:00:03. > :00:13.this. Now it is time for Newswatch. This
:00:13. > :00:18.
:00:18. > :00:21.week, by Prince Philip interrupted a inspirational speech by the
:00:21. > :00:31.president of the United States has been interrupted mid-sentence by
:00:31. > :00:34.this? He is walking steadily across the pavement. How are you, sir?
:00:34. > :00:38.Did Andrew Neil give the EDL leader to harder time on the Sunday
:00:38. > :00:46.Politics? And is Russell Brand the right sort
:00:46. > :00:49.of person to invite on Question Time?
:00:49. > :00:53.There was considerable excitement in Belfast on Monday as President Obama
:00:53. > :00:58.arrived on his first official visit to Northern Ireland for the G8
:00:59. > :01:04.summit. His first appointment was addressing a -- an audience of young
:01:04. > :01:09.people and dignitaries, a speech shown live on the news channel.
:01:09. > :01:13.In today's hyper connected world, what happens here has an impact on
:01:13. > :01:23.lives far from these green shores. If you continue your courageous path
:01:23. > :01:25.
:01:25. > :01:28.are just going to leave Belfast and take you to London, where the Duke
:01:28. > :01:36.of Edinburgh is leaving hospital ten days after he was at miss it. Our
:01:36. > :01:44.correspondent there is Peter Hunt. He is walking steadily across the
:01:44. > :01:54.pavement. Into the car. He is carrying a book. How are you, sir?
:01:54. > :02:31.
:02:31. > :02:36.And so came them none, but several channel on Monday morning was Simon
:02:36. > :02:42.Waldman, he joins me now. Explain to me why you make that decision to cut
:02:42. > :02:48.away from Obama's speech. One of the purposes of the news channel is to
:02:48. > :02:52.bring breaking news and live pictures to the audience. I think
:02:52. > :02:57.that the departure of the Duke from hospital tick the box in both those
:02:57. > :03:02.categories. It was both breaking news and it was live. Technically,
:03:02. > :03:05.yes, but it was very small news and everyone knew he was going to be
:03:05. > :03:11.leaving. Nobody expected him to say anything. We still don't know what
:03:11. > :03:14.his condition was. The commentary: The door is closing, the traffic is
:03:14. > :03:20.resuming... Is that really more important than the president of the
:03:20. > :03:22.United States? It was a half-hour speech which we have been trailing
:03:22. > :03:27.heavily all morning because he thought it was an interesting event
:03:27. > :03:33.for the viewers. Bar the 92nd in the middle of it when we showed that
:03:33. > :03:35.Duke leaving hospital, we took the whole speech. But there you have the
:03:35. > :03:38.disjointed viewing experience that people complain about. Either you
:03:38. > :03:44.will give them the event when watching this speech is part of it,
:03:44. > :03:47.or you are not. He is 92 years old, it is his third trip to hospital in
:03:47. > :03:52.the last few months, he is worried to Monaco of the realm and there
:03:52. > :03:57.have been bit concerned about his health. -- in Monaco of the realm. I
:03:57. > :04:00.thought it was justifiable to break in briefly to the live event of
:04:00. > :04:07.Obama's speech, which was a fascinating and lifting and
:04:07. > :04:17.inspiring speech. It was not new policy. But you even interrupted him
:04:17. > :04:17.
:04:17. > :04:24.in mid-sentence. The Cavalier lead cut away for something which view is
:04:24. > :04:29.regarded in comparison as not very important. It could have been
:04:29. > :04:32.scrawled as a piece of information. Clearly, it created a disjointed
:04:32. > :04:38.viewing experience, for which I am sorry. We try to make it as smooth
:04:38. > :04:42.as possible by splitting the screen so that you have Obama on one side,
:04:42. > :04:48.but we show the door with the Prince walking out. We went to it and we
:04:48. > :04:54.judged this very carefully, and at the last possible moment, so as to
:04:54. > :04:58.be away from Obama for as little time as possible. These
:04:58. > :05:01.technicalities, but the bigger concern is that they -- viewers
:05:01. > :05:06.think you are devaluing the concept of breaking news by cutting away
:05:06. > :05:12.every time something happens. something that we do consider and
:05:12. > :05:15.think about, and there is a much deeper debate about what constitutes
:05:15. > :05:19.breaking news, what constitutes something that you will break into a
:05:19. > :05:23.live event for that you will interrupt your preplanned series of
:05:23. > :05:31.stories for, you're running order, four. We think about it carefully
:05:31. > :05:34.and I think there is a danger that the currency can become devalued. If
:05:34. > :05:39.you should a red strap on the screen saying breaking news all the time,
:05:39. > :05:45.you do devalued the currency, but I think fine breaking news is
:05:45. > :05:50.something that is still happening absolutely now. I have a rule of
:05:50. > :05:56.thumb, I'm not sure if it is policy or not, but if something is not
:05:56. > :06:01.worth reporting in some form in an hour's time, then it's probably not
:06:01. > :06:04.worth breaking now. I'm sorry, but the Duke leaving hospital at 92
:06:05. > :06:11.years of age, was, to my mind, breaking news. Simon Waldman, thank
:06:11. > :06:15.you very much. Do tell us what you think of the
:06:15. > :06:23.news channel's policy on breaking News or any other issues that catch
:06:23. > :06:27.your eye. Details of how to contact us at the end of the programme.
