:00:03. > :00:11.Now on BBC News it is time for Newswatch. Samira Ahmed hears your
:00:11. > :00:17.reactions to BBC News viewing over Christmas and the New Year.
:00:17. > :00:25.Happy New Year. Welcome to the first Newswatch of 2013, with me
:00:25. > :00:30.Samira Ahmed. Since we were last on air not everyone is gripped by
:00:30. > :00:36.financial Armageddon in the United States. Some were concerned about
:00:36. > :00:42.hearing the Queen's Christmas Message before Christmas. Others
:00:42. > :00:51.have complained there were endless reviews of the year. First, much of
:00:51. > :00:57.the news coverage focus odden the need to stop a crisis in the United
:00:57. > :01:01.States. The fiscal cliff was a cliff as far as the media were
:01:02. > :01:06.concerned. One last session of Congress. One last day of
:01:06. > :01:11.negotiations and America is staring into the economic unknown. The deal
:01:11. > :01:15.was, as we know done, cue sighs of relief from the financial market,
:01:15. > :01:19.which some believed this mattered hugely to the world economy and
:01:19. > :01:29.therefore to Britain. Several Newswatch viewers were less than
:01:29. > :01:32.
:01:32. > :01:42.gripped, including Guy Foster, who James Kay e-mailed on New Year's
:01:42. > :01:48.
:01:48. > :01:53.More complaints came in the later part of the week about this story.
:01:53. > :01:56.Jim Davidson is the tenth person to be questioned as part of Operation
:01:56. > :02:00.Yewtree. While he was being interviewed at a police station in
:02:00. > :02:05.London, officers were taking away items from his home in Hampshire. A
:02:05. > :02:11.second man was arrested at another address in the county, also on
:02:11. > :02:15.suspicion of sexual offences. Nash contacted us, asking why
:02:15. > :02:25.should you be able to identify one person and yet leave the other
:02:25. > :02:38.
:02:38. > :02:43.One staple of news bulletins elicited reaction. Judith Moritz at
:02:43. > :02:48.the White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds. Whilst some shops started
:02:48. > :02:53.their sales some time ago and some websites saw massive activity on
:02:53. > :03:03.Christmas Day, there is affection for the national Boxing Day
:03:03. > :03:30.
:03:30. > :03:34.Now, talking of regular TV festive features none comes more so than
:03:34. > :03:41.the Queen's Christmas Message. Started by her uncle in 1932, they
:03:41. > :03:49.have been on television since 1957, reaching an audience peak of 27
:03:49. > :03:53.million. The latest had nine million viewers. Here is Nicholas
:03:53. > :03:59.Witchell in a report shown on Christmas Eve.
:03:59. > :04:02.At the end of a memorable year for Britain and the Royal Family, the
:04:03. > :04:06.Queen's Christmas broadcast this year is expected to look back at
:04:06. > :04:12.the highlights, from her Diamond Jubilee, when crowds celebrated her
:04:12. > :04:22.60 years on the throne and to the London Olympics. The report showed
:04:22. > :04:43.
:04:43. > :04:48.some from the Queen's Christmas After the broadcast had gone out,
:04:49. > :04:58.several viewers made a point, articulated here in a Boxing Day e-
:04:59. > :05:25.
:05:25. > :05:35.We asked BBC News to respond to those points and no-one was
:05:35. > :05:58.
:05:58. > :06:02.available to in person. They gave Well, one viewer who contacted us
:06:03. > :06:10.about the Queen's message was Susan Sommerville and she joins me from
:06:10. > :06:15.our Edinburgh studio. Thank you for speaking to us. Can you sum up your
:06:15. > :06:21.key concern? Yes, it was the fact that we were being told what she
:06:21. > :06:26.was going to say and there was an extract of the actual speech. I
:06:26. > :06:33.really like to watch it on the day and hear what she says fresh rather
:06:33. > :06:37.than have it preamleed the day before. The BBC has explained the
:06:37. > :06:43.palace release these clips in advance, in a way they want us to
:06:43. > :06:49.use them in the way the Prime Minister's speeches are released in
:06:49. > :06:52.advanced. Isn't it the BBC's job to give this as news. Now I know that,
:06:52. > :06:56.that is very interesting. Obviously it would be the BBC's job to report
:06:56. > :07:01.that. I think it is rather sad though that we are told what is
:07:01. > :07:07.going to happen. It is like news is news before it is news. I would
:07:07. > :07:12.prefer to hear it on the day. It is a shame the palace are doing this.
:07:12. > :07:16.Is this a trend then? Do you think, as a viewer, it is not helpful?
:07:16. > :07:19.me, it was the icing on the cake, this particular broadcast on
:07:20. > :07:24.Christmas Eve. I have been worried for a while, that we are constantly
:07:24. > :07:29.hearing what will happen. It has been irritating me and my husband
:07:29. > :07:33.for some time. This, for me, was the last straw, which is why I
:07:33. > :07:39.wrote in. Another question may be how far the Queen's speech is
:07:39. > :07:43.relevant now. Not everyone sits down to watch television at 3pm and
:07:43. > :07:48.there is a question of whether it should get news coverage it does?
:07:48. > :07:53.For me and my family it is an important part of Christmas Day. We
:07:53. > :07:57.spent it with friends. Our plan was to listen to the Queen at 3pm and
:07:57. > :08:04.then we sat down for our lunch. That is a pattern we follow every
:08:04. > :08:08.year. For me it is the only time we hear the Queen say what she wants
:08:08. > :08:13.to say. So aefpb she says nothing or is speaking the words of our
:08:13. > :08:19.Government. I like to hear what she has to say from her personal point
:08:19. > :08:23.of view. You will hear some complaints was the concern that the
:08:23. > :08:27.summary ignored the Chris yas message. Is that a concern --
:08:27. > :08:31.Christmas message. Is that a concern for you? For me it is
:08:31. > :08:35.important that I hear it in her speech and that perhaps whether the
:08:35. > :08:39.BBC needs to report that beforehand, I think most of us that know the
:08:39. > :08:42.Queen, know that is important for her. Certainly, it is a difficult
:08:42. > :08:45.balance because there are so many different multi-faiths in our
:08:45. > :08:50.country. For the Queen it is a very important thing. Therefore, for me
:08:50. > :08:58.it is important. What if anything would you change about BBC coverage
:08:58. > :09:03.of the Queen's speech, knowing that the palace encourages an tis pay
:09:03. > :09:11.Tory coverage of it? If they are encouraging you, that puts you in a
:09:11. > :09:15.dilemma. I think perhaps say report, the content -- say report the
:09:15. > :09:21.context of the speech. If you know it is about to happen... A look
:09:21. > :09:26.away now thing? Like the sports results. Susan Sommerville. Thank
:09:26. > :09:33.you very much. Thank you. Just time for a couple more of your comments
:09:33. > :09:37.on BBC News. Although having watched programmes
:09:37. > :09:47.like this over the holiday period, some viewers were left asking, what
:09:47. > :10:17.
:10:17. > :10:23.Finally, one story that was covered just before Christmas was the end
:10:23. > :10:29.of the world, or at least the non- arrival of the apobg ka lis as
:10:29. > :10:33.predicted, according to some in the mayon calendar, as as marked in a
:10:33. > :10:38.series of ceremonies in Central America. It is relief that we are
:10:38. > :10:48.all here, of course. David Johnson was not happy with the coverage, e-
:10:48. > :11:13.