:00:00. > :00:00.Dimbleby. Now it is time for Newswatch with Samira Ahmed.
:00:00. > :00:07.fight for freedom resented by David Dimbleby. Now it is This week, the
:00:08. > :00:10.BBC's Director of News response to complaints that coverage of Nelson
:00:11. > :00:12.Mandela's death was at the expense of crucial updates on the east coast
:00:13. > :00:18.of the UK. Welcome to Newswatch. of the UK. Welcome to Newswatch
:00:19. > :00:24.The death of Nelson Mandela on as was going to be a big story but on
:00:25. > :00:29.the night of the worst storm surge first 60 years and flooding on the
:00:30. > :00:37.East, did the BBC get its priorities right? James Harding, Director of
:00:38. > :00:43.News, is here to answer complaints and to discuss plans for the future
:00:44. > :00:48.of news coverage. David Cameron called him a hero of our time.
:00:49. > :00:55.Barack Obama paid tribute to his unbending will. The Queen described
:00:56. > :00:59.his legacy as the peaceful South Africa we see today. The death of
:01:00. > :01:06.Nelson Mandela was major news will stop BBC One interrupted programmes
:01:07. > :01:10.and extended the news is time. Good evening. Nelson Mandela, the father
:01:11. > :01:17.of Whaddon South Africa has died at the age of 95. He was a freedom
:01:18. > :01:27.fighter who became a global president, carrying the hopes and
:01:28. > :01:35.freedom of his people. `` the father of modern South Africa. Meanwhile, a
:01:36. > :01:37.huge storm hit parts of eastern England with thousands of people
:01:38. > :01:43.forced to evacuate their homes. Thousands of complaints were
:01:44. > :01:47.received from viewers that the coverage of the death of Mandela was
:01:48. > :01:57.in spite of the developing situation. One viewer wrote...
:01:58. > :02:21.The headlines on BBC News: I have been discussing those points
:02:22. > :02:25.with the BBC's Director of News He I have been discussing those points
:02:26. > :02:27.with the BBC's Director of News. He with the BBC's Director of News. He
:02:28. > :02:32.joined the corporation in August and outlined his priorities to staff in
:02:33. > :02:37.a speech. I have been talking to him about rebuilding the reputation of
:02:38. > :02:46.BBC news since the Jimmy Savile and Lord McAlpine scandals. First, the
:02:47. > :02:50.prioritisation of the death of Nelson Mandela was wrong. I'm sorry
:02:51. > :02:55.if people believed we did not inform them fully what was happening with
:02:56. > :03:01.the weather in the north`east. The decision`making was around the
:03:02. > :03:06.importance of Nelson Mandela, probably the most important
:03:07. > :03:10.statesman of the last 100 years and a man who has defined freedom and
:03:11. > :03:16.justice and reconciliation and forgiveness so the importance of his
:03:17. > :03:21.life and marking his death seemed extremely clear to others. In
:03:22. > :03:26.addition, there is a lot of news which is rolling so you see
:03:27. > :03:31.President Obama come out and make comments, David Cameron making
:03:32. > :03:40.comments, the BBC managed to get FW de Klerk. Could you not have put
:03:41. > :03:44.more of the comments online and put more information about the flooding
:03:45. > :03:48.at the top of the bulletins? I completely take your point about the
:03:49. > :03:54.weather. What's happening closest to where people live matters
:03:55. > :03:58.enormously. We had been producing coverage from early in the day,
:03:59. > :04:04.especially when storms were at their strongest. If we had seen news where
:04:05. > :04:11.we needed to inform people immediately, we would have done so.
:04:12. > :04:17.We used local radio and online for the weather. I thought for BBC
:04:18. > :04:22.life, we were telling people as they switched on the news and came home
:04:23. > :04:28.that President Nelson Mandela, a man of particular significance had died.
