:00:00. > :00:09.NASDAQ feared. Time now for Newswatch.
:00:10. > :00:17.Welcome to Newswatch. On this week's programme, see you in court,
:00:18. > :00:21.viewers can watch proceedings and the Court of Appeal but the ball
:00:22. > :00:29.that benefit either the law or the `` TV journalism?
:00:30. > :00:34.Saint Jude's storm hit southern Britain on Sunday night but was the
:00:35. > :00:39.BBC coverage behind? Changes for sentencing of dog
:00:40. > :00:47.owners. Half staff being getting a rough deal from the BBC?
:00:48. > :00:57.A Halloween horror show for the more traditionally minded Newsnight
:00:58. > :01:04.viewers. Before St Jude storm hit, they were widespread predictions
:01:05. > :01:07.that being a UK's worst for over a decade and there was considerable
:01:08. > :01:12.damage with hundreds of thousands left without power. Many viewers
:01:13. > :01:20.felt BBC News exaggerated its impact. Was that connected to how
:01:21. > :01:37.BBC forecasting had underestimated the storms of 1987?
:01:38. > :02:06.We asked another viewer who contacted us to go on to go into the
:02:07. > :02:13.studio together give us her reaction. At least four people have
:02:14. > :02:22.died in one of the worst storms to tear through southern parts of the
:02:23. > :02:28.UK in recent years... The extent of coverage was too much and too long.
:02:29. > :02:33.It was hyped as one of the worst storms since 1987 is a lovely one
:02:34. > :02:39.was on cue ready to do a report on the storm. I wonder if there was the
:02:40. > :02:46.better of a bias for the South getting those extended views. With
:02:47. > :02:55.the same have happened in Scotland, would it have been covered in so
:02:56. > :03:01.much debt? `` depth. I think some of the reporting was a bit trivial
:03:02. > :03:07.especially when you have in areas like Syria children dying daily and
:03:08. > :03:12.then you have a woman being upset because she could not boil her
:03:13. > :03:16.kettle that morning. There was no value.
:03:17. > :03:37.We asked BBC news for the response and we were given this statement.
:03:38. > :03:45.From dangerous weather to dangerous dogs and news of tougher penalties
:03:46. > :03:49.for orders whose animals seriously injure or kill. Some felt it was
:03:50. > :04:01.unfair to suggest only certain breeds were involved. One said...
:04:02. > :04:09.There were more complaints earlier in the week about a story on the BBC
:04:10. > :04:14.News website on the allegedly tapping of Angela Merkel's forum. ``
:04:15. > :04:42.phone. From 1925 until this week, it was an
:04:43. > :04:48.offence to sell or take photographs in court in England or Wales. Even
:04:49. > :04:52.sketch artists have had to drop from memory but on Thursday that changed
:04:53. > :05:02.with the first broadcast from the court of appeal. Is this a slippery
:05:03. > :05:12.slope? We the jury find the defendant, OJ Smpson, not guilty.
:05:13. > :05:16.Live trial is broadcast around the world have become familiar to us and
:05:17. > :05:27.Scottish courts have been open to Canada since 1992. I sentence you to
:05:28. > :05:34.life imprisonment... In England and Wales, apart from the Supreme Court
:05:35. > :05:42.they have been banned up until this. Strict rules governing the broadcast
:05:43. > :05:53.which are jointly made for the BBC, ITV, sky. There will be a 72nd delay
:05:54. > :05:57.before the material is transmitted and judges can exclude cameras if
:05:58. > :06:08.they think it is in the interests of justice. `` 70 second. One viewer
:06:09. > :06:18.was less than grep CN... `` gripped saying... Others saw it as a step
:06:19. > :06:25.forward for justice and journalism but only if it eventually led to the
:06:26. > :06:30.broadcasting of criminal trials. What do you hope to gain from the
:06:31. > :06:37.start of cameras in the Court of Appeal? What we hoped to gain was
:06:38. > :06:41.that we felt that in the 21st`century where pictures are
:06:42. > :06:45.everywhere and it is an important way of describing things that it
:06:46. > :06:50.would be useful in terms of showing what open justice means. It is a way
:06:51. > :06:56.of opening up the courts and increasing people's understanding.
