sitting down sports,

:03:53. > :03:59.like sailing and cycling, and the torch relay has been something that

:03:59. > :04:06.I really think has captured the mood. But isn't there a sense that

:04:06. > :04:10.before events happen, you are looking for stories? In June we had

:04:10. > :04:15.a couple of fine Polish ladies complaining about exaggerated

:04:15. > :04:21.coverage of racism at in Poland and said there would not be any trouble

:04:21. > :04:26.in Euro 2012 and to a great extent there wasn't. In retrospect, the

:04:26. > :04:30.coverage looked exaggerated. Is there this danger? Before the event,

:04:30. > :04:37.or you will talk about the build up, or what goes well and what has not

:04:37. > :04:40.gone so well. If you have a multi- million pound contract to sort

:04:40. > :04:45.security for the Games and two weeks before, you cannot provide

:04:45. > :04:49.the staff that is promised, and that is big news. Isn't there

:04:49. > :04:54.inevitably going to be tension between you and your colleagues,

:04:54. > :05:00.who want to continue showing the Olympics in future? We are one of

:05:00. > :05:07.the major rights holders. We are the Olympic broadcaster. We have

:05:07. > :05:12.got a fantastic amount of coverage. We have invested a lot of kit, time,

:05:12. > :05:17.effort and people into this. The sport will be just fantastic, I am

:05:17. > :05:23.sure. The news will cover the sport and the issues and if there are no

:05:23. > :05:27.problems with security on day one, boy, we will report that. When all

:05:27. > :05:31.the athletes arrived earlier in the week, yes one of your viewers

:05:31. > :05:36.complained there was a bit about one of the coaches been lost, but

:05:36. > :05:42.we interviewed people who said it was smooth sailing, it was easy, it

:05:42. > :05:47.was a piece of cake. Our reporter used the phrase "security with a

:05:47. > :05:52.smile", and as a news editor I felt that was a balanced piece of

:05:52. > :05:56.journalism, and as a human being I thought, it is coming. I am quite

:05:56. > :06:01.excited. After a summer break, we will be

:06:01. > :06:06.back in September with a new look and from a new studio. We have been

:06:06. > :06:09.broadcasting from Television Centre for eight years, during which

:06:09. > :06:15.numerous US have had their say about BBC News in no uncertain

:06:15. > :06:20.terms -- and numerous of viewers. A good point to have a look back.

:06:20. > :06:25.am annoyed that many correspondents brim reports from locations that

:06:25. > :06:28.have no relevance to the stories. What is the point of our

:06:28. > :06:34.correspondent standing in front of a lifeless building in the middle

:06:34. > :06:39.of the night? Another issue for me is the weather effects of reports,

:06:39. > :06:43.especially if it is windy and draining. I recently saw a reporter

:06:43. > :06:49.standing outside New Scotland Yard. I don't remember what she was

:06:49. > :06:55.talking about because I was too interested in her umbrella. Whether

:06:55. > :06:59.it would carry her off altogether. In at 2004, a few objected strongly

:06:59. > :07:07.to the terminology used in reporting the fighting in post-war

:07:07. > :07:13.Iraq. The only person you refer to as armed forces are allies and the

:07:13. > :07:21.only people who are tourists are people who we are fighting against.

:07:21. > :07:28.-- terrorists. Once you hit 50, women are invisible, nobody sees

:07:28. > :07:31.you any more. That is something that has got to change. That really

:07:31. > :07:38.much of the business programme of working lunch prompted this

:07:38. > :07:43.exchange. I don't understand why the format was so changed. To see

:07:43. > :07:49.someone making a dress and as set of wings like Blue Peter was

:07:49. > :07:53.absolutely extraordinary and I thought it was awful. I will do

:07:53. > :07:59.everything and admit that for the first programme, the making of the

:07:59. > :08:04.close thing was an item that went wrong... This is revolutionary

:08:04. > :08:08.stuff. A senior executive admitting it was not perfect. This panel has

:08:09. > :08:13.been the subject... There was a storm over the appearance of Mick

:08:13. > :08:18.Griffin on the British National Party on Question Time. I am not

:08:18. > :08:27.opposed to any other party, the main parties, any of the fringe

:08:27. > :08:32.parties. Been on Question Time. But the BNP is fundamentally difference.

:08:32. > :08:41.His racism are acceptable if it has enough votes? -- is racism

:08:41. > :08:46.acceptable? And that viewers had a field day in the build-up to the

:08:46. > :08:56.royal wedding. He seems relaxed. Watch the body language and the

:08:56. > :09:00.

:09:00. > :09:04.Kate Middleton it will need to tread softly when making her

:09:04. > :09:11.designer choices. The British fashion industry have spread their

:09:11. > :09:15.dreams under her feet. Last year, the BBC News website picked up a

:09:15. > :09:19.story from the Israeli press that a stray dog had been condemned to

:09:19. > :09:25.death by a Jewish rabbinical court, a story that turned out to be

:09:25. > :09:29.inaccurate. It is very disappointed to think that the BBC has herd

:09:29. > :09:34.mentality where if they know somebody else has published

:09:34. > :09:37.something, they will publish it, and it is disappointing that when

:09:38. > :09:41.it is such an unusual story, you would not spend five minutes of

:09:41. > :09:47.fact-checking it because within five minutes, you would quickly

:09:47. > :09:52.find up this story was fabricated and unsubstantiated. It is an

:09:52. > :09:56.American pop star, not a latter-day Messiah. I thought we were going to

:09:57. > :10:01.have a Diana moment. You were making him out to be somebody

:10:01. > :10:07.absolutely and totally remarkable, as if it was a national event. It

:10:07. > :10:12.was not a national event. How will you cover a national event?

:10:12. > :10:17.moves of Breakfast is Salford came under attack. I think it was a bad

:10:18. > :10:23.mistake. London is a world centre, not just an English and UK Centre,

:10:23. > :10:28.and a programme like Breakfast should be located in London. Long

:10:28. > :10:33.term I think it will affect the quality of the programme.

:10:33. > :10:39.accusation that there is too much sport and especially football on

:10:39. > :10:44.the news has been poured over over the years. It is inescapable. It is

:10:44. > :10:49.on radio, television, everywhere you look. Do we have to have

:10:49. > :10:53.pundits discussing the flexibility and temperament of the ball?

:10:53. > :10:56.gather the England goalkeeper made a pig's ear of a Save earlier in

:10:56. > :11:06.the week and I am sure he doesn't want to be reminded of it any more

:11:06. > :11:10.Thanks to all of those who have contributed to the programme and we

:11:10. > :11:16.hope you will continue to do so, but after eight years, this is my

:11:16. > :11:18.last show. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to hear your views