:00:00. > :00:00.At 10pm we will be here with a full round-up of the day's News but first
:00:00. > :00:18.it's time for Newswatch. Welcome to Newswatch. On the
:00:19. > :00:23.programme, an outpouring of grief shown on screen and extensive
:00:24. > :00:26.analysis of its cultural impact, but did BBC go over the top in its
:00:27. > :00:31.coverage of the death of David Bowie?
:00:32. > :00:34.Was this week's question Time balanced or unfairly weighted
:00:35. > :00:37.towards right-wingers? Those convicted of the bar yet Hatton
:00:38. > :00:43.Gardens are getting on a bit but did we need this much information? They
:00:44. > :00:49.were struggling with infirmity, even in comp -- incontinence. The week
:00:50. > :00:52.began with the announcement of an unexpected death early on Monday
:00:53. > :00:57.morning. For many he was an inspiration and cultural icon and
:00:58. > :01:01.for others a pop star with no wider significance. No surprise then that
:01:02. > :01:05.the very prominent coverage of his best divided viewers.
:01:06. > :01:10.Some breaking news just now this morning and it has been confirmed
:01:11. > :01:16.that David Bowie, the singer and musician has dry at the age of 69.
:01:17. > :01:21.From breakfast on words, BBC News on Monday reported extensively on the
:01:22. > :01:26.life and career of David Bowie across the news channels and online.
:01:27. > :01:31.The subject to cop the first half of the BBC One bulletins at 1pm and 6pm
:01:32. > :01:35.and the first 17 minutes of the News at ten. Each of the bulletins also
:01:36. > :01:38.ended with the musical tribute and then between all that BBC One
:01:39. > :01:41.replaced its scheduled regional programme Inside Out with a
:01:42. > :01:54.half-hour special presented by Jeremy Vine. One
:01:55. > :02:19.But that was very much a minority view. More typical was this from
:02:20. > :02:59.Helen Belsen. To discuss all this I'm joined by a
:03:00. > :03:03.viewer and by the BBC's head of news gathering. Thank you very much for
:03:04. > :03:07.coming on Newswatch. Do you think it should have been the lead story? I
:03:08. > :03:12.was happy that it was mentioned in the headlines at the top of the news
:03:13. > :03:15.announcing his death and perhaps people hadn't heard it first thing
:03:16. > :03:21.in the morning so it could go on for the 6pm and 10pm news, but 70
:03:22. > :03:25.minutes on the ten o'clock news? What they were showing was not news
:03:26. > :03:29.but old footage, to a certain extent, about his achievements and
:03:30. > :03:33.what he had done. There is no question he achieve the lot and was
:03:34. > :03:44.an icon to some people and changed his persona all through his career,
:03:45. > :03:48.but on that day the aid convoy got into Madaya and I felt that should
:03:49. > :03:51.have been the lead story and followed up at the end with maybe
:03:52. > :03:58.five minutes about the reaction to David's Beth. There are two issue
:03:59. > :04:03.is, let's start with duration, half of the one and six bulletins and 70
:04:04. > :04:07.minutes on the ten p.m., doesn't this reveal the personal tastes of
:04:08. > :04:11.the bosses running the newsroom? I think we just felt there was a lot
:04:12. > :04:15.to say and people wanted to hear the music as well which was an important
:04:16. > :04:19.part of the way you report the death of an artist like David Bowie. There
:04:20. > :04:24.are probably half a dozen people probably alive who genuinely shaped
:04:25. > :04:30.modern culture in some shape or form, so we're not doing justice to
:04:31. > :04:35.them to have a obituary, rather like running a comparison to the Alan
:04:36. > :04:40.Rickman obituary, which was atypical, well thought through and
:04:41. > :04:48.nicely produced appreciation of a person's career, but he didn't have
:04:49. > :04:51.the impact across as many things as David Bowie had, so we felt we
:04:52. > :04:58.needed the time to really express that and talk to people who had been
:04:59. > :05:04.touched by that. These stories often attract reaction of the kind we have
:05:05. > :05:07.seen, divided reaction, but it was a judgment about the there was to say
:05:08. > :05:14.him. Let's talk about what there was to say. That the stuff you see on
:05:15. > :05:18.the news programmes seem like news to you? It didn't. It is not that I
:05:19. > :05:27.am not someone who appreciated David Bowie, I went to the V exhibition,
:05:28. > :05:33.so I am aware of what he achieved in his life, but I just felt that big
:05:34. > :05:36.chunk could have been saved for perhaps another obituary type
:05:37. > :05:43.programme, a documentary, rather than news, because it wasn't news.
