15/04/2016 Newswatch


15/04/2016

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leaders. At 10pm, Fiona Bruce will lead us

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into a full review of the day's news but first, here is Newswatch.

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Hello and welcome to Newswatch with me, Samira Ahmed.

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Too much fighting and not enough fact?

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Is the BBC informing us about

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the reasons for Britain to leave or remain in the EU?

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And Whittingdale and Welby - did BBC News

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overstep the mark this week on reporting on the private lives of

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If you've already had it up to here with the build-up

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to June's referendum on Britain's membership in the EU, beware -

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the official campaign has only just started but already we've had plenty

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of feedback on how the BBC is approaching this thorniest of

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Much of it raising the question of how enlightening and

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One example came on Monday with a special edition of BBC Two's

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This is not legislation imposed on us.

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We are part of the legislative process and

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until Chris understands this, he is not really going to come

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In debates and discussions like that and studio

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interviews with representatives from two sides and soundbites featured in

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news reports we hear a welter of contradictory claims often stated

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with complete conviction and that has been bothering a number of

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One of them, Michael Gabbitas, recorded his thoughts on

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It makes it much more exciting and interesting to report

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on the divisions within the parties and talk

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But this isn't helping the people very much and what I would

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prefer to see is some impartial and expert analysis.

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We get no say in the way it is spent.

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Specifically in any decision that we make on whether or not we

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stay in the EU or come out of it, there are bound to be associated

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threats, opportunities and risks and costs and benefits and

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And all of these things are useful in making a

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And it seems to me that it is for the national broadcaster to

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Joining me now is James Stevenson, the news editor for

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Unlike other elections, everything, it feels, is disputed by

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It makes watching coverage, as some of the viewers

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have made clear, incredibly unenlightening.

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Too many viewers feel they haven't actually got clear

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what the main arguments are on either side and is it the BBC's

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I think it is a challenge to us and one that we are fully

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I think it is fair to say, I think you said in

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your introduction, this is the start of the official campaign so we have

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ten weeks now of what everyone thinks will be increasingly intense

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We have got a responsibility to cover the news and

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we will do that as things develop with the campaigns.

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I definitely agree with the contributors who are

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saying they need some light to go with the heat and we are aiming to

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provide that in a variety of ways so, for example, we will have issues

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cards online so they can share them on social

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cards online so they can share them on social media,

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We have already got a jargon busting element on our

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website so if anyone is confused about terms,

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We have begun to run short video explainers with some of the basic

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things as simple as how has the vote come about?

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Right through to documentaries and debates that will

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We all accept the challenge that has been laid down

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and we will have to see, come the vote,

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and we will have to see, come the vote, if we have

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Even with all these places, and I know there are things

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like the reality check part of the website as well,

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where you can go and look at some of the claims being

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Laying out the facts isn't actually that exciting, is it, as

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I wonder if the reality for news is that stuff like

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Peter Mandelson versus Chris Grayling on Newsnight does seem more

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I thought you were a little bit unfair to that debate in

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your clip because it was a long, lengthy, very serious minded look at

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sovereignty and there will be six of those,

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looking at different aspects of the big decision that is going to

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be made and there was an expert witness who had been in a senior

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role at the European Court of Justice who

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role at the European Court of Justice who was a contributor

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I accept, there are different things that work

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We know that debate formats and the big debates

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We are going to have an event in front of a very

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large audience in Wembley Arena and we know from previous experience

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that a lot of people find that very helpful

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that a lot of people find that very helpful as a way

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For other people, we will be looking in depth in other ways so

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we have had the first of two parts of an excellent Nick Robinson series

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looking at the whole history of the relationship

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Michelle Hussain will be looking at migration,

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we will be looking at the central question

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of whether we will be better off in or out

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We are certainly planning to offer a full

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range of things for a full range of our audience.

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Because this is a really big challenge, that every

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so-called fact is actually disputed and the BBC is trying so hard to

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balance every claim with its counterclaim that it doesn't

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actually leave that much time to just go

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I certainly think there is something in that.

