18/10/2013 Newswatch

head home. This week, did BBC News focus too

much on the Madeleine McCann case? Welcome to Newswatch. New images are

released of a man seen carrying a child on the night Madeleine McCann

went missing. Why does her disappearance over six years ago

continue to dominate the news? And what should the BBC call the

latest change in housing benefit rules?

And after the Cookie Monster last week, this week The Clangers or on

the news. A child disappears in the UK every

three minutes and though the vast majority are found within a few

hours or days, hundreds of and 18th are still missing one year later.

One has come to the attention of the public more than any other.

Madeleine McCann. On Monday the BBC News at six lead on the latest on

the case. Police say it is vitally important that they seek to a man

seen by eyewitnesses at the time. They have issued to images of the

suspect. But this police are still looking for 41 people. They are

still working to track these people down. They do not expect an imminent

conclusion. The word today was that investigations like this are a long

slog. And you can see the fool Crimewatch appeal on BBC One tonight

at 9pm. `` see the complete Crimewatch appeal.

Another viewer went into our studio in Hull. They have been successful

in getting the exposure. The BBC and other media take this up. I admire

the persistence and enterprise. It is unfortunate for other people who

do not have that drive. There must be hundreds of cases where children

have disappeared. Concentrating on one case draws resources away from

other cases which are probably just as important. To respond to these

points is the head of the BBC newsroom. Many people sympathise

with their family. But many viewers think four days of

stories and a trail for a nap coming programme is not really news `` a

trail for a forthcoming programme. There is a lot of interest. There

are audiences for whom this story does not engage them. We are making

a judgement in news terms. We felt very clearly that some of the new

developments that where emerging through the Crimewatch programme

were important and significant. The police were saying they did not

expect anything to change magically in the next few days or weeks. `` to

change dramatically. People felt it was excessive. Police

were giving new information based on the recent work I do London Met.

There was a different timeline. We judged that there were significant

developments in a case which has been going on for a long time. It

has been dramatic. It has been lengthy. There was a long periods

where we have not been doing much coverage. This was a moment when we

felt there were new things to report. Some viewers expressed

concern that the focus on one case. We make our own judgements about

which cases to follow. I can point to many other cases that we have

reported. There are particular reasons why this story has had a

salience over the years. Not least the nature of the original

investigation. The subsequent involvement of the net. `` the

Metropolitan Police. And the fact that a lot of British public money

has been put into this case. It is important for us to track. Who knows

where that these latest developments will lead to arrests or

prosecutions. But it is significant. There are a lot of resources and it

seemed important that we should track this case.

Please do let us know about the way the BBC covers the news. There are

details of how to contact us at the end of the programme.

The last`minute bill to end the US shutdown elicited this response.

In this country the word Democrat might not be seen as an insult.

But there is controversy over how to describe housing benefit changes.

The spear room subsidies which was introduced, which is also called the

bedroom tax, was intended to save ?500 million. A study indicates that

?160 million of expected savings may not be realised.

That qualification of the term bedroom tax is normally used on BBC

News, that's not always. This weekend many policies have been

brought out. A pledge to reverse the bedroom tax. What is the best and

most neutral way to describe this change in housing benefit rules?

But it is also true that this is not actually a tax at all.

Echoes the of the poll tax, or should I say the community charge?

Also give us your views on the return of The Clangers.

This has worked one of the viewers who wrote?

Thank you for all your comments this week. You can share your opinions or

volunteer to appear on the programme by contacting us.

That is all for now. We will be back next