:00:00. > :00:00.leaders. At 10pm, Fiona Bruce will lead us
:00:07. > :00:12.into a full review of the day's news but first, here is Newswatch.
:00:13. > :00:14.Hello and welcome to Newswatch with me, Samira Ahmed.
:00:15. > :00:16.Too much fighting and not enough fact?
:00:17. > :00:18.Is the BBC informing us about
:00:19. > :00:24.the reasons for Britain to leave or remain in the EU?
:00:25. > :00:26.And Whittingdale and Welby - did BBC News
:00:27. > :00:29.overstep the mark this week on reporting on the private lives of
:00:30. > :00:37.If you've already had it up to here with the build-up
:00:38. > :00:42.to June's referendum on Britain's membership in the EU, beware -
:00:43. > :00:45.the official campaign has only just started but already we've had plenty
:00:46. > :00:48.of feedback on how the BBC is approaching this thorniest of
:00:49. > :00:57.Much of it raising the question of how enlightening and
:00:58. > :01:01.One example came on Monday with a special edition of BBC Two's
:01:02. > :01:07.This is not legislation imposed on us.
:01:08. > :01:10.We are part of the legislative process and
:01:11. > :01:13.until Chris understands this, he is not really going to come
:01:14. > :01:18.In debates and discussions like that and studio
:01:19. > :01:23.interviews with representatives from two sides and soundbites featured in
:01:24. > :01:27.news reports we hear a welter of contradictory claims often stated
:01:28. > :01:29.with complete conviction and that has been bothering a number of
:01:30. > :01:33.One of them, Michael Gabbitas, recorded his thoughts on
:01:34. > :01:38.It makes it much more exciting and interesting to report
:01:39. > :01:40.on the divisions within the parties and talk
:01:41. > :01:50.But this isn't helping the people very much and what I would
:01:51. > :01:59.prefer to see is some impartial and expert analysis.
:02:00. > :02:02.We get no say in the way it is spent.
:02:03. > :02:16.Specifically in any decision that we make on whether or not we
:02:17. > :02:19.stay in the EU or come out of it, there are bound to be associated
:02:20. > :02:21.threats, opportunities and risks and costs and benefits and
:02:22. > :02:30.And all of these things are useful in making a
:02:31. > :02:36.And it seems to me that it is for the national broadcaster to
:02:37. > :02:42.Joining me now is James Stevenson, the news editor for
:02:43. > :02:45.Unlike other elections, everything, it feels, is disputed by
:02:46. > :02:49.It makes watching coverage, as some of the viewers
:02:50. > :02:52.have made clear, incredibly unenlightening.
:02:53. > :02:54.Too many viewers feel they haven't actually got clear
:02:55. > :02:57.what the main arguments are on either side and is it the BBC's
:02:58. > :03:03.I think it is a challenge to us and one that we are fully
:03:04. > :03:07.I think it is fair to say, I think you said in
:03:08. > :03:10.your introduction, this is the start of the official campaign so we have
:03:11. > :03:12.ten weeks now of what everyone thinks will be increasingly intense
:03:13. > :03:17.We have got a responsibility to cover the news and
:03:18. > :03:19.we will do that as things develop with the campaigns.
:03:20. > :03:21.I definitely agree with the contributors who are
:03:22. > :03:25.saying they need some light to go with the heat and we are aiming to
:03:26. > :03:28.provide that in a variety of ways so, for example, we will have issues
:03:29. > :03:34.cards online so they can share them on social
:03:35. > :03:36.cards online so they can share them on social media,
:03:37. > :03:40.We have already got a jargon busting element on our
:03:41. > :03:42.website so if anyone is confused about terms,
:03:43. > :03:55.We have begun to run short video explainers with some of the basic
:03:56. > :03:59.things as simple as how has the vote come about?
