:00:00. > :00:09.Now, it is time for Newswatcn, and this week, it examines the Lord
:00:10. > :00:16.Rennard case, and it's coverage. Welcome to the programme. This week
:00:17. > :00:20.come up did the allegations against Lord Rennard of unwanted advances
:00:21. > :00:28.have the right kind of attention from BBC News? The offensive gesture
:00:29. > :00:34.made by this footballer is news, but some viewers say showing it again
:00:35. > :00:41.causes offence in itself. And following last week's outburst of
:00:42. > :00:51.music from Nick Robinson's computer, we hear your suggestions
:00:52. > :00:57.for music. Lord Rennard is credited with being the Liberal Democrats'
:00:58. > :01:00.election mastermind. However, his public profile had been relatively
:01:01. > :01:04.low until claims that he had sexually harassed female party
:01:05. > :01:11.members over a number of years. After failing to apologise, he was
:01:12. > :01:16.suspended from the party on Monday. Tonight at ten, the Lib Dems are
:01:17. > :01:21.struggling to contain the crisis surrounding Lord Rennard. The party
:01:22. > :01:25.leader tells him to apologise. He has now been suspended from the
:01:26. > :01:32.party, no longer able to sit with colleagues in the House of Lords.
:01:33. > :02:25.But was the BBC's coverage balanced?
:02:26. > :02:31.The head of the BBC Newsroom joins me now to answer some of those
:02:32. > :02:37.issues. Some viewers, as we saw in that sample, feel that the coverage
:02:38. > :02:42.had somewhat sensationalised and built a story, rather than just
:02:43. > :02:47.reported it? Our job is to report and follow a story. This story
:02:48. > :02:49.unfolded over several days, and each day we were making judgements about
:02:50. > :02:54.how significant the developments were on that day, and what
:02:55. > :03:00.prominence it deserved. Early in the week, we felt that it had reached a
:03:01. > :03:05.certain point in terms of the story itself, but also the debate and the
:03:06. > :03:10.impact within the Liberal Democrats, the authority of Nick
:03:11. > :03:14.Clegg, the coalition government, it became a really important political
:03:15. > :03:18.story, and that is why it got a lot of prominence early in the week.
:03:19. > :03:23.There was a specific concern, with Lord Rennard having denied the
:03:24. > :03:27.allegations, as the BBC given enough airtime to his side? Every time we
:03:28. > :03:32.did the story we made it very, very clear that he had denied all the
:03:33. > :03:37.allegations. Some of the players in this story have come out and spoken
:03:38. > :03:39.on air on the camera. Others have not, but Lord Rennard himself gave a
:03:40. > :03:45.very long statement, which we recorded. People close to him have
:03:46. > :03:51.also been on air, putting his side of the story. So, I am satisfied
:03:52. > :03:57.that we have always worked hard to make sure that we represent all
:03:58. > :04:02.different views. One viewer compared it to Plebgate. There is a concern
:04:03. > :04:07.that BBC political coverage goes after these very personal stories,
:04:08. > :04:11.which then become big rows, partly because of the media attention? I do
:04:12. > :04:14.not think that is the case, we are not going after them, we are
:04:15. > :04:18.tracking and following and reporting, and it is true that
:04:19. > :04:22.sometimes at the heart of these stories is an individual, a
:04:23. > :04:26.personality, but it is then the reaction to that which bills the
:04:27. > :04:29.story just in both cases, and I would not want to draw too many
:04:30. > :04:35.parallels, but there was an element of accusation, denial, counter
:04:36. > :04:41.accusation, and it is very important that we report what has been said by
:04:42. > :04:47.everybody involved. Also we have to attract them over time because
:04:48. > :04:50.Plebgate led to an ongoing examination of the nature of trust
:04:51. > :04:54.in releasing, the Police Federation, and of course the
:04:55. > :04:58.politics of how Cameron dealt with the situation. Meanwhile, with Lord
:04:59. > :05:05.Rennard, you are looking at how a political party and a leader deals
:05:06. > :05:09.with that situation. Overtime, it becomes clearer, or not, exactly
:05:10. > :05:14.what happened, but also how the institutions are dealing with it.
