28/02/2014 Newswatch

greater interest. Now it is time for Newswatch with Samira Ahmed. Can a

war which started over 100 years ago the display well? `` be displayed

well? Hello, welcome to Newswatch with me

Samira Ahmed. BBC News gets into the act of describing World War I but

was it correct for us to look at things this way correctly at this

time? Was it a mistake, yes or no? Laura Kuenssberg girls Harriet

Harman over links to a paedophile group, was this a smear campaign was

the BBC correct to question Harriet Harman?

The week began that complaints that the BBC was failing to run a story

that newspapers were looking at, historic links with the Bielefeld

exchange `` suggestion was that the Labour Party members had links to

those groups. Well, on Monday night, Newsnight

seemed an interview with Labour's Deputy Leader Harriet Harman who

worked at the end NCL in the late 70s and 80s. Laura Kuenssberg

grilled her for information. Surely it is a mistake to have that

affiliation? It was correct to dispel them from the conference and

make sure that their views were never taken forward by the end NCL.

It is a very simple question, why will you not say that clearly it was

a mistake for there to be any affiliation? Why will you not, with

the benefit of decades up inside, say it was a mistake for there to be

any connection at all? You are happy for your employer to take membership

money from the group that was Brett Lee campaigning for the right of

paedophiles, you are saying that was not a mistake? Jeremy Paxman did not

ask the same question, but not far off. Elizabeth Wood fought Laura

Kuenssberg went too far, writing... The following day Harriet Harman did

express regret for the connection to the organisations and attack the

Daily Mail for what he called a smear campaign on her. Since then

another Labour Party member involved, Patricia Hewitt, has

apologised for mistakes made by that organisation when she was the

General Secretary. Others felt the BBC was covering the subject to

extensively. Matt Gallon said the following...

Abroad, BBC News teams have been dealing with that market changing

situation and the Ukraine with the fall of the government after the

deaths of many protesters and escalating tensions between pro`and

anti`Russian groups. Although most reaction to the cup it was positive,

some viewers contacted us with the reminder that the spelling of mines

can have quite a significance. Roman Kozak's e`mail was typical of what

many felt... We put that to BBC News and they

told us... Wednesday saw the sentencing of two

men who murdered soldier be baby and Woolwich last year, the case and the

BBC's coverage of it have been controversial throughout and were

again this week. Our reporter was Sarah Campbell, standing outside in

advance of the verdict. Just so you know, members of the BNP and EDL are

protesting and calling for the death penalty for both men.

Just behind them and the next few minutes we are expecting to hear

from a police officer. Carol Griffin you `` e`mailed us to say the

following... It was something else that offended

Carol Whittington from Nottingham. She complained that may be familiar

to Newswatch viewers. `` she made a complaint that may be familiar.

It would have escaped Edwin Poots Matt Lucas that this year as the

centenary of the beginning of World War One. The BBC has marked the

anniversary in numerous ways. BBC Two has shown documentaries of

historians Max Hastings and Niall Ferguson. On Monday, a project

called World War One At Home, began to air. Correspondent Robert Hall

was in Scarborough at the sect of an attack by the German fleet in 1914.

One of the biggest challenges facing the government when they did the

centenary was how to make events from so long ago relevant and what

this project does it says, OK, these events took place in the history

books but they have direct connections to places near where a

lot of us live and the stories draw those connections. It is a

remarkable collaboration because it all comes from the public and from

the BBC who worked with the Imperial War Museum and the stories are then

compiled. Over 1000 of such stories will be told over the next week and

many of them will be covered by the BBC. This puts the main `` this has

asked `` people have been asking how accessible this is? Peter Gibson

wrote to us to say the following... Well, to discuss the news coverage

of the First World War, I am joined by Sam Taylor, the controller of the

BBC News Channel. Thank you for joining us. There is a lot of

concern that the BBC is just running history and not in use and there is

a case elements to this. We are not marking the outbreak of World War I

life, this is a historic event. People around the world will be

marking the start of this conflict and by all measures that will be a

significant moment to mark the centenary of such a devastating

conflict. We have taken the approach that there are events to cover and

there will be a debate to have, some of that has already happened, about

the story itself, which we have reflected, but we are taking the

opportunity to reflect some of the winter but that the BBC is doing.

What you heard Roberts talking about was a project that has begun this

week with local radio and regional television and online to look at

stories that relates to individual parts of the United Kingdom. The

reality of this war was a terrible slaughter happening abroad, some

will ask why is the BBC looking at this when it did not impact at home

the way in which the Second World War did? I think this project that

the BBC has begun is very interesting because in the world

where political discussion can dominate the ramifications, we know

it fundamentally changed the entire country in a way we know we can

barely comprehend to this day. But to documentaries can do that and

there have been many years with more to come. President Kennedy Pozner

assassination and the death of Nelson Mandela, these examples are

things that viewers have told us are overplayed. We believe we are

looking at stories that have moved people. For people to think the

relatives they did not know about, and a world where news programming

and longer formats like BBC News where we have more space to give you

longer news, I think some of the stories are fascinating and they

also bring to life the opposite of what you are seeing which is the

human story and reflecting how genuinely many people of this

country will be reflecting upon World War I and thinking about its

impact on 100 years on. We are talking about for years, is this

coverage justified? When you look at the events that will come up around

this First World War, many people are conscious of doing it in the

rate we and at every 10th. Events will not happen the way, there is

the focus on August four and public bodies around the world will cover

that and it will be a poignant moment. But I think those biggies

will be spread out amongst the coverage. It will not be ongoing

coverage. Thank you for joining us, Sam. Thank you for all of your

comments. If you want to appear on the

programme or give us your opinion, contact us, use the address above.

That is all from us, we will give your thoughts on the coverage of BBC

Newsnight Street. Goodbye. `` BBC News.

The weekend will begin frosty with some