:00:00. > :00:00.Now it's time for News watch. The perils and problems of reporting
:00:00. > :00:18.from war zones. Welcome along to Newswatch. Coming
:00:19. > :00:24.up: Journalists under fire. How to convey the full story of conflicts
:00:25. > :00:27.in Iraq and Syria when access is difficult and dangerous. Fun and
:00:28. > :00:34.games and pain and heartbreak of England's footballers. A particular
:00:35. > :00:38.kind of frustration sinews viewers. In the tradition of deranged news
:00:39. > :00:41.anchors I should ask you to go to your windows and scream I'm mad as
:00:42. > :00:50.hell and I'm not going to take it any more. He didn't, but it was
:00:51. > :00:50.goodbye to Jeremy Paxman with a characteristically divided audience
:00:51. > :00:59.response. BBC teams have been following the
:01:00. > :01:04.fighting in Iraq between government forces and Islamist militants acid
:01:05. > :01:06.has got closer to the capital. Paul Wood was caught in the middle of the
:01:07. > :01:16.conflict. But that seemed to come in from two
:01:17. > :01:22.or three directions at once. Snipers they said. Which bullets seem to.
:01:23. > :01:28.They thought they have secured this place, but they've been told there
:01:29. > :01:35.are 75 vehicles with fighters intercut them. Things are very
:01:36. > :01:41.fluent here. Half a dozen men are trapped here. You need to find the
:01:42. > :01:43.most senior commander you can find and get them to get the troops...
:01:44. > :01:51.Can you hear me? There's no doubting the bravery of
:01:52. > :01:55.BBC staff covering the turmoil. We will be discussing whether they are
:01:56. > :01:59.being put in unnecessary danger. There's also the difficulty of
:02:00. > :02:02.providing balanced coverage under such circumstances. Jill Roach feels
:02:03. > :02:22.that's not being done. Very much connected with recent
:02:23. > :02:27.events in Iraq is the three and a half year old war in Syria. In that
:02:28. > :02:30.context viewers have raised the problems of representing the
:02:31. > :02:36.complexity of a fast moving conflict when media access is difficult.
:02:37. > :02:41.Jeremy Bowen reported from the government held city of Aleppo. The
:02:42. > :02:47.first Western journalist travel there unescorted.
:02:48. > :02:53.This boy has responsibilities now. That's difficult for a 10`year old
:02:54. > :03:01.with bad war wounds. He was hurt when a mortar hit his family 's home
:03:02. > :03:05.this year. East Aleppo is held by rebels. The West side including the
:03:06. > :03:10.historic citadel is in the hands of the regime. Two years after the
:03:11. > :03:15.fighting started West Aleppo has only just become accessible to
:03:16. > :03:35.journalists. There was appreciation for that report from David who said:
:03:36. > :03:38.Again there was a concern about balance, voiced with some sarcasm
:03:39. > :03:59.here. Jeremy Bowen reported from a rebel
:04:00. > :04:04.held suburb of Damascus, but there's another issue highlighted by the
:04:05. > :04:07.recent coverage in Syria and Iraq, the extent to which graphic images
:04:08. > :04:42.of fighting should be shown on news. Jenny wrote to us:
:04:43. > :04:51.Let's go through these issues with Paul Royal, the editor of the ten
:04:52. > :04:55.o'clock bulletins. Iraq, it's a rapidly developing crisis but many
:04:56. > :05:01.viewers feel it's creating a black`and`white picture of whose
:05:02. > :05:04.side we should be on. We tried to be clear with the audience about the
:05:05. > :05:10.main thrust of the story. At the same time we are trying to deliver
:05:11. > :05:15.the context and complexity. With a rack we've heard from all sides of
:05:16. > :05:25.the story. We've had John Simpson talking to both communities. We have
:05:26. > :05:30.spoken to the Kurdish communities. Syria has been no tourist leader
:05:31. > :05:34.difficult to report from. Some viewers feel that access, going on
:05:35. > :05:38.one side or the other innovative piece seems to involve some
:05:39. > :05:45.compromise about the impartiality of what you say. Impartiality is core
:05:46. > :05:49.to what we are doing. What Jeremy has managed to do this week with his
:05:50. > :05:54.reports from Syria is to deliver all sides of the story. I can see where
:05:55. > :05:59.people are coming from with the anxiety and concern. We look at
:06:00. > :06:04.pieces closely to ensure there is a balance within it even if we are
:06:05. > :06:13.being hosted by someone from a particular side. Also impartiality
:06:14. > :06:21.can play out within one item. It can also be over a couple of days of
:06:22. > :06:29.coverage. We could be coverage in ` covering a particular incident. We
:06:30. > :06:35.saw Paul Wood caught in crossfire. Some viewers feel that it's too much
:06:36. > :06:41.danger and questioned whether he should have been there. Safety for
:06:42. > :06:48.the news`gathering teams and programme editors in the UK is the
:06:49. > :06:55.number one priority. That is really important. At the same time covering
:06:56. > :07:00.war and conflict is something we do. We have really experienced teams.