:06:27. > :06:37.The G8 meeting, for which President Obama visited Northern Ireland, gave
:06:37. > :07:06.
:07:06. > :07:10.rise to another set of complaints on reported in the press was not
:07:10. > :07:14.confirmed or denied by the BBC. A spokesman did respond that staff at
:07:14. > :07:20.the summit were reporting for a wide range of outlets and audiences on
:07:20. > :07:23.this globally important story. Last week I spoke to Andrew Neil
:07:23. > :07:29.about criticisms of a discussion he chaired for the Sunday Politics, and
:07:29. > :07:33.this week, another interview on his programme with Tommy Robinson of the
:07:33. > :07:40.English Defence League, was in the firing line. You always claiming
:07:40. > :07:47.that the ADL is not racist fascist. -- EDL. Racial epithets have been
:07:47. > :07:52.slung all over the place. No, they don't... You intimidate ordinary
:07:52. > :07:58.Muslims. He behaved like fascists. After what happened in Woolwich, we
:07:58. > :08:01.could have chosen to go into East London... More than 200 viewers
:08:01. > :08:05.contacted the BBC to say they thought that the baby -- the
:08:05. > :08:08.interview was too aggressive. We asked one of them to go into our
:08:08. > :08:18.vetting studio to explain his reaction to Andrew Neil's line of
:08:18. > :08:18.
:08:18. > :08:24.some sort of outburst. As the interview developed, rather than
:08:24. > :08:28.Andrew Neil actually taking on board Robinson's responses and then
:08:28. > :08:31.dealing with those, he seemed more concerned with his own agenda and
:08:31. > :08:36.the points that he wanted to get through. Following the Robinson
:08:36. > :08:41.interview, Andrew Neil moved over to interview the gentleman from the
:08:41. > :08:47.Muslim Council. I felt he conducted that in a very dignified and benign
:08:47. > :08:52.way. He allowed the gentleman to complete all of his responses before
:08:52. > :08:56.moving on, and that really was in complete contrast to the way in
:08:56. > :09:00.which she handled the interview with Robinson. I do think that sort of
:09:00. > :09:05.unbalanced interviewing actors give people like the EDL the opportunity
:09:05. > :09:13.which they shouldn't have two cry out that they have been treated
:09:13. > :09:23.unfairly. -- to cry out. We asked Andrew Neil for a response,
:09:23. > :09:46.
:09:46. > :09:52.moved on from Northern Ireland to Berlin, where, on a hot day, he gave
:09:52. > :09:54.a speech. Afterwards, the 6pm news turns to its man on the spot.
:09:54. > :10:00.North American editor was watching North American editor was watching
:10:00. > :10:10.and he joins Some people thought that Mark Mardell's on-screen
:10:10. > :10:25.
:10:25. > :10:29.appearance left much to be divided increasingly putting celebrities on
:10:29. > :10:37.that panel. Last Thursday's position included bigger media and Russell
:10:37. > :10:40.Brand. The Augean of anchor bashing is what we are in for. An old of any
:10:40. > :10:45.kind would be great, but one that focuses on banker bashing would be
:10:45. > :10:48.the best kind or GI could imagine. What you said, mate, was wicked,
:10:49. > :10:52.saying that the system encourages that kind of behaviour.
:10:52. > :11:02.Some people thought he was not a suitable contributor to the
:11:02. > :11:09.
:11:09. > :11:12.programme, with Pauline Findlay week. If you want to share your
:11:12. > :11:21.opinions on BBC News and current affairs or even appear on the
:11:21. > :11:29.programme, you can call us on the telephone or e-mail us. And you can