:04:00. > :04:01.Right through to documentaries and debates that will
:04:02. > :04:08.We all accept the challenge that has been laid down
:04:09. > :04:10.and we will have to see, come the vote,
:04:11. > :04:13.and we will have to see, come the vote, if we have
:04:14. > :04:17.Even with all these places, and I know there are things
:04:18. > :04:19.like the reality check part of the website as well,
:04:20. > :04:22.where you can go and look at some of the claims being
:04:23. > :04:26.Laying out the facts isn't actually that exciting, is it, as
:04:27. > :04:29.I wonder if the reality for news is that stuff like
:04:30. > :04:32.Peter Mandelson versus Chris Grayling on Newsnight does seem more
:04:33. > :04:36.I thought you were a little bit unfair to that debate in
:04:37. > :04:39.your clip because it was a long, lengthy, very serious minded look at
:04:40. > :04:41.sovereignty and there will be six of those,
:04:42. > :04:44.looking at different aspects of the big decision that is going to
:04:45. > :04:47.be made and there was an expert witness who had been in a senior
:04:48. > :04:49.role at the European Court of Justice who
:04:50. > :04:52.role at the European Court of Justice who was a contributor
:04:53. > :04:57.I accept, there are different things that work
:04:58. > :05:01.We know that debate formats and the big debates
:05:02. > :05:06.We are going to have an event in front of a very
:05:07. > :05:08.large audience in Wembley Arena and we know from previous experience
:05:09. > :05:10.that a lot of people find that very helpful
:05:11. > :05:13.that a lot of people find that very helpful as a way
:05:14. > :05:21.For other people, we will be looking in depth in other ways so
:05:22. > :05:25.we have had the first of two parts of an excellent Nick Robinson series
:05:26. > :05:26.looking at the whole history of the relationship
:05:27. > :05:31.Michelle Hussain will be looking at migration,
:05:32. > :05:33.we will be looking at the central question
:05:34. > :05:35.of whether we will be better off in or out
:05:36. > :05:38.We are certainly planning to offer a full
:05:39. > :05:42.range of things for a full range of our audience.
:05:43. > :05:44.Because this is a really big challenge, that every
:05:45. > :05:48.so-called fact is actually disputed and the BBC is trying so hard to
:05:49. > :05:52.balance every claim with its counterclaim that it doesn't
:05:53. > :05:54.actually leave that much time to just go
:05:55. > :05:57.I certainly think there is something in that.
:05:58. > :05:59.You have mentioned our reality check service that we are
:06:00. > :06:02.running online but also using that to inform our broadcast coverage.
:06:03. > :06:07.Sometimes you can get to a hard fact and sometimes you can't.
:06:08. > :06:10.Sometimes the campaigns, one side or the
:06:11. > :06:13.other, will assert something as a firm fact and when you look at it
:06:14. > :06:15.more closely, it doesn't actually hold water.
:06:16. > :06:22.What we are determined to do is go down
:06:23. > :06:26.as far down the track is possible to see what
:06:27. > :06:29.as far down the track is possible to see what is conjecture
:06:30. > :06:33.And we are very aware that the audience wants us
:06:34. > :06:39.that service and we will do it as far as we can take
:06:40. > :06:41.it before you hit the, well, there are assumptions
:06:42. > :06:45.Then we will try to share with people what
:06:46. > :06:47.those assumptions and disputes are about.
:06:48. > :06:48.Briefly, there is two and a
:06:49. > :06:53.And not just in terms of the audience but also yourselves?
:06:54. > :07:02.I thought you were asking about personal fatigue!
:07:03. > :07:05.I am not too worried about that and on
:07:06. > :07:09.my colleagues, although it is nice of you to be concerned on our
:07:10. > :07:15.We are already seeing a high level of engagement are really quite
:07:16. > :07:21.Our expectation is as the vote gets closer and people who don't
:07:22. > :07:24.necessarily make this the first interest in life will focus down
:07:25. > :07:27.because they know they have got an important decision to make and as
:07:28. > :07:30.and when they choose to look more deeply at the issue to try to inform
:07:31. > :07:32.themselves about how they are going to vote,
:07:33. > :07:35.resources and coverage there that serves their needs.
:07:36. > :07:40.James Stevenson, thank you very much.
:07:41. > :07:42.It has been a week where issues of privacy and
:07:43. > :07:44.intrusion have been at the forefront of media discussion.
:07:45. > :07:47.It started last Saturday, when BBC News followed up
:07:48. > :07:55.The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, says
:07:56. > :07:58.he has discovered he is
:07:59. > :08:01.the son of Sir Winston Churchill's last Private Secretary.
