06/12/2013 Newswatch

Dimbleby. Now it is time for Newswatch with Samira Ahmed.

fight for freedom resented by David Dimbleby. Now it is This week, the

BBC's Director of News response to complaints that coverage of Nelson

Mandela's death was at the expense of crucial updates on the east coast

of the UK. Welcome to Newswatch. of the UK. Welcome to Newswatch

The death of Nelson Mandela on as was going to be a big story but on

the night of the worst storm surge first 60 years and flooding on the

East, did the BBC get its priorities right? James Harding, Director of

News, is here to answer complaints and to discuss plans for the future

of news coverage. David Cameron called him a hero of our time.

Barack Obama paid tribute to his unbending will. The Queen described

his legacy as the peaceful South Africa we see today. The death of

Nelson Mandela was major news will stop BBC One interrupted programmes

and extended the news is time. Good evening. Nelson Mandela, the father

of Whaddon South Africa has died at the age of 95. He was a freedom

fighter who became a global president, carrying the hopes and

freedom of his people. `` the father of modern South Africa. Meanwhile, a

huge storm hit parts of eastern England with thousands of people

forced to evacuate their homes. Thousands of complaints were

received from viewers that the coverage of the death of Mandela was

in spite of the developing situation. One viewer wrote...

The headlines on BBC News: I have been discussing those points

with the BBC's Director of News He I have been discussing those points

with the BBC's Director of News. He with the BBC's Director of News. He

joined the corporation in August and outlined his priorities to staff in

a speech. I have been talking to him about rebuilding the reputation of

BBC news since the Jimmy Savile and Lord McAlpine scandals. First, the

prioritisation of the death of Nelson Mandela was wrong. I'm sorry

if people believed we did not inform them fully what was happening with

the weather in the north`east. The decision`making was around the

importance of Nelson Mandela, probably the most important

statesman of the last 100 years and a man who has defined freedom and

justice and reconciliation and forgiveness so the importance of his

life and marking his death seemed extremely clear to others. In

addition, there is a lot of news which is rolling so you see

President Obama come out and make comments, David Cameron making

comments, the BBC managed to get FW de Klerk. Could you not have put

more of the comments online and put more information about the flooding

at the top of the bulletins? I completely take your point about the

weather. What's happening closest to where people live matters

enormously. We had been producing coverage from early in the day,

especially when storms were at their strongest. If we had seen news where

we needed to inform people immediately, we would have done so.

We used local radio and online for the weather. I thought for BBC

life, we were telling people as they switched on the news and came home

that President Nelson Mandela, a man of particular significance had died.

This is your first interview since taking over as Director of News,

This is your first interview since taking over as Director of News you

taking over as Director of News, you said you want to see more

investigative reporting but after the disasters of Jimmy Savile and

Lord McAlpine reporting, what will be different? I was trying to see

that there were people after the Lord McAlpine stories said the BBC

should stand back from that kind of thing. My view is that is not

correct will stop you cannot ask licence payers to support a

journalist organisation and expect them to be satisfied if we do not

investigate what is really going on. In order to do that, too

uncovered those stories and examine the world we live in, we need to do

a couple of things. We need to make sure that anyone who gets hold of

the story has the time to investigate it properly and get a

sense of what it means. In practical terms, within the BBC, that means

giving people time and making sure that local radio stations, regional

TV stations and the World Service bureau is properly staffed to enable

that to happen. Secondly, we have tried to make sure that as we look

across BBC News, our local news output and our global output is

plugged into the national news so we can identify stories and bring them

to the widest possible audiences. The BBC has to make cuts, it also

says it will be cutting bureaucracy yet you have created three new

senior management posts, is that not a contradiction? The cost pressures

on this BBC are significant. Do we just keep cutting off a piece here

and there ordinary try to structure BBC News in order to deliver the

best programmes and bulletins and start thinking about the future If

you look at what has happened in the BBC over the last four years, we

have been cutting senior management within BBC News by about 30%. I

should say, this is a large news organisation, large amounts of money

are spent and it is important they are well managed. So you need those

three new managers? Absolutely. I hope they will do a fantastic job.

He worked at the times, report Murdoch is known to be critical of

the BBC, what is your view now? I know journalists are not known for

their consistency, but I was consistent before I left the times,

I had written an opinion piece in the paper saying that the BBC, not a

fashionable view, was up `` was the best in the view for what it does. I

have happy I said that. You will know the corporation is often

accused of showing bias, especially left`wing bias, do you think there's

a problem? No, I do not. If you look at any other news organisation, they

do not have nearly the requirements as a result of the regulatory

structure nor the culture which says, we are here to be impartial.

We really strive to be impartial. We need to be alive to criticism and

others. We need to listen to what our viewers say. They can make as

more alert about ways in which, often it is not the stories, but it

is the stories we are not covering enough. Being alert to criticism is

helpful and powerful. I have found a journalistic organisation like no

other which strives to be impartial and that is important. The biggest

complaint we get at Newswatch is that BBC bosses do not come on the

programme often enough. We are delighted you are on, but could you

give us an undertaking that BBC bosses will come on more regularly?

I really will try to do that. I think it is really important. Not

only are we accountable and responsive, this has been a

chastening conversation for me as well. I am thinking how do we make

sure we make the right judgements. For everyone who comes on and

answers your questions and those of our viewers, it is very helpful

thing and I hope it makes the BBC and accountable. Thank you very

much. Some of your other comments before we go.

On Wednesday, Nigella Lawson's appearance at the trial of her

former assistant took top billing and appeared in the headlines that

evening. John Jenkins was one of 70 who complains... `` one of more than

70 who complained. There were complaints earlier in the

wake of another celebrity's private life being given too much attention

after the Olympic diver Tom Daley posted a video online revealing he

was in a relationship with the man. Many viewers were dumbfounded as to

why it provoked interest. Finally, this week's Autumn

Statement from the Chancellor. Explaining what, located budget

calculations means is not easy but some viewers felt Robert Peston

simplified things too much. Thanks for all your comments this

week. If you want to share your opinions or appear on the programme,

collars on this number... Or e`mail as. `` call others.

`` call us. We will be back to hear your thoughts next week. Goodbye.

Good evening. There has been quite a temperature contrast across the

country, called in Scotland and mild in the south`west. This continues

this evening. We will see some rain and snow showers in Scotland.

Potentially freezing rain across Scotland and northern England. But

milder down to the south, temperatures are above freezing.

This cold continues through much of Scotland. The milder air gradually

heads north but will not reach the Shetland Isles. There will