14/02/2014 Newswatch

Now it's time for this week's Newswatch. This week, Samira Ahmed

here's your comments about coverage of the Winter Olympics, and, of

course, the weather. Hello, and welcome to Newswatch. On today's

programme - more wind, rain and flooding across Britain, but has BBC

News sensationalise the severe weather? And snow and ice in Sochi,

but how supportive should British news be of our plucky British

Olympians. There's no doubt what's been

dominating BBC News this week. Correspondence have been dispatched

around the country to face the full force of severe weather conditions.

Even after all the weather we've seen, this is just horrendous. We

are supposedly sheltered in the harbour by the wall. I merely six

foot, nearly 14 stone, and I am struggling to stand. The spray

hitting my skin is like somebody sticking needles in me. Incredibly

and deeply unpleasant here. It's not a kind of weather that, if you were

not having to work, you would want to be standing in. At times, it's

quite difficult to stand up, given this wind, so I'm not surprised the

Met Office have issued a red weather warning. If you wanted to know what

a storm for scale is like, this is what it is like. The winds are

really starting to batter. We are at the edge of the Llyn Peninsula.

Further out there, we are expecting winds of between 80 and 100 mph.

Some viewers felt they detected an escalation in the reporting of the

weather the close its got to London. John said:

Other comments we have received focused on the issue of who, if

anyone, was to blame for the damage done either storms and floods. Some

felt that BBC News has made too much of that.

We put those points to BBC News, and they told us:

all those images of wind and water were broken up on Wednesday's news

programmes by a splash of Hollywood glamour, about the new film. Some

said that such coverage is not news. The finding and protecting of stolen

artwork. What was it about this particular story that he wanted to

pursue? I met up with Grant in my office, and I said, we are the least

cynical two people that I know, so we should do something with a happy

ending. June's reaction? You off and tell us about particular

words or phrases used by presenters and reporters that annoy you.

Stephen was one of two viewers this week, saying that that phrase is"

the very latest". of how to contact us coming up

later. We have had a week so far of it's fair to say that expectations

on the snow were low, so when we won snowboarding -- will me won a bronze

medal in the snowboarding slopestyle, it was quite a surprise.

New line it was trumped by the most tearful of family reunions.

The live broadcast of that coverage came under some scrutiny. There was

some complaints about the commentary box, while other viewers said they

had actually Android it. Some viewers have been concerned about

the extent to which Russia's human rights record has been mentioned.

I'm joined now by the BBC's head of sports News, Richard Burgess. Some

interesting concerned there on the coverage, or lack of coverage, on

the human rights concerns. Where does BBC Sport stand on that? We

absolutely have to cover those issues, and we have done, across BBC

News and BBC Sport. We sent our sports editor, David Bond, out to

Sochi with the specific remit of covering some of those issues, and

he has done. Gay rights, and the only interview with the IOC

president when he put concerns of the Games and the human rights

record to him. Equally, we know a lot of viewers are interested in the

sport, and we have to reflect that within our news bulletins. Is it

becoming more of a challenge, even in the run-up of something like the

World Cup in Brazil, or in Qatar? Is there a lot more politics around

these are sporting events? Thinking back to cricket tours in the 80s and

90s to South Africa, politics has always been an issue in sport. It is

hard to split the two entirely. The IOC's charter it self talks about

ethics and morals, so they get involved in these areas. That is why

we have a sports editor in David Bond who we know can cover the live

sporting action, but also the issues around sport and politics. In part

she is a fundamental principle in news, but in sports coverage,

whenever there was a British presence, is it a different set of

rules? I don't think so. It's important that we reflect the

excitement and the passion, and the sense of enjoyment from the

audience. Sport is said to be enjoyed, and when there is a British

medal, it is a good thing for most of the audience. At the same time,

our correspondence need to be impartial, they need to have

perspective, they can't get out of control, the audience needs to be

able to judge their accuracy. In the Winter Olympics, the British are not

a huge medal presents overall, in that sense, the focus on British

medals is a bit too jingoistic, at the expense of perhaps more general

coverage? You are right, there is not as many medals for Britain, when

there is the surge of interest from the audience, which is even

greater. We see that in the TV viewing figures. We have covered

other stories as well, such as the dead heat in the women's downhill,

which led our bulletins on the News Channel throughout the day, which

didn't involve a British athlete. There was a balance, but if there is

British success, we find that a lot of the audience are very interested

in that and very infused by that, and we have to reflect it. When it

comes to winning medals, some viewers have expressed the concern

about using it as a verb, to medal, or medalling. Do you have a policy

on things like that? We do not have aim -- a policy such. I think it is

in the Oxford English victory -- Oxford English Dictionary, and we

know it have been used in the past, it dates back to the 16th century.

But we know a lot of viewers don't like it. Thank you for your comments

this week. If you want to share your views on BBC News and current

affairs, you camcorder as on this number: -- you can call us on this

number: That's all from us. We will be back

to hear your thoughts about BBC News coverage again next week. Goodbye.

Very much still in the grip of the latest storm to hit the UK, and this

deep area of low pressure which pushed rain northwards. On its

southern flank, the isobars are closest together, and we are seeing

the strongest