:00:14. > :00:22.Hello and welcome to News watch. What priority should BBC News the
:00:23. > :00:26.giving to foreign stories such as the activities of Boko Haram in
:00:27. > :00:32.Nigeria. We are walking into Cabo city. John Simpson, who has covered
:00:33. > :00:37.the globe for many years gives is his view.
:00:38. > :00:41.And he looks back at what has changed for better or worse since
:00:42. > :00:50.BBC television news started, 60 years ago.
:00:51. > :00:54.The range of the BBC's international journalists is unrivalled amongst
:00:55. > :00:59.British media organisations. But how often they appear on our screen
:01:00. > :01:05.reporting from far`flung countries divide viewers. Putting as a top
:01:06. > :01:10.story as `` and African Union story to eradicate child marriage and
:01:11. > :01:34.brought brickbats as well as bouquets.
:01:35. > :01:40.We will be raising that with world affairs editor John Simpson. We will
:01:41. > :01:44.also be seeking his perspective on some of the changes BBC News has
:01:45. > :01:48.undergone since its first transmission 60 years ago next
:01:49. > :01:58.month. This is what it looked like on the 5th of July 1954.
:01:59. > :02:03.Moving pictures were at a premium and the graphics had a craft table
:02:04. > :02:08.feel about them. The newsreader, Richard Baker, was a disembodied
:02:09. > :02:11.voice for fear that his appearance would give away his views and
:02:12. > :02:17.threaten the appearance of neutrality. After a few weeks, the
:02:18. > :02:22.BBC did allow a presenter to be seen on screen. It started a process of
:02:23. > :02:26.personality presenting which has gone too far for some. For some
:02:27. > :02:31.time, the style remains safe and highly deferential. And now we are
:02:32. > :02:36.going to show you a film of some of the main stages in this great day.
:02:37. > :02:40.The relationship between broadcasters and politicians has got
:02:41. > :03:02.much more spiky since then and not everybody is in favour of that.
:03:03. > :03:09.Princess Margaret has followed a weekend in Yorkshire... There was
:03:10. > :03:15.not much visual about television in the 1950s. Now, output is at least
:03:16. > :03:16.partly differential `` driven by the availability of pictures which for
:03:17. > :03:42.some has been taken to extremes. What else has changed? To cover
:03:43. > :03:46.international events like the Hungarian uprising of 1956, a film
:03:47. > :03:51.crew might have had to disappear for weeks before returning home with out
:03:52. > :03:54.of date footage. This did not deter foreign correspondents like Martin
:03:55. > :04:04.Bell from taking considerable risks as he did in Vietnam. The BBC has
:04:05. > :04:09.just liberated the place! By the time John Simson reported from Cabo,
:04:10. > :04:16.technological advances have made broadcasting much more immediate if
:04:17. > :04:23.not necessarily more safe. Developers in transmitting kit made
:04:24. > :04:27.possible last week's trip to the extreme north`east of Nigeria. The
:04:28. > :04:33.look of news and the way it engages viewers has come a long way. What
:04:34. > :04:38.has been gained and lost? John Simpson is with me now.
:04:39. > :04:43.We do get complaints from those who feel there is too much news from
:04:44. > :04:48.abroad. Also those who think we don't get enough from regions like
:04:49. > :04:50.Latin America? How do you think it has changed over the years and is
:04:51. > :04:55.there more trouble getting some more international stories on? People
:04:56. > :05:01.always complain about exactly the same things, going back 50 years.
:05:02. > :05:07.Too much foreign news, as if it has nothing to do with us. Which seems
:05:08. > :05:13.to me dopey in a world as interconnected as ours. Too much
:05:14. > :05:22.political news, as though politics doesn't affect us. But I believe in
:05:23. > :05:26.news, it is my raison d'etre. Some people were very nostalgic for the
:05:27. > :05:34.old way of news writing, deferential to politicians. I could not bear
:05:35. > :05:42.that! My first day as a reporter in 1978, I got punched in the stomach
:05:43. > :05:46.for daring to ask Harold Wilson a question about when you would call
:05:47. > :05:50.an election. He punched me in the stomach, trying to wrestle the
:05:51. > :05:53.microphone out of my hand. I was working for radio. The world's press
:05:54. > :05:58.were there because they were waiting for an announcement and nobody, not
:05:59. > :06:03.one of the newspapers, not one of the television cameras, used these
:06:04. > :06:09.pictures. I looked at my watch afterwards, I was gossiping and it
:06:10. > :06:12.was 10:50 a.m.. I thought, I have lost my job and I have been
:06:13. > :06:19.assaulted by the Prime Minister and it is only my first morning at work!
