:00:11. > :00:19.Hello, and welcome to Newswatch. On this week 's programme, has BBC
:00:20. > :00:26.reporting of Ashya King been fair to his parents, or intrusive and
:00:27. > :00:30.excessive? Alex Salminen blames a metropolitan media for unfair
:00:31. > :00:35.coverage of the referendum debate. Have the BBC been guilty of this?
:00:36. > :00:46.And what is more important, a live broadcast from the trade
:00:47. > :00:49.Congress, or breaking news of a royal pregnancy? Sometimes a story
:00:50. > :00:54.can seem very clear when it is first reported, and then be transformed as
:00:55. > :00:59.new information emerges. The case of fight your brain tumour patient
:01:00. > :01:03.Ashya King is such a story and has been borrowed through the British
:01:04. > :01:06.media, in June `` including on the BBC `` five`year`old. He is now
:01:07. > :01:11.being treated in Prague, but his name hit the headlines two weeks
:01:12. > :01:16.ago. It started at 2pm yesterday, when he was taken from the hospital
:01:17. > :01:19.by his parents. At 4pm, his whole family travel to Portsmouth weather
:01:20. > :01:31.got on a ferry, and at 8pm, six seemed to many to be a simple but
:01:32. > :01:36.tragic tale, with Mr and Mrs King being the villains. To some, that is
:01:37. > :01:45.how the BBC portrayed it at first. One viewer said:
:01:46. > :02:33.In the past fortnight, events have moved on significantly. Ashya King
:02:34. > :02:37.is undergoing scans this week at a clinic in Prague. In advance of
:02:38. > :02:44.plans proton beam treatments `` planned. Our correspondent reported
:02:45. > :02:48.from Prague. It has been a long Jennifer Ashya King and his family.
:02:49. > :02:53.Is unclear who will pay for his treatment, but the therapy they
:02:54. > :02:57.fought desperately for is expected to start next week. Such coverage
:02:58. > :03:02.led to further complaints, such as this e`mail from one view on Monday
:03:03. > :03:18.morning. `` viewer.
:03:19. > :04:02.Another viewer greed, writing: `` agreed.
:04:03. > :04:08.The head of the BBC newsroom is Mary Hockaday who joins me now. Some
:04:09. > :04:11.viewers felt that the early coverage implied that the parents were
:04:12. > :04:15.guilty, because of the prominence of what the authorities were saying,
:04:16. > :04:20.and those photographs released. And the talk of arrest warrants. Should
:04:21. > :04:23.the BBC have done more to question the source and reliability of what
:04:24. > :04:30.authorities were claiming from `` claiming? At any face value, is the
:04:31. > :04:34.important thing to say. It's a service to the community, an
:04:35. > :04:38.announcement from police and the hospital, the possibility of a
:04:39. > :04:41.missing child. At that stage, it feels an important and significant
:04:42. > :04:46.thing said by the authorities and the right thing is to draw attention
:04:47. > :04:51.to it. Quickly, the story moved on, as did our coverage. That happened
:04:52. > :04:56.in a number of ways. One of the things was noticeable `` notable and
:04:57. > :04:59.unusual about the story is how the family quickly communicated
:05:00. > :05:04.themselves, partly by putting a video on YouTube, a new phenomenon
:05:05. > :05:08.that became part of how the story fadeout. When it became clear that
:05:09. > :05:12.the family were going to be allowed to take Ashya King to Prague,
:05:13. > :05:16.viewers were concerned that we should have left them alone, and
:05:17. > :05:20.there were cameras everywhere outside their home and both
:05:21. > :05:26.hospitals. Was it intrusive? There's this idea that it turned into a mini
:05:27. > :05:32.soap opera. The family themselves were very happy to, and in fact
:05:33. > :05:37.choosing, to communicate to us and other media. It wasn't asked, if you
:05:38. > :05:44.like, pressuring them. For our audiences, and many of our audiences
:05:45. > :05:49.were very engaged in the story. They wanted to know what happened next.
:05:50. > :05:53.That is our fundamental job, what happens next. It seemed to me, and I
:05:54. > :05:57.think this is absolutely right, if you like, we followed that stage of
:05:58. > :06:02.the story through to Prague. All along, as well as reporting the core
:06:03. > :06:07.elements of the story, we attended to the many issues it threw up. It
:06:08. > :06:13.really did raise many questions. A lot of them about family 's rights,
:06:14. > :06:18.with care and hospitals, a lot of issues around costs and choices of
:06:19. > :06:22.treatment in hospitals. Issues around the European arrest warrant,
:06:23. > :06:26.and what this is. A lot of questions about proton beam therapy itself and
:06:27. > :06:31.other kinds of treatments for tumours and so on, with some really
:06:32. > :06:35.interesting testimony from other families with experience of all of
:06:36. > :06:38.this. For us, reporting the story and airing the issues, hearing from
:06:39. > :06:47.all sides, that's the job we were doing. Thank you for coming in.