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You have mentioned our reality check service that we are

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running online but also using that to inform our broadcast coverage.

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Sometimes you can get to a hard fact and sometimes you can't.

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Sometimes the campaigns, one side or the

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other, will assert something as a firm fact and when you look at it

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more closely, it doesn't actually hold water.

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What we are determined to do is go down

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as far down the track is possible to see what

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as far down the track is possible to see what is conjecture

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And we are very aware that the audience wants us

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that service and we will do it as far as we can take

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it before you hit the, well, there are assumptions

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Then we will try to share with people what

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those assumptions and disputes are about.

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Briefly, there is two and a

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And not just in terms of the audience but also yourselves?

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I thought you were asking about personal fatigue!

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I am not too worried about that and on

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my colleagues, although it is nice of you to be concerned on our

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We are already seeing a high level of engagement are really quite

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Our expectation is as the vote gets closer and people who don't

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necessarily make this the first interest in life will focus down

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because they know they have got an important decision to make and as

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and when they choose to look more deeply at the issue to try to inform

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themselves about how they are going to vote,

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resources and coverage there that serves their needs.

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James Stevenson, thank you very much.

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It has been a week where issues of privacy and

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intrusion have been at the forefront of media discussion.

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It started last Saturday, when BBC News followed up

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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, says

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he has discovered he is

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the son of Sir Winston Churchill's last Private Secretary.

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In a statement he says a DNA test revealed that his biological father

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was not, as he had always believed, Gavin Welby, but the late Sir

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The attention the BBC gave to the story

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bothered a number of viewers, with Liz Templer writing, "It seems

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Although Justin Welby is a public figure, his mother

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is not and I did not feel this was a matter of public interest.

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The disclosure of intimate detail as to

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when she slept with people just appear to be salacious.

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That question of the public interest cropped up

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again on Tuesday with the

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revelation that John Whittingdale had a relationship with a woman he

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said he later discovered was working in the sex industry.

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of Newsnight that broke the story, despite the fact that for newspapers

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Whether this is connected with the culture secretary's role in

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regulating the press was much discussed but Edward Brown was more

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concerned about the prominence of the BBC gave the news on Wednesday.

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Single man has an affair with single woman.

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I can't believe the BBC have this as a lead story.

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You are becoming a tabloid news outlet.

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Privacy and intrusion can also apply to financial affairs,

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of course, and some of you feel the line has

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been crossed in coverage of

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the Prime Minister's tax arrangements after last week's leak

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from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca.

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Sandy Cooper told us it was

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high time that on this subject, David Cameron was left alone.

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We are now into the second week of the news regarding the

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The BBC still seems to have to mention the PM's

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Father's Blairemore trust should be by now common

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knowledge, registered with the UK Inland Revenue.

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The revelations in the Panama Papers prompted a demonstration in central

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London last Saturday, where hundreds of protesters demanded the

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resignation of the Prime Minister over what they considered his lack

:10:03.:10:05.

of commitment to tackling tax avoidance.

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BBC News did report on this on the news channel and within

:10:07.:10:09.

the BBC One bulletin packages but insufficiently

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I am concerned that you are not telling us the news.

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You know, there is a great deal happening in the

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centre of London at the moment demanding Cameron's departure and

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For goodness sake, get off your backsides.

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Finally, back to the Prime Minister and his financial affairs.

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The decision he made to publish his tax

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returns last weekend was

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Well, have a listen to four clips from the

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first five minutes of last Saturday's late BBC One bulletin.

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An unprecedented move by the Prime Minister as he attempts

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to shut down the row over his finances...

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Minister is preparing to publish his tax returns...

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He will be hoping that by releasing unprecedented

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detail on his personal finances that he can convince the public

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Confronting the issue head-on with this

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Alan wondered, does the BBC has to include the word unprecedented

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"Trivial, perhaps, but it gets on my nerves."

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Let us know if anything grates on your nerves or meets with

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You can contact as on: You can find us on

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Twitter and do have a look at previous discussions on our

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We will be back to hear your thoughts

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about BBC News coverage again next week.

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