:00:00. > :00:00.with fake ambulances were used import drugs from Holland. At 10pm
:00:00. > :00:10.we will have a round-up of the news today, but first it is time for
:00:11. > :00:18.Newswatch. Hello and welcome to Newswatch with
:00:19. > :00:21.me, Samira Ahmed. As George Osborne delivers
:00:22. > :00:34.his autumn statement, is the BBC's economic coverage too simple and is
:00:35. > :00:36.it politically biased? Robert Peston about to leave the BBC
:00:37. > :00:39.after the decade reporting on business and economics reflects
:00:40. > :00:41.on those questions The only thing people have to know
:00:42. > :00:46.about me is that I am unbelievably childish about journalism,
:00:47. > :00:47.I love getting stories The focus on domestic attention
:00:48. > :00:55.in news agendas this week was the Chancellor's Autumn Statement,
:00:56. > :00:58.which has again shot a spotlight There was a number of preview pieces
:00:59. > :01:08.on television before George Osborne The amount of money the Government
:01:09. > :01:15.wants to spend is shrinking. At the moment, a big lump
:01:16. > :01:19.of our taxes goes to pay for the That is
:01:20. > :01:22.about ?170 billion a year and it pays for people's retirement and
:01:23. > :01:25.welfare, things such as jobseeker's That didn't go
:01:26. > :01:40.down well with one viewer who rang Having watched breakfast this
:01:41. > :02:04.morning with your financial reporter and
:02:05. > :02:09.began to wonder who it was aimed at. You have to decide if you're going
:02:10. > :02:16.to be a serious programme or not. On Wednesday's news at ten,
:02:17. > :02:18.Robert Peston used a different visual device to
:02:19. > :02:20.describe what Mister Osborne had A bit of pre-Christmas magic in
:02:21. > :02:24.Leeds, but some rain said that the Chancellor pulled off a bit of a
:02:25. > :02:36.trek by maintaining spending on the police,
:02:37. > :02:37.easing the pace of austerity, and ignoring the no U-turn rule for
:02:38. > :02:40.politicians by cancelling tax credit cuts while still running fairly fast
:02:41. > :02:42.to cut annual borrowing. But some viewers find this kind of
:02:43. > :02:45.thing simplistic, others explained that the BBC's economic soap it uses
:02:46. > :02:48.too many complex technical terms And if comprehensibility is one bone
:02:49. > :02:56.of contention, another is what some see as political bias creeping
:02:57. > :03:03.into the reporting of economics. Here is Carl Wright
:03:04. > :03:13.e-mailing this week: Over the last decade,
:03:14. > :03:15.Robert Peston has had to wrestle First as the BBC's business editor
:03:16. > :03:22.and now as the economics editor, he is about to leave the BBC to join
:03:23. > :03:25.ITV as its political editor. This week was a time
:03:26. > :03:28.for farewells on the news. Let us take stock after all these
:03:29. > :03:36.announcements and Robert Peston is with me, our economics editor,
:03:37. > :03:38.Laura Kuenssberg our political This is probably my last live
:03:39. > :03:43.on the news at ten. I'm obsessing as usual with
:03:44. > :03:47.the financial and fiscal risks. Over the past ten years we've had
:03:48. > :03:50.plenty of comments about Robert Peston, ranging
:03:51. > :04:03.from his capacity to generate scoops or exclusives, to his hair,
:04:04. > :04:05.which has its own Twitter account. And criticism of his alleged sloppy
:04:06. > :04:11.attire, unbuttoned shirt and no tie while interviewing George
:04:12. > :04:14.Osborne on a recent trip to China. I have asked him about all those
:04:15. > :04:16.issues, starting with how is business and economics coverage has
:04:17. > :04:20.changed in his ten years at the BBC. Before I joined, when I joined,
:04:21. > :04:23.it was a real struggle to get business on the main bulletins,
:04:24. > :04:25.The Today programme, There was a nod towards
:04:26. > :04:30.the idea that there might be a few people interested in business,
:04:31. > :04:33.but there was a prejudice, I would Then we had markets closing down
:04:34. > :04:44.in a catastrophic way in the summer of 2007, a sort of
:04:45. > :04:53.unique moment I suppose in a way, that around the place here people
:04:54. > :05:05.suddenly recognised what business is and why it matters to people's
:05:06. > :05:07.lives. From a viewer's point of view,
:05:08. > :05:12.what is striking is that on the one hand people feel economics can still
:05:13. > :05:18.feel incredibly complicated and the jargon used in it we don't
:05:19. > :05:24.fully understand, but some feel How have you felt
:05:25. > :05:31.the balance has been struck? I don't like
:05:32. > :05:33.as it happens visual metaphors that I always try and find images that
:05:34. > :05:37.are relevant to the story These stories are often quite dry,
:05:38. > :05:41.what you try and do is move from the personal to the general
:05:42. > :05:52.and I do think all A big part of your reputation has
:05:53. > :06:00.been getting scoops, such You have also been accused
:06:01. > :06:08.with Northern Rock of perhaps What is your view
:06:09. > :06:13.on that accusation? There was a very difficult period
