:00:00. > :00:00.Now it's time for this week's Newswatch. This week, Samira Ahmed
:00:00. > :00:12.here's your comments about coverage of the Winter Olympics, and, of
:00:13. > :00:17.course, the weather. Hello, and welcome to Newswatch. On today's
:00:18. > :00:22.programme - more wind, rain and flooding across Britain, but has BBC
:00:23. > :00:29.News sensationalise the severe weather? And snow and ice in Sochi,
:00:30. > :00:33.but how supportive should British news be of our plucky British
:00:34. > :00:37.Olympians. There's no doubt what's been
:00:38. > :00:42.dominating BBC News this week. Correspondence have been dispatched
:00:43. > :00:46.around the country to face the full force of severe weather conditions.
:00:47. > :00:51.Even after all the weather we've seen, this is just horrendous. We
:00:52. > :00:59.are supposedly sheltered in the harbour by the wall. I merely six
:01:00. > :01:02.foot, nearly 14 stone, and I am struggling to stand. The spray
:01:03. > :01:08.hitting my skin is like somebody sticking needles in me. Incredibly
:01:09. > :01:13.and deeply unpleasant here. It's not a kind of weather that, if you were
:01:14. > :01:18.not having to work, you would want to be standing in. At times, it's
:01:19. > :01:23.quite difficult to stand up, given this wind, so I'm not surprised the
:01:24. > :01:28.Met Office have issued a red weather warning. If you wanted to know what
:01:29. > :01:33.a storm for scale is like, this is what it is like. The winds are
:01:34. > :01:38.really starting to batter. We are at the edge of the Llyn Peninsula.
:01:39. > :01:45.Further out there, we are expecting winds of between 80 and 100 mph.
:01:46. > :01:49.Some viewers felt they detected an escalation in the reporting of the
:01:50. > :01:59.weather the close its got to London. John said:
:02:00. > :02:22.Other comments we have received focused on the issue of who, if
:02:23. > :02:26.anyone, was to blame for the damage done either storms and floods. Some
:02:27. > :02:43.felt that BBC News has made too much of that.
:02:44. > :03:24.We put those points to BBC News, and they told us:
:03:25. > :03:31.all those images of wind and water were broken up on Wednesday's news
:03:32. > :03:39.programmes by a splash of Hollywood glamour, about the new film. Some
:03:40. > :03:47.said that such coverage is not news. The finding and protecting of stolen
:03:48. > :03:54.artwork. What was it about this particular story that he wanted to
:03:55. > :03:59.pursue? I met up with Grant in my office, and I said, we are the least
:04:00. > :04:01.cynical two people that I know, so we should do something with a happy
:04:02. > :04:29.ending. June's reaction? You off and tell us about particular
:04:30. > :04:35.words or phrases used by presenters and reporters that annoy you.
:04:36. > :04:41.Stephen was one of two viewers this week, saying that that phrase is"
:04:42. > :05:57.the very latest". of how to contact us coming up
:05:58. > :06:06.later. We have had a week so far of it's fair to say that expectations
:06:07. > :06:13.on the snow were low, so when we won snowboarding -- will me won a bronze
:06:14. > :06:19.medal in the snowboarding slopestyle, it was quite a surprise.
:06:20. > :06:30.New line it was trumped by the most tearful of family reunions.
:06:31. > :06:35.The live broadcast of that coverage came under some scrutiny. There was
:06:36. > :06:39.some complaints about the commentary box, while other viewers said they
:06:40. > :06:44.had actually Android it. Some viewers have been concerned about
:06:45. > :07:11.the extent to which Russia's human rights record has been mentioned.