:04:29. > :04:30.This is your first interview since taking over as Director of News,
:04:31. > :04:31.This is your first interview since taking over as Director of News you
:04:32. > :04:35.taking over as Director of News, you said you want to see more
:04:36. > :04:38.investigative reporting but after the disasters of Jimmy Savile and
:04:39. > :04:45.Lord McAlpine reporting, what will be different? I was trying to see
:04:46. > :04:48.that there were people after the Lord McAlpine stories said the BBC
:04:49. > :04:54.should stand back from that kind of thing. My view is that is not
:04:55. > :04:59.correct will stop you cannot ask licence payers to support a
:05:00. > :05:02.journalist organisation and expect them to be satisfied if we do not
:05:03. > :05:08.investigate what is really going on. In order to do that, too
:05:09. > :05:14.uncovered those stories and examine the world we live in, we need to do
:05:15. > :05:20.a couple of things. We need to make sure that anyone who gets hold of
:05:21. > :05:26.the story has the time to investigate it properly and get a
:05:27. > :05:32.sense of what it means. In practical terms, within the BBC, that means
:05:33. > :05:37.giving people time and making sure that local radio stations, regional
:05:38. > :05:43.TV stations and the World Service bureau is properly staffed to enable
:05:44. > :05:49.that to happen. Secondly, we have tried to make sure that as we look
:05:50. > :05:55.across BBC News, our local news output and our global output is
:05:56. > :05:58.plugged into the national news so we can identify stories and bring them
:05:59. > :06:05.to the widest possible audiences. The BBC has to make cuts, it also
:06:06. > :06:09.says it will be cutting bureaucracy yet you have created three new
:06:10. > :06:15.senior management posts, is that not a contradiction? The cost pressures
:06:16. > :06:22.on this BBC are significant. Do we just keep cutting off a piece here
:06:23. > :06:27.and there ordinary try to structure BBC News in order to deliver the
:06:28. > :06:31.best programmes and bulletins and start thinking about the future If
:06:32. > :06:38.you look at what has happened in the BBC over the last four years, we
:06:39. > :06:46.have been cutting senior management within BBC News by about 30%. I
:06:47. > :06:50.should say, this is a large news organisation, large amounts of money
:06:51. > :06:57.are spent and it is important they are well managed. So you need those
:06:58. > :07:03.three new managers? Absolutely. I hope they will do a fantastic job.
:07:04. > :07:09.He worked at the times, report Murdoch is known to be critical of
:07:10. > :07:14.the BBC, what is your view now? I know journalists are not known for
:07:15. > :07:20.their consistency, but I was consistent before I left the times,
:07:21. > :07:26.I had written an opinion piece in the paper saying that the BBC, not a
:07:27. > :07:32.fashionable view, was up `` was the best in the view for what it does. I
:07:33. > :07:36.have happy I said that. You will know the corporation is often
:07:37. > :07:43.accused of showing bias, especially left`wing bias, do you think there's
:07:44. > :07:51.a problem? No, I do not. If you look at any other news organisation, they
:07:52. > :07:54.do not have nearly the requirements as a result of the regulatory
:07:55. > :08:00.structure nor the culture which says, we are here to be impartial.
:08:01. > :08:05.We really strive to be impartial. We need to be alive to criticism and
:08:06. > :08:13.others. We need to listen to what our viewers say. They can make as
:08:14. > :08:21.more alert about ways in which, often it is not the stories, but it
:08:22. > :08:27.is the stories we are not covering enough. Being alert to criticism is
:08:28. > :08:31.helpful and powerful. I have found a journalistic organisation like no
:08:32. > :08:37.other which strives to be impartial and that is important. The biggest
:08:38. > :08:41.complaint we get at Newswatch is that BBC bosses do not come on the
:08:42. > :08:46.programme often enough. We are delighted you are on, but could you
:08:47. > :08:51.give us an undertaking that BBC bosses will come on more regularly?
:08:52. > :08:56.I really will try to do that. I think it is really important. Not
:08:57. > :09:02.only are we accountable and responsive, this has been a
:09:03. > :09:08.chastening conversation for me as well. I am thinking how do we make
:09:09. > :09:12.sure we make the right judgements. For everyone who comes on and
:09:13. > :09:17.answers your questions and those of our viewers, it is very helpful
:09:18. > :09:23.thing and I hope it makes the BBC and accountable. Thank you very
:09:24. > :09:27.much. Some of your other comments before we go.
:09:28. > :09:31.On Wednesday, Nigella Lawson's appearance at the trial of her
:09:32. > :09:36.former assistant took top billing and appeared in the headlines that
:09:37. > :09:42.evening. John Jenkins was one of 70 who complains... `` one of more than
:09:43. > :09:58.70 who complained. There were complaints earlier in the
:09:59. > :10:04.wake of another celebrity's private life being given too much attention
:10:05. > :10:09.after the Olympic diver Tom Daley posted a video online revealing he
:10:10. > :10:11.was in a relationship with the man. Many viewers were dumbfounded as to
:10:12. > :10:37.why it provoked interest. Finally, this week's Autumn
:10:38. > :10:44.Statement from the Chancellor. Explaining what, located budget
:10:45. > :10:45.calculations means is not easy but some viewers felt Robert Peston
:10:46. > :11:14.simplified things too much. Thanks for all your comments this
:11:15. > :11:21.week. If you want to share your opinions or appear on the programme,
:11:22. > :11:34.collars on this number... Or e`mail as. `` call others.
:11:35. > :11:49.`` call us. We will be back to hear your thoughts next week. Goodbye.
:11:50. > :11:53.Good evening. There has been quite a temperature contrast across the
:11:54. > :11:58.country, called in Scotland and mild in the south`west. This continues
:11:59. > :12:03.this evening. We will see some rain and snow showers in Scotland.
:12:04. > :12:08.Potentially freezing rain across Scotland and northern England. But
:12:09. > :12:14.milder down to the south, temperatures are above freezing.
:12:15. > :12:22.This cold continues through much of Scotland. The milder air gradually
:12:23. > :12:23.heads north but will not reach the Shetland Isles. There will