:06:57. > :07:02.Given all the restrictions some people are saying it is pretty dull.
:07:03. > :07:06.I have a lot of sympathy for that viewpoint because it was a fairly
:07:07. > :07:14.dull case and we were doing it just because we could but we will pick
:07:15. > :07:17.cases on their merits. This could be a bit compromised if you're having
:07:18. > :07:22.to negotiate all the way through the coverage? It is not so much
:07:23. > :07:26.negotiating with the courts as with other broadcasters. There is a
:07:27. > :07:34.presumption they will open themselves up to having covered
:07:35. > :07:37.whatever we wish to cover. I do not think our editorial and turf ``
:07:38. > :07:46.editorial control will be interfered with. You ultimately what criminal
:07:47. > :07:52.trials? It is a sensationalist way of putting it. Long`term, we would
:07:53. > :07:57.like to be in the crown court doing criminal trials. I can understand
:07:58. > :08:03.the anxieties that go with that and some of them are absolutely
:08:04. > :08:07.legitimate, such as the fear that will put off witnesses from
:08:08. > :08:16.appearing. It is an ordeal enough to go in. We're not talking that. The
:08:17. > :08:19.legislation does allow that some point for potentially the crown
:08:20. > :08:26.court to be opened up for sentencing and no more than that, so we would
:08:27. > :08:37.not see anything like the OJ Smpson trial that the Americans had.
:08:38. > :08:42.Damon Kennedy `` Dame Kennedy said she is worried that it is ultimately
:08:43. > :08:47.a slippery slope and you have people that are innocent until proven
:08:48. > :08:52.guilty. We are allowed to report on what goes on at the moment and what
:08:53. > :09:00.I would say is that already the public can go in and watch a case.
:09:01. > :09:10.They are already a lowdown. `` allowed in. Is that not the
:09:11. > :09:14.difference? Reading it at that removes is different to picture is
:09:15. > :09:20.being broadcast in every home and the potential media circus there? As
:09:21. > :09:25.you saw from the case we filmed yesterday, the idea that there was
:09:26. > :09:32.anything like a media circus surrounding that, that is not going
:09:33. > :09:41.to happen. It was incredibly polite and arguably through dry and dusty.
:09:42. > :09:47.I believe we are in the business we are in and that people should be
:09:48. > :09:54.able to see what it says that we are already using a journalist to report
:09:55. > :09:58.on. People have what is going on in court reflected through somebody's
:09:59. > :10:05.perspective. This way they could see for themselves.
:10:06. > :10:12.Before recall, Halloween on Thursday night was marked by Newsnight in
:10:13. > :10:17.what is becoming an increasingly attention grabbing style.
:10:18. > :10:25.That is just about all for this Halloween night. Be careful out
:10:26. > :10:27.there. MUSIC: "Thriller" by Michael
:10:28. > :10:44.Jackson. Many viewers went Twitter to see how
:10:45. > :10:49.you use the wearer by that but others are clearly tiring of these
:10:50. > :11:02.stunts. One thought it was a case of...
:11:03. > :11:09.We've invited Newsnight's editor onto the programme to discuss his
:11:10. > :11:17.approach. He has been unable to join us so far but we hope he will be
:11:18. > :11:22.here very soon. If you want to share your opinions or volunteer to
:11:23. > :11:34.appeared, you can contact us on the above.
:11:35. > :11:49.That's all from us, back to hear your thoughts next week. Goodbye.
:11:50. > :11:58.Jumped the shark with more wet and windy weather to come. `` it feels
:11:59. > :12:15.about like the weather has jumped the shark. In the north, clear skies
:12:16. > :12:18.are you `` a low fog to form. A mild night with temperatures in double
:12:19. > :12:27.digits in the South. Quite chilly for the North with some frost in
:12:28. > :12:34.rural areas. A bright start in the north`eastern corner of the UK but
:12:35. > :12:37.cloud in the West and a wet morning for Northern Ireland.