:00:00. > :00:10.2014 Commonwealth Games. Now it is time for Newswatch.
:00:11. > :00:19.Hello and welcome to the programme. Coming up ` a certain sporting
:00:20. > :00:25.tournament has started. How much attention and how many news teams
:00:26. > :00:31.should BBC News be devoting to it? Stereotyping women voters ` why did
:00:32. > :00:34.the BBC go to a beauty parlour to canvass opinion on the Scottish
:00:35. > :00:45.referendum? And Iraq is falling apart, but tensions in the EU, of
:00:46. > :00:49.what is this breaking news? Every four years, around half the world
:00:50. > :00:52.seems to go football crazy, but this week, some of those who are not fans
:00:53. > :00:57.of the beautiful game have been getting pretty exercised about the
:00:58. > :01:02.attention given to the World Cup by BBC News. It has featured on
:01:03. > :01:07.bulletins all week for the tournament has even started, with
:01:08. > :01:14.John so Paul on the spot for the news at one on Monday. That is
:01:15. > :01:17.copper cup, and behind that is another famous beach, and three
:01:18. > :01:23.miles further on is the England hotel. Natalie Pirks, with the first
:01:24. > :01:29.training session this afternoon coming up, is everything as good as
:01:30. > :01:33.it could be... ? The England squad is on its way to Manaus, where they
:01:34. > :01:39.will face high temperatures and high humidity and a pretty ropey pitch.
:01:40. > :01:49.Andy Swiss is the heir. Already in Rio, the FIFA fan festival has been
:01:50. > :01:54.disrupted. Police have had to close off part of the beach`front.
:01:55. > :01:58.Football has got off to a great start and it continues today and
:01:59. > :02:02.into the weekend. But the tournament is unlikely to be trouble`free. I
:02:03. > :02:23.Monday, one viewer from Gloucester had already had enough...
:02:24. > :02:51.Meanwhile, another viewer felt the focus on the England team amounted
:02:52. > :03:05.to support from the BBC. Well, to discuss those points, I am
:03:06. > :03:10.joined by the BBC's head of news gathering. And we start with how
:03:11. > :03:14.many BBC News people you have sent out to Brazil, and why do they need
:03:15. > :03:20.to be there? The number of BBC News people, including technical and
:03:21. > :03:28.other, is 39. In addition, there are a couple of dozen or so who are
:03:29. > :03:33.therefore non`UK outlets. That is a couple of dozen covering it for BBC
:03:34. > :03:37.global outlets which are not seen in the UK, some not even broadcast in
:03:38. > :03:41.the English language. And a couple of other people, who are health and
:03:42. > :03:47.safety advisers. But 39 is the key figure for the number we have sent
:03:48. > :03:51.to Brazil a when an audience sees a BBC presenter who is not a sports
:03:52. > :03:55.presenter, interviewing another BBC journalist, before the tournament
:03:56. > :04:00.has even started, they are right to say, why they need to be there? The
:04:01. > :04:04.numbers are there to sustain a five`week deployment, not one single
:04:05. > :04:10.programme. First of all, relating to that e`mail, that news presenter was
:04:11. > :04:19.one of the people who is not paid for by the licence fee. He is
:04:20. > :04:25.therefore global output. He can help with coverage on different channels.
:04:26. > :04:28.That number 39 compares to 55 who went from BBC News to the South
:04:29. > :04:34.Africa World Cup four years ago, so we have driven these numbers down.
:04:35. > :04:37.But people still say, it is not news to be reporting on where the England
:04:38. > :04:42.team were in the states, and when they arrive, and why not have
:04:43. > :04:46.reports on something which has happened, rather than anticipatory
:04:47. > :04:50.build`up? I think it is news that a team from England are on the way to
:04:51. > :04:54.the World Cup, they are in the last few days of training, weather they
:04:55. > :04:59.are fit, the climate, the state of the pitch, that kind of thing. There
:05:00. > :05:04.is an awful lot of viewer interest in that. Those people who have
:05:05. > :05:09.written to you are not interested, and we accept that a lot of stories
:05:10. > :05:12.we do can divide the audience between those who like to go to the
:05:13. > :05:17.back pages, and some who like to go to the front page of the newspaper.
