:00:00. > :00:00.It is time for news watch. We look back at the coverage of the Scottish
:00:00. > :00:10.referendum campaign. Hello and welcome to newswatch,
:00:11. > :00:12.with me, Samira Ahmed. Scotland votes no,
:00:13. > :00:18.but what is the verdict on how Allegations of bias during the
:00:19. > :00:22.campaign have been levelled by both sides, so was the BBC impartial
:00:23. > :00:25.in its reporting of the debate? And what have you been telling us
:00:26. > :00:29.is the phrase most overused by It has been an emotional week
:00:30. > :00:55.in politics. The argument over whether Scotland
:00:56. > :00:57.should become an independent nation So too has been
:00:58. > :01:01.the debate over heavenly BBC News Some felt the first B in BBC meant
:01:02. > :01:04.the corporation had an ingrained Unionist bias, others
:01:05. > :01:08.that it got swept up in the fervour Here are two phone messages
:01:09. > :01:11.we received earlier this week. You are giving far too much time
:01:12. > :01:23.to the yes side of the argument There is nothing on television
:01:24. > :01:27.this morning but Alex Salmond, all the time,
:01:28. > :01:29.and all the placard showing "yes". I am phoning to make a complaint to
:01:30. > :01:34.the BBC about the media bias toward My understanding is you should be
:01:35. > :01:40.impartial in your news stories, but I believe you are in cahoots
:01:41. > :01:46.with the Westminster Parliament and I believe you are portraying things
:01:47. > :01:53.in an unjust and incorrect manner and I think you should all hang
:01:54. > :01:57.your heads in shame. Of those two opposing views,
:01:58. > :01:59.it is the latter charge of an anti`independence bias that
:02:00. > :02:02.has been more frequently levelled at the BBC,
:02:03. > :02:05.sometimes with real anger. Last weekend, a large crowd of Yes
:02:06. > :02:09.supporters gathered outside the corporation's Glasgow headquarters
:02:10. > :02:22.to protest about its coverage and in particular the reporting
:02:23. > :02:24.of the BBC's political editor. Also the subject of attacks online,
:02:25. > :02:27.Nick Robinson was one of a number of journalists to use extra
:02:28. > :02:30.security in the run`up to the poll. Feelings have been clearly
:02:31. > :02:33.running high, and not just Viewer Richard Stanton
:02:34. > :02:35.is in our Brighton studio. It was absolutely vital that the two
:02:36. > :02:39.sides got a fair crack of the whip. And what I feel is that
:02:40. > :02:41.the news values the BBC brought to bear in making
:02:42. > :02:44.its news bulletins were the news values of the Westminster political
:02:45. > :02:47.elite and their friends and The things that were treated
:02:48. > :02:55.as newsworthy, once we had had the balance, the two points of view from
:02:56. > :02:58.north of the border, Alex Salmond and maybe Alistair Darling or
:02:59. > :03:03.whatever, the rest of the news was dominated by what was treated
:03:04. > :03:06.as the big cheeses, the important people, and of course,
:03:07. > :03:10.they were all anti`union. So we'd get, on a bulletin,
:03:11. > :03:13.regularly, we would get David Cameron, Ed Miliband,
:03:14. > :03:14.maybe Nick Clegg, And then we would have maybe
:03:15. > :03:24.Alex Salmond or Nicola Sturgeon giving another point of view and
:03:25. > :03:27.then the same on the economic side. Individual companies would get
:03:28. > :03:30.wheeled out to give their individual points of view, whereas the wider
:03:31. > :03:34.perspective about the economic consequences of independence,
:03:35. > :03:38.which may be very different if you take a long`term view,
:03:39. > :03:43.that was never fully reflected in those news bulletins,
:03:44. > :03:45.in my view. It is that sense that what is
:03:46. > :03:49.important is what happens in London and who has got power
:03:50. > :03:52.and big money in London, I think that is what is so wrong
:03:53. > :03:57.and the irony is, of course, that is exactly what the independence
:03:58. > :04:00.debate was about and I am afraid the BBC has made the point for
:04:01. > :04:04.the pro`independence campaigners. Well, to explore
:04:05. > :04:07.how the BBC approached its requirement for impartiality
:04:08. > :04:10.during the referendum campaign, I'm joined from Glasgow by its
:04:11. > :04:14.Chief Political Adviser Ric Bailey. In terms of impartiality,
:04:15. > :04:17.how is covering this Referendum any different to,
:04:18. > :04:24.say, a General Election? Well, I think in any election,
:04:25. > :04:27.impartiality is absolutely critical for the BBC,
:04:28. > :04:29.but I think it is probably true to say that in referendums, it is even
:04:30. > :04:34.more of a challenge sometimes. Look back to 1975 and the Common
:04:35. > :04:37.Market referendum, right through to the AV referendum a couple of
:04:38. > :04:40.years ago, and there is something different about referendums, even
:04:41. > :04:42.above elections, in the sense that there is something about it being
:04:43. > :04:45.binary, two`sided, yes or no, almost do or die, and in the sense
:04:46. > :04:48.that it is a one`off, as well, which both sides
:04:49. > :04:52.care passionately about. They know that the BBC is trusted
:04:53. > :04:56.by the audience on these occasions and so, of course, they want to put
:04:57. > :05:00.pressure on and for us, I think it is really important that we assert
:05:01. > :05:05.our independence and that we cover it impartially, but at the same
:05:06. > :05:07.time, that we are listening, to make sure we are
:05:08. > :05:10.getting it right. We know the BBC got
:05:11. > :05:12.around 5,000 complaints Most of them accused the BBC
:05:13. > :05:18.of being blatantly pro`unionist, and especially on the economic
:05:19. > :05:22.prospects, they said the BBC kept wheeling out Westminster