:07:12. > :07:21.I'm joined now by the BBC's head of sports News, Richard Burgess. Some
:07:22. > :07:25.interesting concerned there on the coverage, or lack of coverage, on
:07:26. > :07:30.the human rights concerns. Where does BBC Sport stand on that? We
:07:31. > :07:37.absolutely have to cover those issues, and we have done, across BBC
:07:38. > :07:42.News and BBC Sport. We sent our sports editor, David Bond, out to
:07:43. > :07:47.Sochi with the specific remit of covering some of those issues, and
:07:48. > :07:50.he has done. Gay rights, and the only interview with the IOC
:07:51. > :07:57.president when he put concerns of the Games and the human rights
:07:58. > :08:00.record to him. Equally, we know a lot of viewers are interested in the
:08:01. > :08:07.sport, and we have to reflect that within our news bulletins. Is it
:08:08. > :08:13.becoming more of a challenge, even in the run-up of something like the
:08:14. > :08:18.World Cup in Brazil, or in Qatar? Is there a lot more politics around
:08:19. > :08:22.these are sporting events? Thinking back to cricket tours in the 80s and
:08:23. > :08:28.90s to South Africa, politics has always been an issue in sport. It is
:08:29. > :08:35.hard to split the two entirely. The IOC's charter it self talks about
:08:36. > :08:39.ethics and morals, so they get involved in these areas. That is why
:08:40. > :08:43.we have a sports editor in David Bond who we know can cover the live
:08:44. > :08:48.sporting action, but also the issues around sport and politics. In part
:08:49. > :08:54.she is a fundamental principle in news, but in sports coverage,
:08:55. > :08:59.whenever there was a British presence, is it a different set of
:09:00. > :09:03.rules? I don't think so. It's important that we reflect the
:09:04. > :09:07.excitement and the passion, and the sense of enjoyment from the
:09:08. > :09:11.audience. Sport is said to be enjoyed, and when there is a British
:09:12. > :09:16.medal, it is a good thing for most of the audience. At the same time,
:09:17. > :09:20.our correspondence need to be impartial, they need to have
:09:21. > :09:26.perspective, they can't get out of control, the audience needs to be
:09:27. > :09:30.able to judge their accuracy. In the Winter Olympics, the British are not
:09:31. > :09:35.a huge medal presents overall, in that sense, the focus on British
:09:36. > :09:39.medals is a bit too jingoistic, at the expense of perhaps more general
:09:40. > :09:44.coverage? You are right, there is not as many medals for Britain, when
:09:45. > :09:48.there is the surge of interest from the audience, which is even
:09:49. > :09:52.greater. We see that in the TV viewing figures. We have covered
:09:53. > :09:59.other stories as well, such as the dead heat in the women's downhill,
:10:00. > :10:02.which led our bulletins on the News Channel throughout the day, which
:10:03. > :10:06.didn't involve a British athlete. There was a balance, but if there is
:10:07. > :10:11.British success, we find that a lot of the audience are very interested
:10:12. > :10:15.in that and very infused by that, and we have to reflect it. When it
:10:16. > :10:22.comes to winning medals, some viewers have expressed the concern
:10:23. > :10:28.about using it as a verb, to medal, or medalling. Do you have a policy
:10:29. > :10:37.on things like that? We do not have aim -- a policy such. I think it is
:10:38. > :10:42.in the Oxford English victory -- Oxford English Dictionary, and we
:10:43. > :10:47.know it have been used in the past, it dates back to the 16th century.
:10:48. > :10:52.But we know a lot of viewers don't like it. Thank you for your comments
:10:53. > :10:55.this week. If you want to share your views on BBC News and current
:10:56. > :11:00.affairs, you camcorder as on this number: -- you can call us on this
:11:01. > :11:16.number: That's all from us. We will be back
:11:17. > :11:23.to hear your thoughts about BBC News coverage again next week. Goodbye.
:11:24. > :11:30.Very much still in the grip of the latest storm to hit the UK, and this
:11:31. > :11:35.deep area of low pressure which pushed rain northwards. On its
:11:36. > :11:37.southern flank, the isobars are closest together, and we are seeing
:11:38. > :11:38.the strongest