:06:14. > :06:17.from the summer of 2007 onwards when basically there was a whole industry
:06:18. > :06:21.of senior politicians and senior business people, the head of the
:06:22. > :06:27.British Bankers Association, who They felt that somehow what
:06:28. > :06:31.I was saying was stuff that I consistently took
:06:32. > :06:34.a different view, which is that this was not alarmist
:06:35. > :06:41.stuff, this was not sensationalist. I never reported anything that
:06:42. > :06:43.wasn't grounded in 100% fact. No one ever accused me
:06:44. > :06:51.of getting anything wrong. When I reviewed
:06:52. > :06:54.my language it was clear to me that I wasn't being sensationalist,
:06:55. > :06:57.it was just that there was a whole industry of people who did not want
:06:58. > :07:00.the public to know the facts. You are known and often commented
:07:01. > :07:09.on for your appearance and for a lot of reporters the last thing
:07:10. > :07:15.they want to be talked about for is Do you think that is happening to
:07:16. > :07:27.you because you have chosen not Maybe I have always been less
:07:28. > :07:34.sensitive to the issue of how you sound and how you look
:07:35. > :07:37.than people who have been That said,
:07:38. > :07:43.I have never wanted either the way I sound or look to distract
:07:44. > :07:47.from what I am saying, that is what I think to an extent, it was helpful
:07:48. > :07:57.that I was distinctive because in a sense if I came on the television or
:07:58. > :08:03.radio people instantly recognise me and that also meant that this person
:08:04. > :08:06.is maybe worth listening to watching because you might tell something
:08:07. > :08:09.that affects our lives. I think it is important to be clear
:08:10. > :08:15.about this, I think it is very important that you respect
:08:16. > :08:19.who you're interviewing and respect To be absolutely clear, the only
:08:20. > :08:30.reason I occasionally am not wearing a tie, I don't like ties,
:08:31. > :08:35.but I will wear them on occasion. It is the right thing to do,
:08:36. > :08:42.it is expected that is what you will do and I don't not wear it to make
:08:43. > :08:46.a point of any sort. I think you just have
:08:47. > :08:48.to judge situations. There was that the fuss
:08:49. > :08:52.about the trip to China. It was a perfectly natural thing
:08:53. > :08:58.in that situation not to wear a tie because it was boiling hot and I'd
:08:59. > :09:01.been running about all day filming. I am pretty sure the Chancellor
:09:02. > :09:04.would have completely understood I am slightly sorry that some people
:09:05. > :09:21.here thought this was a big deal. I don't think it was a big deal
:09:22. > :09:38.and I don't think it is. You are going to ITV and it and it
:09:39. > :09:42.feels at a time when so much is accused of being politically biased,
:09:43. > :09:48.even economics coverage, we've had complaints that the word lucky is
:09:49. > :09:58.used to describe the Chancellor's situation at the Autumn Statement
:09:59. > :10:00.this week has been seen by some What is your take
:10:01. > :10:04.on how much heightened sensitivity there is, both at the BBC
:10:05. > :10:07.and with the challenge of the job? Throughout the developed world there
:10:08. > :10:10.has been a loss of confidence in what you make mainstream
:10:11. > :10:12.politicians and mainstream parties. In those circumstances, you would
:10:13. > :10:15.expect millions of people to be much more passionate
:10:16. > :10:18.in their view of politics and much more mistrustful of what you might
:10:19. > :10:20.call the mainstream media. Demonstrate
:10:21. > :10:22.for mainstream politicians is also All journalists have to be acutely
:10:23. > :10:25.aware of those sensitivities. The challenge
:10:26. > :10:28.for a journalist remains exactly the same, which is, as far as
:10:29. > :10:31.possible, to put their own instincts and prejudices to one side and to
:10:32. > :10:34.describe the world as they see it. Robert Peston, thank you
:10:35. > :10:41.all the best for the future. Just time before we go for a mention
:10:42. > :10:45.of what is likely to be debated topic of next week, a possible vote
:10:46. > :10:48.on whether the UK should join Some viewers have told us they feel
:10:49. > :10:52.the BBC is focusing too much on divisions within the
:10:53. > :10:57.Labour Party over this issue, rather And finally a word from Hugh Brown
:10:58. > :11:47.about a particular bugbear of his: Thank you
:11:48. > :11:49.for all your comments this week. If you want to share
:11:50. > :11:51.your opinions on BBC News, current affairs, or appear on the programme
:11:52. > :11:55.you can call us using the number You can find us on Twitter
:11:56. > :12:00.and do have a look at our website. That is from us, we will be back to
:12:01. > :12:03.hear your thoughts about BBC News England's cricketers win
:12:04. > :12:20.the Twenty20 series with Pakistan. At the David Cup final in Ghent,
:12:21. > :12:23.Andy Murry makes it 1-1 with Belgium after beating
:12:24. > :12:28.Ruben Bemelmans in straight sets. British debutant Kyle Edmund took
:12:29. > :12:35.two sets off David Goffin