:00:00. > :00:00.have been made. `` children's programme. Looking forward to that
:00:00. > :00:11.episode tomorrow showing in 80 countries simultaneously.
:00:12. > :00:22.Hello. This week on the programme: From JFK to Doctor Who, BBC News has
:00:23. > :00:29.been awash with anniversaries, but do they qualify as news? A tale of
:00:30. > :00:37.two Nobel laureates, does is demonstrate that BBC News has a bias
:00:38. > :00:41.for the arts over sciences? And how these people reviewing the
:00:42. > :00:49.papers just having too much fun? `` are these people.
:00:50. > :00:52.The 22nd of November 1963 was a day that went down in history for
:00:53. > :01:02.several reasons. Most famously it was when JFK was assassinated. On
:01:03. > :01:11.the same day, there was the deaths of Aldus Huxley and CS Lewis.
:01:12. > :01:16.President Lincoln's Gettysburg address was on 50 years before. What
:01:17. > :01:24.has that got to do with news? We will look at that soon. Now a look
:01:25. > :01:29.back at those anniversaries. Doctor Who has reached a special
:01:30. > :01:35.milestone, 50 years on our TV screens. The first ever episode was
:01:36. > :01:40.broadcast on November the 23rd 1963 and since then, audiences have met
:01:41. > :01:47.11 doctors. To murk its 50th year, a special reception was held at
:01:48. > :01:50.Buckingham Palace. Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg
:01:51. > :01:55.address of the most important speech in American history. Subsequent
:01:56. > :02:00.presidents have come to Gettysburg to pay homage. It is uncanny that
:02:01. > :02:05.these two anniversaries should fall in the same week. For Gettysburg and
:02:06. > :02:10.John F. Kennedy are connected. Instantly iconic, the images are so
:02:11. > :02:15.familiar. The welcoming crowds, the famed pink suit, the open top
:02:16. > :02:19.limousine. 50 years on and we still don't have a definitive account of
:02:20. > :02:29.what happened at the world's most infamous crime scene.
:02:30. > :02:41.It truly is, you know, bigger on the inside.
:02:42. > :02:54.On Monday, Mrs Digby was already e`mailing us to beg:
:02:55. > :03:22.other view is treated as there is more generally on the news.
:03:23. > :03:40.Catherine thought: Simon Burke was more positive,
:03:41. > :03:59.rating: Laura feared a glut of anniversaries
:04:00. > :04:06.in 2014. I am joined by the editor of BBC News. Paul, can we start with
:04:07. > :04:12.Doctor Who? It was the main concern of viewers. It felt to me like an
:04:13. > :04:20.endless plugging of a BBC franchise. 1`mac it was not a plug. We have a
:04:21. > :04:24.remit to cover business, economics, art and entertainment. Doctor Who is
:04:25. > :04:29.a massive global brand. It is loved and watched by millions around the
:04:30. > :04:32.world. It is the world's longest running sci`fi series, so our
:04:33. > :04:36.coverage of Doctor Who is in that context and is about Doctor Who's
:04:37. > :04:41.place in British broadcasting history and its impact on cultural
:04:42. > :04:48.history and entertainment history in the UK and around the world. More
:04:49. > :04:51.widely, 1963, it feels, has thrown up a lot of 50th anniversaries and
:04:52. > :04:58.this has felt a bit like an obsession: JFK, Jonny Wilkinson's
:04:59. > :05:03.drop killer goal from ten years ago, 150 years since the Gettysburg
:05:04. > :05:10.address, the Martin Luther King I Have A Read speech. People are
:05:11. > :05:15.wondering whether it should be such a big part of the news. There are
:05:16. > :05:20.lots of anniversaries we don't cover and ironically we get complaints
:05:21. > :05:24.from some viewers that we have not covered certain anniversaries. The
:05:25. > :05:30.reason it will make it into our news coverage is if it is deemed to be
:05:31. > :05:35.important and. So 50 years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy,
:05:36. > :05:42.the historical context of that is in huge `` a huge interest. There
:05:43. > :05:47.events all this week to remember John F. Kennedy and they are a news
:05:48. > :05:50.event in themselves and there is a discussion about what's John F.