:08:02. > :08:05.In a statement he says a DNA test revealed that his biological father
:08:06. > :08:08.was not, as he had always believed, Gavin Welby, but the late Sir
:08:09. > :08:14.The attention the BBC gave to the story
:08:15. > :08:17.bothered a number of viewers, with Liz Templer writing, "It seems
:08:18. > :08:24.Although Justin Welby is a public figure, his mother
:08:25. > :08:28.is not and I did not feel this was a matter of public interest.
:08:29. > :08:29.The disclosure of intimate detail as to
:08:30. > :08:32.when she slept with people just appear to be salacious.
:08:33. > :08:34.That question of the public interest cropped up
:08:35. > :08:35.again on Tuesday with the
:08:36. > :08:37.revelation that John Whittingdale had a relationship with a woman he
:08:38. > :08:53.said he later discovered was working in the sex industry.
:08:54. > :08:58.of Newsnight that broke the story, despite the fact that for newspapers
:08:59. > :09:02.Whether this is connected with the culture secretary's role in
:09:03. > :09:05.regulating the press was much discussed but Edward Brown was more
:09:06. > :09:08.concerned about the prominence of the BBC gave the news on Wednesday.
:09:09. > :09:11.Single man has an affair with single woman.
:09:12. > :09:15.I can't believe the BBC have this as a lead story.
:09:16. > :09:16.You are becoming a tabloid news outlet.
:09:17. > :09:19.Privacy and intrusion can also apply to financial affairs,
:09:20. > :09:22.of course, and some of you feel the line has
:09:23. > :09:23.been crossed in coverage of
:09:24. > :09:25.the Prime Minister's tax arrangements after last week's leak
:09:26. > :09:32.from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.
:09:33. > :09:33.Sandy Cooper told us it was
:09:34. > :09:36.high time that on this subject, David Cameron was left alone.
:09:37. > :09:39.We are now into the second week of the news regarding the
:09:40. > :09:53.The BBC still seems to have to mention the PM's
:09:54. > :09:54.Father's Blairemore trust should be by now common
:09:55. > :09:56.knowledge, registered with the UK Inland Revenue.
:09:57. > :10:00.The revelations in the Panama Papers prompted a demonstration in central
:10:01. > :10:02.London last Saturday, where hundreds of protesters demanded the
:10:03. > :10:05.resignation of the Prime Minister over what they considered his lack
:10:06. > :10:06.of commitment to tackling tax avoidance.
:10:07. > :10:09.BBC News did report on this on the news channel and within
:10:10. > :10:11.the BBC One bulletin packages but insufficiently
:10:12. > :10:15.I am concerned that you are not telling us the news.
:10:16. > :10:18.You know, there is a great deal happening in the
:10:19. > :10:20.centre of London at the moment demanding Cameron's departure and
:10:21. > :10:25.For goodness sake, get off your backsides.
:10:26. > :10:27.Finally, back to the Prime Minister and his financial affairs.
:10:28. > :10:29.The decision he made to publish his tax
:10:30. > :10:30.returns last weekend was
:10:31. > :10:34.Well, have a listen to four clips from the
:10:35. > :10:40.first five minutes of last Saturday's late BBC One bulletin.
:10:41. > :10:42.An unprecedented move by the Prime Minister as he attempts
:10:43. > :10:48.to shut down the row over his finances...
:10:49. > :10:52.Minister is preparing to publish his tax returns...
:10:53. > :10:54.He will be hoping that by releasing unprecedented
:10:55. > :10:56.detail on his personal finances that he can convince the public
:10:57. > :11:04.Confronting the issue head-on with this
:11:05. > :11:10.Alan wondered, does the BBC has to include the word unprecedented
:11:11. > :11:20."Trivial, perhaps, but it gets on my nerves."
:11:21. > :11:23.Let us know if anything grates on your nerves or meets with
:11:24. > :11:35.You can contact as on: You can find us on
:11:36. > :11:38.Twitter and do have a look at previous discussions on our
:11:39. > :11:42.We will be back to hear your thoughts
:11:43. > :11:45.about BBC News coverage again next week.