:07:01. > :07:06.Paul Wood has covered 12 conflicts. They are properly trained in how to
:07:07. > :07:12.spot and avoid danger. Proper risk assessment. In this particular case
:07:13. > :07:17.Paul and his team deliberately stayed away from the front line
:07:18. > :07:21.because they deemed it too unsafe. Unfortunately there was some stray
:07:22. > :07:25.fighters who came within their area and they were caught up in it. They
:07:26. > :07:37.made a deliberate decision not to go to the front line. The ISIS fighters
:07:38. > :07:43.have uploaded some truly awful video. This is something we think
:07:44. > :07:49.long and hard about. Is it editorial justified and doesn't aid telling
:07:50. > :07:54.the story? We have discussions, proper guidelines in place to make
:07:55. > :08:03.sure we do those decisions properly. Would you show a steal at six or
:08:04. > :08:07.moving pictures at ten o'clock? Possibly. Every situation is
:08:08. > :08:13.different. There are warnings and introductions to stories. The
:08:14. > :08:18.audience will know that something may be coming that they may not wish
:08:19. > :08:22.to see or prepare themselves for. We always tried to do this in a way
:08:23. > :08:28.that aids the understanding of the story but doesn't go so far that it
:08:29. > :08:41.Let us know your thoughts on the or they feel we've crossed a line.
:08:42. > :08:43.Let us know your thoughts on the ongoing coverage of Iraq or Syria or
:08:44. > :08:53.any other part of BBC news output. Before that as the football World
:08:54. > :08:58.Cup is continued so to have complaints from those who are less
:08:59. > :09:01.than gripped by such issues as whether Wayne Rooney should play on
:09:02. > :09:06.the left. We've been treated to news of how some England players when
:09:07. > :09:10.they were in high spirits put the teams Masur in an ice bath to
:09:11. > :09:24.celebrate his birthday. Brian Bell's response.
:09:25. > :09:30.Finally it was good night from him for one last time. Jeremy Paxman
:09:31. > :09:35.Bauder from presenting Newsnight after 25 years. No transfer well but
:09:36. > :09:49.it contains some fun and games. There was the surprisingly chummy
:09:50. > :09:53.bike ride with Boris Johnson. The last of several entertaining
:09:54. > :09:59.encounters they've had. This is a nightmare! Are you sure about this
:10:00. > :10:08.old man. A brief throwback to the notorious interview with Michael
:10:09. > :10:16.Howard. Now Michael Howard. Did you stop Lou I didn't, that if you ask
:10:17. > :10:22.another 11 times. A final of the trademark grumpy and is. Tomorrow's
:10:23. > :10:27.weather. More of the same. I don't know why they make such a fuss about
:10:28. > :10:39.it. Appreciation was shown from Jeremy
:10:40. > :10:46.I'm sure the great Cron Terry and would expect us to reflect some
:10:47. > :11:05.critical response is. Other viewers have not been such fans.
:11:06. > :11:12.Controversial to the last. Thank you for your comments. If you want to
:11:13. > :11:22.share your opinions or appear on the programme you can call us.
:11:23. > :11:40.That's all from us. We will be back to hear your thoughts next week.
:11:41. > :11:45.Chris Rogers will be here with the BBC News at nine o'clock. Now for