:05:18. > :05:22.But we are covering a broad agenda, from Iraq to Ukraine, and sport has
:05:23. > :05:29.a big place to play in those stories. We are right to put them in
:05:30. > :05:35.the programmes. Can you tell us how many news teams are inside the
:05:36. > :05:39.official World Cup areas? There are news teams following the England
:05:40. > :05:42.team, wonderful, one for television. There is a news team on a more
:05:43. > :05:47.roving brief, one of those correspondents who actually lives in
:05:48. > :06:01.Brazil, Wyre Davies. And then there is Ben Brown and Jon Sopel, one of
:06:02. > 2:38:10whom is paid for by the licence fee. They are experienced journalist, and
2:38:11 > 2:38:10they are contributing an enormous amount. Have you thought about tone
2:38:11 > 2:38:10come because there are some viewers within the United Kingdom who feel
2:38:11 > 2:38:10the BBC is biased? I think Tony is really important. A lot of people
2:38:11 > 2:38:10within the United Kingdom will support England, and some will not,
2:38:11 > 2:38:10for good reasons. `` tone. It is not up to the BBC to decide who they
2:38:11 > 2:38:10think people will support. But a lot of our audience will be wishing
2:38:11 > 2:38:10England well. When England get knocked out, an awful lot of the
2:38:11 > 2:38:10out. In the meantime, the tone is an out. In the meantime, the tone is an
2:38:11 > 2:38:10important issue and we need to be vigilant about that. Are you giving
2:38:11 > 2:38:10guidance to reporters? Very much so. We do not use, for example, phrases
2:38:11 > 2:38:10like we and visit, and that is the right approach. But if they are
2:38:11 > 2:38:10travelling with the England team, there is bound to be a bit of that
2:38:11 > 2:38:10which rubs off. Some of the atmosphere might be joyous, some of
2:38:11 > 2:38:10it might be disappointing, and that depends on the performance on the
2:38:11 > 2:38:10pitch. There will be plenty of opportunities over the next month
2:38:11 > 2:38:10for you to give us your views on how BBC News covers the World Cup.
2:38:11 > 2:38:10Details of how to reach us at the end of the programme. Before that,
2:38:11 > 2:38:10the Trojan Horse while, so called, related to allegations that schools
2:38:11 > 2:38:10in Birmingham have been targeted as part of a hardline Islamist
2:38:11 > 2:38:10takeover. For one viewer, there was less to all of this than met the
2:38:11 > 2:38:10eye. There are now fewer than 100 days
2:38:11 > 2:38:10before the referendum on independence in Scotland. On Monday,
2:38:11 > 2:38:10one viewer was looking at why the no campaign still leads in the poles.
2:38:11 > 2:38:10`` one correspondent. The polls say women are much more sceptical about
2:38:11 > 2:38:10independence than men. Why? I asked the staff at this Edinburgh beauty
2:38:11 > 2:38:10salon. I am a mother, and I think about the risk to the next
2:38:11 > 2:38:10generation. We just have not made up our minds yet. One viewer wrote to
2:38:11 > 2:38:10us, describing herself as a scientist with a neuroscientist
2:38:11 > 2:38:10daughter, a chemistry teacher daughter, and a statistician for a
2:38:11 > 2:38:10mother. Friday morning brought the news,
2:38:11 > 2:38:10headlined on the News Channel, and featuring on the front page of the
2:38:11 > 2:38:10website, that actor Harrison Ford was in hospital after injuring his
2:38:11 > 2:38:10ankle while filming the latest Star Wars film. One viewer felt the BBC
2:38:11 > 2:38:10gave this event too much prominence, e`mailing...
2:38:11 > 2:38:10Finally, a return to the theme of the BBC's attitude towards the
2:38:11 > 2:38:10England squad in the World Cup. If the team beats Italy, will reporters
2:38:11 > 2:38:10maintain a studied neutrality or will they reflect the celebratory
2:38:11 > 2:38:10mood of some? Thank you for that, and for all your
2:38:11 > 2:38:10comments this week. If you want to share your opinions on any aspect of
2:38:11 > 2:38:10BBC News and Current Affairs, these get in touch.
2:38:11 > 2:38:10You can also reach us on Twitter and on our website. That is all from us.
2:38:11 > 2:38:10We will be back next week. Good evening. Yesterday we got 26
2:38:11 > 2:38:10degrees in London. Today it was in Southampton. This weekend will be a
2:38:11 > 2:38:10few degrees cooler for many of us, but there is a lot of try weather to
2:38:11 > 2:38:11be found this weekend, even though it will be cloudy at