19/09/2014 Newswatch

It is time for news watch. We look back at the coverage of the Scottish

referendum campaign. Hello and welcome to newswatch,

with me, Samira Ahmed. Scotland votes no,

but what is the verdict on how Allegations of bias during the

campaign have been levelled by both sides, so was the BBC impartial

in its reporting of the debate? And what have you been telling us

is the phrase most overused by It has been an emotional week

in politics. The argument over whether Scotland

should become an independent nation So too has been

the debate over heavenly BBC News Some felt the first B in BBC meant

the corporation had an ingrained Unionist bias, others

that it got swept up in the fervour Here are two phone messages

we received earlier this week. You are giving far too much time

to the yes side of the argument There is nothing on television

this morning but Alex Salmond, all the time,

and all the placard showing "yes". I am phoning to make a complaint to

the BBC about the media bias toward My understanding is you should be

impartial in your news stories, but I believe you are in cahoots

with the Westminster Parliament and I believe you are portraying things

in an unjust and incorrect manner and I think you should all hang

your heads in shame. Of those two opposing views,

it is the latter charge of an anti`independence bias that

has been more frequently levelled at the BBC,

sometimes with real anger. Last weekend, a large crowd of Yes

supporters gathered outside the corporation's Glasgow headquarters

to protest about its coverage and in particular the reporting

of the BBC's political editor. Also the subject of attacks online,

Nick Robinson was one of a number of journalists to use extra

security in the run`up to the poll. Feelings have been clearly

running high, and not just Viewer Richard Stanton

is in our Brighton studio. It was absolutely vital that the two

sides got a fair crack of the whip. And what I feel is that

the news values the BBC brought to bear in making

its news bulletins were the news values of the Westminster political

elite and their friends and The things that were treated

as newsworthy, once we had had the balance, the two points of view from

north of the border, Alex Salmond and maybe Alistair Darling or

whatever, the rest of the news was dominated by what was treated

as the big cheeses, the important people, and of course,

they were all anti`union. So we'd get, on a bulletin,

regularly, we would get David Cameron, Ed Miliband,

maybe Nick Clegg, And then we would have maybe

Alex Salmond or Nicola Sturgeon giving another point of view and

then the same on the economic side. Individual companies would get

wheeled out to give their individual points of view, whereas the wider

perspective about the economic consequences of independence,

which may be very different if you take a long`term view,

that was never fully reflected in those news bulletins,

in my view. It is that sense that what is

important is what happens in London and who has got power

and big money in London, I think that is what is so wrong

and the irony is, of course, that is exactly what the independence

debate was about and I am afraid the BBC has made the point for

the pro`independence campaigners. Well, to explore

how the BBC approached its requirement for impartiality

during the referendum campaign, I'm joined from Glasgow by its

Chief Political Adviser Ric Bailey. In terms of impartiality,

how is covering this Referendum any different to,

say, a General Election? Well, I think in any election,

impartiality is absolutely critical for the BBC,

but I think it is probably true to say that in referendums, it is even

more of a challenge sometimes. Look back to 1975 and the Common

Market referendum, right through to the AV referendum a couple of

years ago, and there is something different about referendums, even

above elections, in the sense that there is something about it being

binary, two`sided, yes or no, almost do or die, and in the sense

that it is a one`off, as well, which both sides

care passionately about. They know that the BBC is trusted

by the audience on these occasions and so, of course, they want to put

pressure on and for us, I think it is really important that we assert

our independence and that we cover it impartially, but at the same

time, that we are listening, to make sure we are

getting it right. We know the BBC got

around 5,000 complaints Most of them accused the BBC

of being blatantly pro`unionist, and especially on the economic

prospects, they said the BBC kept wheeling out Westminster

politicians, bankers, heads of corporations,

which are all Establishment voices We are trying to achieve consistency

here, but we are also trying to tell If people are coming out

and saying things, The key to it is, I think, to make

sure you are stepping back and approaching it from a consistent

point of view, so you are trying to reflect those different voices

in all of the different arguments, It is not just a straight yes/no

balance, you also have to think, particularly in your UK`wide

coverage, of how it is viewed in Scotland, how it is viewed in

the rest of the UK, the different audiences, the different levels

of understanding they have about it and again, strive for that

consistent approach to make sure that the different voices are being

heard in a way that the audience has You see, many viewers felt that

the BBC didn't do enough to seek out those other voices,

to fairly present the Yes view Robert Peston did

a big documentary during the summer Robert was on the airwaves a lot,

as were colleagues in BBC Scotland. Do you have to do this

in every single piece, I would argue you are not

serving the audience. Over a long period, you are trying

to get these different voices. In a vast range of coverage we do,

of course, not everything is perfect, but we have reflected

a large number of voices, different formats on different channels, and I

think those voices have been heard. We did get some complaint with

the opposite point of view. Some viewers who felt, actually,

Alex Salmond was Well, again, he was clearly a big

figure in this and, you know, we were not balancing two equals, in

the sense that had on the one side, you had the big three Westminster

unionist parties and on the other hand, you had the SNP, who are

in government here, and the other elements of the Yes Campaign, so

there is not perfect equality here. What you're trying to do is reflect

the two sides, reflect what the big characters are saying,

scrutinise those characters. Part of our job in this is to ask

the difficult questions of the main characters and the politicians

putting forward these arguments, and that level of scrutiny, of course,

when it is as binary and two sided as this, does lead to tensions

and there will be arguments and that is part of it, it is our job to do

that on behalf of the audience. With those tensions,

it is clear there has been some intimidation, even threats made

against journalists, not just from the BBC but more broadly reported

in the run`up to the referendum. I think anybody who has been here

would tell you that this has been an absolutely extraordinary

campaign, a very long campaign. Social media has played a role in

perhaps a way others haven't before. You can mobilise opinion very

quickly and you do have, as I said at the beginning, this very binary

argument, with polarised views. So inevitably, when passions are

based in the way they have been, But I think part

of our job is to resist that, to show resilience, to make sure

our journalism comes through that The referendum has, of course,

dominated the news this week, but should it have done

so to such an extent? Nigel Peake thought not,

writing on Friday... It was the graphics showing

the progress of the yes and no votes on Thursday night

which others complained about. Lynne Steer from Lanark objected

to the headline that was used. Mark Holland's point was about

the colours used in those graphics. And Gerald Ramshaw

had this to say... Earlier in the week,

as Thursday's vote approach, some newswatch viewers spotted that

certain phrases were being repeatedly used on air to convey the

excitement of the impending poll. We will be looking at the latest

opinion polls which, this evening, We are live in Edinburgh

as the latest polls suggest the Three new opinion polls this morning

suggest the result of tomorrow's It is really too close to call

in the run`up to this final day. As the campaign enters

its final hours, the latest polls continue to suggest that the outcome

is just too close to call. By Wednesday, Dave Joslin

from Cornwall was one viewer who had just had enough.

He e`mailed... Many thanks for all

of your comments this week. If you want to share your opinions

on BBC News and current affairs, or even appear on the programme,

do please call us on this number. We are on Twitter and if you ever

miss a programme, you can catch up with it

via our website. That is all from us,

do join us again next week for more of your thoughts about

BBC news coverage. Some torrential downpours in places

and the risk of