:06:20. > :06:23.What difference has technology made? People used together with a
:06:24. > :06:26.big film crew and you are out of touch for weeks and then you had to
:06:27. > :06:33.come back with your footage and edit it. You can now fly in and start
:06:34. > :06:38.costing immediately, is that better? It is different. There is no doubt
:06:39. > :06:44.that in terms of the actuality of telling people what is going on,
:06:45. > :06:48.things are far better now. By the time you have worked your way to a
:06:49. > :06:52.place that you can get your film processed and sent it back, usually
:06:53. > :07:01.by plane to London, everything had changed. By the time ago broadcast.
:07:02. > :07:04.Now, you can be right up with events as they come along. But that means
:07:05. > :07:11.you don't know where the events are going, you are in as much of a
:07:12. > :07:16.quandary about what is happening, and what is going to happen, as
:07:17. > :07:22.everybody else. What have you made of the impact of 24`hour news. It
:07:23. > :07:25.can put pressure on correspondence to start filing immediately. Perhaps
:07:26. > :07:29.it is all chatter and no inside? Do you think there is pressure on
:07:30. > :07:34.journalists to start talking as soon as they land? Yes. I don't do it
:07:35. > :07:38.because I am old enough and ugly enough to be able to say no, I will
:07:39. > :07:42.find out what has happened and what the name of the place I am in is,
:07:43. > :07:51.before I start telling everybody what is going on. Not everybody is
:07:52. > :07:58.in that position. Yes, I think we have got a lot of games from being
:07:59. > :08:04.able to have instant news. `` we have a lot of advantages from it. It
:08:05. > :08:08.has opened up the world, changed our politics. But I'm a little nostalgic
:08:09. > :08:12.for the days when you could have time to think about what you were
:08:13. > :08:17.saying. Do you feel that reporters are under pressure and there has
:08:18. > :08:24.been a cost? Oh, yes. Precisely. They are under huge pressure and
:08:25. > :08:31.there is a big cost. The cost is simply not being able to think about
:08:32. > :08:38.you are saying. Just to get it out. That wonderful character in
:08:39. > :08:47.privatised who is `` in Private Eye who is the 24`hour news
:08:48. > :08:51.correspondent. We are talking on the anniversary of the massacre in the
:08:52. > :08:57.square in China. How does that feel for a correspondent like you, who
:08:58. > :09:01.tries to report what they saw? Would not have been thinking about Taman
:09:02. > :09:09.Square after 25 years if it were not for reporting. I am proud of mice
:09:10. > :09:13.colleagues and `` I'm proud of the stuff my colleagues and I did that.
:09:14. > :09:18.The man standing in front of a tank. It is a reality check which
:09:19. > :09:26.government is not always enthusiastic about. John Simpson,
:09:27. > :09:34.thank you very much. Before we go, time for a couple of
:09:35. > :09:38.other comments. The end has been dominated by commemorations of D`Day
:09:39. > :09:43.Landings. On Thursday, the eve of the anniversary, there was a
:09:44. > :09:45.broadcast from the Pegasus Bridge, on the French coast. Not everything
:09:46. > :10:05.went smoothly with the BBC coverage. What a key moment! You are watching,
:10:06. > :10:11.disappearing behind intent, and 89`year`old. Later on, the veterans
:10:12. > :10:21.were parachuted in with the aid of the red Devils.
:10:22. > :10:36.`` the red arrows. Finally, what are news plugs,
:10:37. > :10:43.promotions for other programmes on the news? Monday's early evening
:10:44. > :10:48.programme contained two examples. An item about Jimmy Savile derived from
:10:49. > :10:52.a Panorama examination which was followed by a Trail free programme
:10:53. > :10:53.that evening. Then a story about David Beckham's journey into the
:10:54. > :11:13.annals on. `` into the Amazon. Thank you for all your comments this
:11:14. > :11:16.week. If you want to share your opinions on BBC news on current
:11:17. > :11:30.affairs or even appear on the programme, call us. Or e`mail. You
:11:31. > :11:35.can find us on twitter as well. On our website, you can search for and
:11:36. > :11:41.view pew `` previous discussions. We will be back to hear your thoughts
:11:42. > :11:55.on BBC news coverage again next Friday.
:11:56. > :11:56.A cracking end the day for most areas but tomorrow, a humid day in