:05:23. > :05:24.politicians, bankers, heads of corporations,
:05:25. > :05:27.which are all Establishment voices We are trying to achieve consistency
:05:28. > :05:34.here, but we are also trying to tell If people are coming out
:05:35. > :05:37.and saying things, The key to it is, I think, to make
:05:38. > :05:43.sure you are stepping back and approaching it from a consistent
:05:44. > :05:46.point of view, so you are trying to reflect those different voices
:05:47. > :05:48.in all of the different arguments, It is not just a straight yes/no
:05:49. > :05:53.balance, you also have to think, particularly in your UK`wide
:05:54. > :05:56.coverage, of how it is viewed in Scotland, how it is viewed in
:05:57. > :06:00.the rest of the UK, the different audiences, the different levels
:06:01. > :06:02.of understanding they have about it and again, strive for that
:06:03. > :06:07.consistent approach to make sure that the different voices are being
:06:08. > :06:10.heard in a way that the audience has You see, many viewers felt that
:06:11. > :06:15.the BBC didn't do enough to seek out those other voices,
:06:16. > :06:18.to fairly present the Yes view Robert Peston did
:06:19. > :06:26.a big documentary during the summer Robert was on the airwaves a lot,
:06:27. > :06:32.as were colleagues in BBC Scotland. Do you have to do this
:06:33. > :06:38.in every single piece, I would argue you are not
:06:39. > :06:41.serving the audience. Over a long period, you are trying
:06:42. > :06:44.to get these different voices. In a vast range of coverage we do,
:06:45. > :06:47.of course, not everything is perfect, but we have reflected
:06:48. > :06:52.a large number of voices, different formats on different channels, and I
:06:53. > :07:00.think those voices have been heard. We did get some complaint with
:07:01. > :07:02.the opposite point of view. Some viewers who felt, actually,
:07:03. > :07:04.Alex Salmond was Well, again, he was clearly a big
:07:05. > :07:15.figure in this and, you know, we were not balancing two equals, in
:07:16. > :07:18.the sense that had on the one side, you had the big three Westminster
:07:19. > :07:25.unionist parties and on the other hand, you had the SNP, who are
:07:26. > :07:28.in government here, and the other elements of the Yes Campaign, so
:07:29. > :07:31.there is not perfect equality here. What you're trying to do is reflect
:07:32. > :07:33.the two sides, reflect what the big characters are saying,
:07:34. > :07:35.scrutinise those characters. Part of our job in this is to ask
:07:36. > :07:39.the difficult questions of the main characters and the politicians
:07:40. > :07:41.putting forward these arguments, and that level of scrutiny, of course,
:07:42. > :07:44.when it is as binary and two sided as this, does lead to tensions
:07:45. > :07:48.and there will be arguments and that is part of it, it is our job to do
:07:49. > :07:51.that on behalf of the audience. With those tensions,
:07:52. > :07:54.it is clear there has been some intimidation, even threats made
:07:55. > :07:59.against journalists, not just from the BBC but more broadly reported
:08:00. > :08:02.in the run`up to the referendum. I think anybody who has been here
:08:03. > :08:08.would tell you that this has been an absolutely extraordinary
:08:09. > :08:16.campaign, a very long campaign. Social media has played a role in
:08:17. > :08:19.perhaps a way others haven't before. You can mobilise opinion very
:08:20. > :08:22.quickly and you do have, as I said at the beginning, this very binary
:08:23. > :08:24.argument, with polarised views. So inevitably, when passions are
:08:25. > :08:30.based in the way they have been, But I think part
:08:31. > :08:39.of our job is to resist that, to show resilience, to make sure
:08:40. > :08:42.our journalism comes through that The referendum has, of course,
:08:43. > :08:49.dominated the news this week, but should it have done
:08:50. > :08:52.so to such an extent? Nigel Peake thought not,
:08:53. > :09:21.writing on Friday... It was the graphics showing
:09:22. > :09:23.the progress of the yes and no votes on Thursday night
:09:24. > :09:27.which others complained about. Lynne Steer from Lanark objected
:09:28. > :09:38.to the headline that was used. Mark Holland's point was about
:09:39. > :09:56.the colours used in those graphics. And Gerald Ramshaw
:09:57. > :10:07.had this to say... Earlier in the week,
:10:08. > :10:11.as Thursday's vote approach, some newswatch viewers spotted that
:10:12. > :10:17.certain phrases were being repeatedly used on air to convey the
:10:18. > :10:20.excitement of the impending poll. We will be looking at the latest
:10:21. > :10:24.opinion polls which, this evening, We are live in Edinburgh
:10:25. > :10:28.as the latest polls suggest the Three new opinion polls this morning
:10:29. > :10:32.suggest the result of tomorrow's It is really too close to call
:10:33. > :10:40.in the run`up to this final day. As the campaign enters
:10:41. > :10:42.its final hours, the latest polls continue to suggest that the outcome
:10:43. > :10:46.is just too close to call. By Wednesday, Dave Joslin
:10:47. > :10:49.from Cornwall was one viewer who had just had enough.
:10:50. > :11:03.He e`mailed... Many thanks for all
:11:04. > :11:06.of your comments this week. If you want to share your opinions
:11:07. > :11:09.on BBC News and current affairs, or even appear on the programme,
:11:10. > :11:15.do please call us on this number. We are on Twitter and if you ever
:11:16. > :11:24.miss a programme, you can catch up with it
:11:25. > :11:27.via our website. That is all from us,
:11:28. > :11:29.do join us again next week for more of your thoughts about
:11:30. > :11:52.BBC news coverage. Some torrential downpours in places
:11:53. > :11:53.and the risk of