:05:51. > :05:56.Kennedy represents and how that plays into America and what America
:05:57. > :05:59.believes about itself today. They are the reasons behind an
:06:00. > :06:03.anniversary making it into a news programme. A lot of those issues
:06:04. > :06:06.people would say are covered adequately in the huge range of
:06:07. > :06:12.documentaries that are made by the BBC. One correspondent said that I
:06:13. > :06:16.am bored senseless with this anniversary and the endless
:06:17. > :06:19.speculating. There is a concern that in the news coverage, if you're just
:06:20. > :06:26.reporting on actual events of commemoration that to be one thing,
:06:27. > :06:32.but a lot of Friday has been caught up with anticipating the event. You
:06:33. > :06:38.lack in terms of news in the `` bulletins,
:06:39. > :06:41.lack in terms of news in the `` rationale we have in deciding
:06:42. > :06:45.whether a certain anniversaries makes it into a news bulletin or
:06:46. > :06:49.not. What other contemporary news event around that anniversary that
:06:50. > :06:54.helped it at into a news programme? I would not necessarily agree that
:06:55. > :06:58.the anniversary stories just walk into the bulletins as a lazy way to
:06:59. > :07:03.fill our programmes, in fact they are significant and important in
:07:04. > :07:07.themselves. We should end by looking ahead. Next year there is the
:07:08. > :07:12.centenary of World War I and there will clearly be a lot of events.
:07:13. > :07:17.I've given to rethink how much news coverage, as opposed to
:07:18. > :07:23.documentaries specials, I devoted to potentially all those things? This
:07:24. > :07:27.is an important moment, 100 years since the start of World War I. We
:07:28. > :07:35.already know there are major news moments that will be happening over
:07:36. > :07:38.the course of 2014 involving presidents and heads of state and we
:07:39. > :07:40.will cover those. Our audience will expect us to do that. Thank you so
:07:41. > :07:50.much. Do let us know your thoughts on that
:07:51. > :07:56.or any other aspect of BBC News and stay tuned for details of how to
:07:57. > :08:00.contact us. Does BBC News have a bias in favour of the art
:08:01. > :08:01.oversights? Evidence that it does with the detected by two viewers
:08:02. > :08:52.this week, Elizabeth explains: there were more accusations of
:08:53. > :08:57.pretend or manufactured news on Thursday with reports that former
:08:58. > :08:59.members of an undercover unit used by the British Army in Northern
:09:00. > :09:04.Ireland had said that unarmed civilians were killed in a familiar
:09:05. > :09:05.complaint Julian from Cardiff was one of those e`mailing along these
:09:06. > :09:26.lines: Scores of viewers contacted the BBC
:09:27. > :09:28.about the trial of those accused of killing Fusilier Lee Rigby. Typical
:09:29. > :09:38.was this e`mail by Bob Anderson. We put that question to the BBC UK
:09:39. > :10:07.news editor. He told us: Finally, every evening at 10:30pm,
:10:08. > :10:11.the news channel shows the papers, billed as a lively and informed
:10:12. > :10:19.discussion about the next day's headlines. Tuesday's edition was
:10:20. > :10:23.certainly lively. We are talking about the lead that
:10:24. > :10:32.Mr Booker has decided to put on the front of his new paper. Which is...
:10:33. > :10:46.A lot of people have bad hearts out there, Clive. OK. A pox upon you
:10:47. > :10:52.both. Oh, I'm sorry. Will you please be sensible? We will have another
:10:53. > :10:57.look at the stories behind the headlines, so stay with us.
:10:58. > :10:59.They were all obviously enjoying themselves, but Joanna wasn't. Her
:11:00. > :11:15.response? Thank you for all of your comments
:11:16. > :11:18.this week. If you want to share your opinions on BBC News and current
:11:19. > :11:24.offence or even appear on the programme, you can call us on: ``
:11:25. > :11:39.current affairs. It can search for and watch previous
:11:40. > :11:42.editions of the programme on the website. We'll be back to hear your
:11:43. > :11:44.thoughts next week. Goodbye.