:05:15. > :05:18.There is an awful lot of cases around sexual abuse or alleged
:05:19. > :05:21.sexual abuse and harassment, but in the Lord Rennard case, there has
:05:22. > :05:26.been an internal inquiry only within the party, and with confusing
:05:27. > :05:32.results. Is there a danger that the toll of BBC reporting has an
:05:33. > :05:39.influence, the same as Operation Yewtree? Last week we had five
:05:40. > :05:44.stories in this kind of area. It is an interesting question, one we have
:05:45. > :05:48.been talking a lot about in the newsroom. In the end, the news gods
:05:49. > :05:52.deliver, and we have to respond to that. We cannot control the fact
:05:53. > :05:56.that there have been a number of court cases running in parallel, and
:05:57. > :06:00.a number of stories coming along at the same time. Our job is to remain
:06:01. > :06:06.very, very committed to accuracy, care with language and the necessary
:06:07. > :06:11.detail. For instance, as you have said, making it very, very clear
:06:12. > :06:15.that in some cases we are talking about allegations of sexual
:06:16. > :06:21.harassment, in others, sexual abuse, sometimes, sexual abuse of minors,
:06:22. > :06:25.it can be very many different charges or accusations. Again, being
:06:26. > :06:33.really clear when we are talking about the court case, a trial,
:06:34. > :06:38.charges, in Lord Rennard's case, a grievance process, in essence,
:06:39. > :06:42.within a particular institution. So, we are determined and careful about
:06:43. > :06:46.being as accurate as we possibly can, within a context where we
:06:47. > :06:51.recognise that it can feel as if there is a lot of this sort of stuff
:06:52. > :06:56.at the moment. But I hope that by being very careful and accurate, we
:06:57. > :06:57.hope audiences navigate and understand the different nature of
:06:58. > :07:08.these different stories. Please give us your feedback on that
:07:09. > :07:12.issue and on any other aspect of BBC News. Details on how to contact us
:07:13. > :07:16.at the end of the programme. Let's find out what else you have been
:07:17. > :07:19.commenting on, starting with the controversy over the footballer
:07:20. > :07:24.Nicola Anelka, who made a gesture after scoring a goal last month,
:07:25. > :07:27.known as the quenelle, which is widely considered to be
:07:28. > :07:30.anti-Semitic. On Tuesday he was charged by the Football
:07:31. > :07:49.Association, and BBC reports on the case faced some objections...
:07:50. > :07:57.One week ago, the body of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular was
:07:58. > :08:01.found in Kirkcaldy after an extensive search. The BBC reported
:08:02. > :08:07.on the reaction of the local community. It is so, so sad.
:08:08. > :08:11.Devastating news for a community which had so wished for a positive
:08:12. > :08:14.outcome. Throughout the day, families in Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy
:08:15. > :08:21.have been laying flowers. We heard the news, it was just devastating.
:08:22. > :08:31.We just wanted to come and pay our respects. It is absolutely
:08:32. > :08:35.heartbreaking. Mikaeel's mother was later charged with his murder. There
:08:36. > :09:08.was a variety of responses to the BBC's coverage of the case...
:09:09. > :09:17.Pop singer Justin Bieber last hit the headlines when he turned up very
:09:18. > :09:20.late for a concert last year. As was the case then, we received
:09:21. > :09:25.objections on Thursday that his arrest on a variety of charges,
:09:26. > :09:27.including driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana,
:09:28. > :09:39.did not warrant the attention given to it by BBC News.
:09:40. > :09:49.Finally, last week we feature to an unusual occurrence in the middle of
:09:50. > :09:55.a discussion on The Daily Politics. Nick Robinson's tablet computer
:09:56. > :10:02.suddenly burst forth, for reasons which have not yet been explained,
:10:03. > :10:07.with Queen's Fat Bottomed Girls, perhaps not most suitable choice of
:10:08. > :10:09.music for the BBC's political editor. We asked you for some
:10:10. > :10:35.suggestions. Thank you for all those suggestions
:10:36. > :10:38.and for all your comments this week. If you want to share your opinions
:10:39. > :10:49.or even appear on the programme, you can call us. Or you can e-mail us.
:10:50. > :10:58.You can find us on Twitter. Also, have a look at our website. That is
:10:59. > :11:01.all from us. We will be back to hear your thoughts about BBC News
:11:02. > :11:07.coverage again next week. Until then, goodbye.
:11:08. > :11:12.Yet again, there is plenty of weather to talk about in the
:11:13. > :11:17.forecast, and I am sure it is perhaps not what you would like.
:11:18. > :11:25.Today, we had a brief clips of sunshine, but a cold day on the east
:11:26. > :11:26.coast. An inch of rain in the south-west, but there was a lot