:06:48. > :06:50.Elsewhere this week, the referendum campaign in Scotland has been
:06:51. > :06:54.hotting up in advance of Thursday 's vote, in next week 's programme we
:06:55. > :06:58.will be examining the role the BBC has played in coverage and ``
:06:59. > :07:01.covering the campaign and the role it has after the poll. The
:07:02. > :07:06.corporation has already been under fire this week for reporting of the
:07:07. > :07:10.independence issue. Firstly, after this pronouncement by the Royal
:07:11. > :07:13.correspondent Nicholas Witchell, on Tuesdays BBC One bulletin. The Queen
:07:14. > :07:18.will accept the referendum result, whatever it is. That is her duty as
:07:19. > :07:22.a constitutional monarch. But nobody should be in any doubt, any breakup
:07:23. > :07:27.of the United Kingdom would be a matter of deep and private sadness
:07:28. > :07:36.to her. One viewer 's comments said:
:07:37. > :07:42.Alex Salmond has been at the heart of much of this week 's news
:07:43. > :07:46.output, demanding that the BBC should co`operate in an enquiry into
:07:47. > :07:50.the leaking of RBS 's plan to move its registered office to London, if
:07:51. > :07:57.there is a yes vote. The Minister was `` the first Minister was
:07:58. > :08:02.questioned by Nick Robinson this week. Should a Scottish voter
:08:03. > :08:06.believe you, a politician, against men who are responsible the billions
:08:07. > :08:11.of pounds of profit. He didn't answer, but he attacked the
:08:12. > :08:16.reporting of those in what he called the metropolitan media. Who could he
:08:17. > :08:21.mean by the metropolitan media? Did Alex Salmond really not answer Nick
:08:22. > :08:37.Robinson 's question? One viewer said the following:
:08:38. > :08:42.Earlier on Thursday, the news channels broadcasting live a speech
:08:43. > :08:46.from Alex Salmond, and at the same time something else was going on on
:08:47. > :08:51.the other side of the world. For the first time ever, Scots now
:08:52. > :08:59.believe that this can happen, and indeed this will happen. Back to the
:09:00. > :09:03.judge giving her verdict in the murder case of Oscar Pistorius, she
:09:04. > :09:07.has said the state has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that he is
:09:08. > :09:33.guilty of premeditated murder. This was the response of one viewer.
:09:34. > :09:41.Cutting away from showing a live event, also resulted in our final
:09:42. > :09:45.comment this week. Here's Frances O'Grady, telling the TUC conference
:09:46. > :09:52.on Monday morning what was wrong with the society we live in. Where
:09:53. > :09:56.the blame is heaped on the most vulnerable, migrants, claimants,
:09:57. > :10:06.whether powerful and privileged set pretty. `` where the. Breaking news
:10:07. > :10:10.now, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are pleased to announce
:10:11. > :10:15.that the Duchess of Cambridge is expecting their second child. By the
:10:16. > :10:18.time the news channel had finished discussing the royal pregnancy,
:10:19. > :10:21.Frances O'Grady 's speech had finished. Mary Pearson, president of
:10:22. > :10:27.the Birmingham trades union Council, was watching. Here is her
:10:28. > :10:31.reaction. We could have waited 20 minutes to learn about the pregnancy
:10:32. > :10:36.of the Duchess of Cambridge. I couldn't see that it was a matter of
:10:37. > :10:41.national importance, it `` that it couldn't wait 20 minutes. Here is
:10:42. > :10:47.the leader of over 5 million workers in the trade union movement, she was
:10:48. > :10:53.cut off and allowed two minutes 25 seconds. It is crazy. It seems so
:10:54. > :10:57.unbalanced and so unfair. Thank you to Mary Pearson and all of those who
:10:58. > :11:01.sent us the comments this week. If you want to share your opinions, or
:11:02. > :11:15.even appear on the programme, get in touch with us.
:11:16. > :11:21.That is all from us, we will be back to hear your thoughts on the
:11:22. > :11:31.coverage of the Scottish referendum and other topics next week. Goodbye.
:11:32. > :11:35.It is looking fine overnight, there will be varied amounts of cloud,
:11:36. > :11:39.where we get clear skies there will be mist and fog developing,
:11:40. > :11:45.especially in northern and western areas. We have cloud, and a bit less
:11:46. > :11:48.cold. Towns and cities are looking at temperatures not falling below 12
:11:49. > :11:50.degrees, and winds remain light.