11/04/2014 Newswatch

RAW TEXT Now, it is time for Newswatch, with Samira Ahmed.

This week, Monday's reporting of the death of Peaches Geldof comes under

the spotlight. The sand and unexplained death of a 25`year`old

woman, but why fill airtime with celebrities reaction to the news on

Twitter? The Oscar Pistorius murder trial. He was questioned how much

they need to see. And how much of a role did the press play in the

resignation of the culture Secretary? The sudden death of any

young woman represents tragedy for friends and family, but on occasion,

it also captures the media attention. We are getting breaking

news. The journalist and presenter Peaches Geldof has died. She was

just 25 years old. Let a stop to Andy. He knew her and his taxi firm

to carry around on many occasions. Give us your memories of her. She

was a fun loving, very happy young lady. She doted over her children.

She loved her husband very much as we could gather. Can I go over some

quotes from Twitter. Fiona Phillips said she was shocked.

The singer Tim Burgess, the singer with the Charlatans said:. And one

more, Kevin O'Sullivan, the television critic for the Daily

Mirror. Scores of viewers thought this was

unnecessary. Lets put those point to the

controller of the BBC News channel, Sam Taylor. It was obviously a

terrible event for her families and friends, but Peaches Geldof wasn't

that well known. Many people feel that it didn't justify the

prominence given to the story. I think we have to accept that she was

known to many viewers, and of course her family and the story behind her

family, her parents, were known to many viewers indeed. It is a story

that touch people across the generations, and I think you can see

there was a strong response, a strong response of shock and people

wanted to know about the story, which led to increased figures on

the news channel in the hours that followed her death. Also, one of the

biggest numbers of people reading a BBC website story. 13.5 million

people read the story about Peaches Geldof's death in the hours

afterwards. Even with no new information that has emerged, all

that is known is the fact that she died and it is not suspicious. There

is still nothing else to know. All this air time was filled with what?

That is the thing, when people die, when prominent people die, part of

the story is to tell people what the reaction and response has been, to

help people understand it. You are giving tributes and reflect on

people's death. That is important in this society. We were careful to

find people who knew her well knew of her, and help explain why they

themselves as viewers were having this response of shock and concern

to hear the news. She was a person who many people knew directly, but

also many people felt they had a connection with because of their

understanding or connection with Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. I will ask

about that, as one viewer tweeted, she felt there was an unspoken

prurient subtext, about her mother and how she died. The high profile

of her family is a reason why many people knew who she was, and if they

didn't know that much about her, they knew who her father was. Also

her mother. That is not a prurient thing, that is the fact that this

family is very prominent in reduced life, many people know who they are,

and in that context, I'm sure part of the sad impact on many people is

the fact that it took place in that context. Something viewers were

talking about was the death of Sue Townsend. When that was announced,

it was easy to see the justification for Twitter comments from other

authors. They notice that a story like that didn't lead the bulletin,

and they question why a writer who clearly achieved so much, doesn't

get as much prominence as the daughter of a celebrity couple who

was known to a relatively smaller amount of people. In terms of news,

and think one has to bear in mind that with a sudden unexplained death

of someone very young, that is an additional factor, in addition to

the death of someone who might have been older or ill for some time.

That is not to draw a comparison between particular people, but it is

the fact that young and unexplained deaths draw more attention. It is

something people want to know about, rather than reflecting on someone's

life and works. At the heart of it, is the question whether the BBC is

to concerned with pursuing a tabloid agenda. I think involving people in

the public eye, some viewers don't particularly value them or feel they

are less important than other stories. In this case, it would be

wrong to understate the very large amount of interest and potential

from a large part of the audience, an audience that we need to serve as

a whole, and which obviously did involve an interest people across a

wide number of groups. The charges that BBC News is assessed with

celebrity and that it sticks with one story for too long are not new.

They were repeated again this week in relation to the ongoing broadcast

of the trial of Oscar Pistorius. The south African athlete accused of

murdering his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, gave evidence this week,

and many people felt they saw too much of it.

The big political event of the week was the resignation of culture

secretary Maria Miller. Nick Robinson's report on the subject

contained one word which raised objections from viewers. The cabinet

now has one woman fewer around the table. There are now only three,

after Maria Miller's emotional decision to quit. I want to make

sure that the situation is clear to everybody, and make sure that I can

move on. Nicola Williams from Oldham voiced her concerns.

Although the public mood has been mostly unsympathetic towards MPs

accused of dodgy expense claims, one viewer saw that he detected sexism.

There was also the suggestion that the media played a role in the

downfall of Maria Miller. Finally, the selfie. The mobile

phone self`portrait posted on social media is something that has been

taken up enthusiastically by some artistic right by others. President

Obama, who has form in this area, was at it this week. Now, the BBC

has got into the act, asking people to submit selfies for an examination

of who we think we are. Some correspondence posted their own

selfies. Thank you for all your comments,

please send us not your selfies, but your opinions. Call us or e`mail.

You can find us on Twitter. Have a look at previous discussions on our

website. We are fair next week mother please

join us again in a fortnight. `` off air.

We have seen some fine spring weather over the past few days, but

the weekend promises mixed fortunes in term