:05:44. > :05:49.Can we talk about what got dropped? You mention the seizure of this tone
:05:50. > :05:52.and Serie A, the eve of the NHS junior doctors strike. These
:05:53. > :05:56.half-hour bulletin is where people go to be told what is important
:05:57. > :06:03.today. They could have been redirected to the website for all
:06:04. > :06:07.the extra material? Both the stories run on both the 6pm and 10pm news on
:06:08. > :06:11.the Serie A story was the first story after David Bowie on both
:06:12. > :06:16.programmes. We are dead with that story on the previous evening when
:06:17. > :06:20.the convoy was setting. We think it is a very important story and nobody
:06:21. > :06:24.for the moment was considering dropping the story. There is a
:06:25. > :06:29.practical issue specifically that we used every single piece of footage
:06:30. > :06:33.we had and we cannot go and gather footage ourselves because it is
:06:34. > :06:38.frankly too dangerous. Other stories got dropped though? The NHS didn't
:06:39. > :06:41.get dropped, that was on the bulletins, and so was the
:06:42. > :06:45.resignation of the Environment Agency chief, and the report on the
:06:46. > :06:50.aftermath of the Labour Party reshuffle on the today programme. We
:06:51. > :06:53.had an extended interview with Jeremy Corbyn and the Archbishop of
:06:54. > :06:57.Canterbury so we got through a lot of other news. You will know this
:06:58. > :07:02.comes up a lot of time with obituaries, so why not just run an
:07:03. > :07:07.obituary and news package and direct people to the other stuff. There was
:07:08. > :07:10.a special as well. We asked the regional programmes to move to
:07:11. > :07:14.Wednesday and they were still transmitted, just moves 48 hours,
:07:15. > :07:19.and there were some important programmes, so they have run and we
:07:20. > :07:22.took out a repeat on Wednesday evening to accommodate that. There
:07:23. > :07:27.are some stories where we just feel that the peak-time audience that is
:07:28. > :07:31.not typically watching the 6pm or 10pm news, although some will watch
:07:32. > :07:35.both, also want to hear the bet about some of the major stories of
:07:36. > :07:40.the year, so occasionally we will replace a programme with the new
:07:41. > :07:47.special. I can understand the taking out of Inside Out London for me but
:07:48. > :07:54.what I cannot understand is why you didn't alter the running, as it
:07:55. > :07:58.were, of the other stories that they weren't at the top of the programme,
:07:59. > :08:03.and then at the end do your bit on David Bowie? And in the end in terms
:08:04. > :08:12.of what you have heard, what would you like to say what would you like
:08:13. > :08:26.to say? I would say, think about those who want to watch the news for
:08:27. > :08:30.news rather than a retrospective, but not 70 minutes on the ten
:08:31. > :08:40.o'clock news. We will have to leave it there, thank you very much for
:08:41. > :08:43.coming in. Do let us know your thoughts on that and on any aspect
:08:44. > :08:47.of BBC News, details on how to contact us at the end of the
:08:48. > :08:54.programme. Before that, some protests as to the make-up of the
:08:55. > :08:58.panel on Thursday's Time. Alongside one Labour MP, it consisted of a
:08:59. > :09:06.Ukip MEP, a Conservative MP, a journalist from the Sunday Times and
:09:07. > :09:09.a columnist from the sun. They were both writers for a right-leaning
:09:10. > :09:15.Murdoch newspapers and to some that was unbalanced. Hughes is John Adler
:09:16. > :09:24.Steyn from In response BBC News put out this
:09:25. > :09:48.statement. Reporting of the ongoing dispute
:09:49. > :09:53.over the government proposals for a new contract for junior doctors has
:09:54. > :09:56.proved controversial before among Newswatch viewers and we heard more
:09:57. > :10:03.following Tuesday's industrial action.
:10:04. > :10:08.I am an NHS consultant and I was very disappointed by the BBC
:10:09. > :10:15.coverage of the junior doctors strike on the 10pm news. It showed
:10:16. > :10:19.the public response in a very negative light and only should be
:10:20. > :10:23.the actions of two members of the public. The first was a man behaving
:10:24. > :10:29.aggressively in the street towards a striking doctor. The second was a
:10:30. > :10:32.lady being interviewed on her own home about who postponed operation.
:10:33. > :10:38.We have got people's lights on their hands and walking out. Whilst I do
:10:39. > :10:43.have every sympathy for patients affected by the strike, the fact is
:10:44. > :10:50.that it is a huge amount of public support for the strike but one would
:10:51. > :10:52.never know this. I don't think the report was either balanced or
:10:53. > :10:57.representatives. That is the subject we are likely to be returning to
:10:58. > :11:01.that finally, this week we had complaints after three more men were
:11:02. > :11:06.convicted for their part in the ?40 million Hatton Garden Burghley last
:11:07. > :11:08.year, and some felt BBC News was obsessed with the age of the
:11:09. > :11:14.thieves. The men in their 60s and 70s were
:11:15. > :11:20.secretly filmed in a local pub. Those four other men all in their
:11:21. > :11:25.60s and 70s... The ageing men let themselves in through a back door. A
:11:26. > :11:30.combined age of 278. They just couldn't resist even at the age.
:11:31. > :11:34.Struggling with infirmity, even incontinence. That last detail was
:11:35. > :11:43.too much for Jane Jones, who asked...
:11:44. > :11:49.More of your comments on BBC News and current affairs next week. If
:11:50. > :11:51.you'd like to put your views across either in person or in print, please
:11:52. > :11:58.do collars... You can message us Twitter. Have a
:11:59. > :12:13.look at our website. That's all from us, we will be back
:12:14. > :12:22.to hear your thoughts about BBC News coverage again next week, goodbye.
:12:23. > :12:30.Coming up in the sports day, a classic in the quarterfinals at the
:12:31. > :12:34.Masters snooker, and we will show you how Joe Root was the month in
:12:35. > :12:35.England once again as he led a