13/05/2016

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:00:00. > :00:00.make a plan to get people home in two weeks. At ten o'clock, Fiona

:00:00. > :00:00.Bruce will be here with a full round-up of all of the day 's news,

:00:00. > :00:10.now it is time for Hello and welcome to Newswatch

:00:11. > :00:20.with me, Samira Ahmed. The Queen and the PM overheard on

:00:21. > :00:25.camera, but where is the line between what is said in public and

:00:26. > :00:27.what is fair to broadcast for publish consumption?

:00:28. > :00:31.And who should get to speak for leave and remain when it comes to

:00:32. > :00:37.broadcasters casting their big referendum debate programmes?

:00:38. > :00:41.First, it was a big week for the BBC, with the publication on

:00:42. > :00:45.Thursday of the government's White Paper on the corporation 's future.

:00:46. > :00:49.The proposals unveiled for renewing its Royal Charter were the result of

:00:50. > :00:51.intense negotiation and ferocious argument.

:00:52. > :00:55.This had been highlighted in Sunday's BAFTA awards where the

:00:56. > :01:03.drama was Paul was one of the big winners. The director and a standing

:01:04. > :01:06.over ocean, speaking out on what he thinks our government attacks on the

:01:07. > :01:12.corporation. In many ways, our broadcasting, the BBC and Channel 4,

:01:13. > :01:16.they are attempting to this rate, it is the envy of the world and we

:01:17. > :01:20.should stand up and fight for it, not let it go by default. The

:01:21. > :01:27.director of Wolf Hall making the news.

:01:28. > :01:30.David Mellor was one of a number of view was concerned about what he

:01:31. > :01:32.called an apparent lack of impartiality. He said the

:01:33. > :01:59.following... Now, it is not everyday that we hear

:02:00. > :02:03.one of Britain's leaders making apparently private comments which

:02:04. > :02:09.may offend a foreign power. So, for that to happen twice on was

:02:10. > :02:10.extraordinary. We have some leaders of fantastically corrupt countries

:02:11. > :02:56.coming to Britain. Those pieces footage were first

:02:57. > :02:59.recorded at a reception at Buckingham Palace, marking the Queen

:03:00. > :03:04.'s 90th birthday, then a palace garden party and were both filmed by

:03:05. > :03:10.a long-standing cameraman wearing a royal badge but working jointly for

:03:11. > :03:13.the BBC, ITN and Sky. Given potential for embarrassment, it

:03:14. > :03:16.surprised some viewers the footage came to be broadcast at all. But

:03:17. > :03:20.after the material was seen and heard at the BBC it was headline

:03:21. > :03:23.news here for the rest of the day. In a moment we will explore whether

:03:24. > :03:27.it should have been. Before that, a reminder of some

:03:28. > :03:33.previous occasions when what public figures said in private had a wider

:03:34. > :03:39.airing than they would have liked. The primer Mr has form on this, in

:03:40. > :03:43.2014 he was heard boasting tomb Michael Bloomberg, the New York

:03:44. > :03:45.mayor, saying how happy the Queen was on the referendum on Scottish

:03:46. > :03:50.independence. He was again caught out off-camera

:03:51. > :03:56.but on microphone preparing for a speech in Yorkshire with a joke that

:03:57. > :04:01.may not have gone down well with his audience.

:04:02. > :04:06.Previous prime ministers have also forgotten microphones were on, Sir

:04:07. > :04:09.John Major made industrial language back in 1993 about some of his

:04:10. > :04:14.Eurosceptic Cabinet colleagues after he finished giving an interview.

:04:15. > :04:23.And, the sound of President George Bush greeting the British Prime

:04:24. > :04:27.Minister with" yo Blair" in 2006 at a summit.

:04:28. > :04:32.In the 2010 election campaign, Gordon Brown described this woman as

:04:33. > :04:38.a bigoted woman, which caused a major headache.

:04:39. > :04:42.The Royal family has also faced embarrassment of this kind before.

:04:43. > :04:47.Prince Charles was heard describing the BBC royal correspondence

:04:48. > :04:50.Nicholas Witchell as "Awful" at a photocall in 2005.

:04:51. > :04:54.Interesting and often amusing insights into view is often kept

:04:55. > :05:00.behind closed doors, but the broadcasters right to share with the

:05:01. > :05:05.rest of us, this yo comments they would rather were kept secret.

:05:06. > :05:09.One of our viewers joins us now from Brighton.

:05:10. > :05:14.Claire, what bothers you about this coverage? I thought it was a private

:05:15. > :05:18.discussion the Queen was having with a guest at the Buckingham Palace

:05:19. > :05:24.garden party. And it seemed to have been picked up on microphones, but

:05:25. > :05:32.it was The Choice of the news team to run this as a news item on

:05:33. > :05:35.Wednesday, setting the tone for news items for the rest of the day --

:05:36. > :05:41.elite news item. I thought it was wholly inappropriate. The Royal

:05:42. > :05:45.family are used to be being filmed this way, the fact the camera was

:05:46. > :05:51.there, they may have miscalculated what was over hard. But the argument

:05:52. > :05:55.is it is a good and real insight into real challenges -- overheard.

:05:56. > :05:59.Quite, but I think the references to the Chinese state visit, that was

:06:00. > :06:04.something clearly worked on very hard by a great number of diplomats,

:06:05. > :06:09.and I'm sure a very broad team of people, to deliver what, in effect

:06:10. > :06:15.at the time, was regarded as a very successful event. In choosing to Ed

:06:16. > :06:19.this piece of what I would regard as tabloid journalism, sensationalising

:06:20. > :06:24.comments where the Queen was clearly involved in a private discussion, I

:06:25. > :06:28.think it is wholly inappropriate -- air. The damage potentially caused

:06:29. > :06:32.by using footage like this from a broader diplomatic perspective I

:06:33. > :06:35.think also needs to be taken into account. The BBC officially an

:06:36. > :06:39.saying anything about this footage but I know there has been much

:06:40. > :06:43.discussion, including by journalists who would say it was not damaging,

:06:44. > :06:47.and certainly David Cameron 's comments about Nigeria and

:06:48. > :06:50.Afghanistan, about general corruption, was something most

:06:51. > :06:57.people would hardly dispute? It was regarded more as an insight and

:06:58. > :07:04.perhaps honesty? I don't agree at all, I think this is around trust,

:07:05. > :07:10.and principles, of communicating. And also the relationship between

:07:11. > :07:14.the palace and the BBC as well. I think on this occasion the BBC has

:07:15. > :07:19.gone too far and taken the wrong decision on choosing to Ed this

:07:20. > :07:24.story. And, making it the lead news item that day -- air. I think thou

:07:25. > :07:31.more serious stories going on in the world.

:07:32. > :07:36.All of the main broadcasters around the stories in the end, do you think

:07:37. > :07:38.you are out of step with what many members of the public feel they

:07:39. > :07:43.should know? We know the story about China was

:07:44. > :07:46.censored in that country and not reported, is that what we want? I

:07:47. > :07:50.don't think so at all but I think this comes down to a set of

:07:51. > :07:57.operating principles on behalf of the BBC, and item on the news to

:07:58. > :08:03.watch every day, relying on the fact the BBC is trusted, trusted by the

:08:04. > :08:09.UK population, and I think it should continue to be, -- to concentrate on

:08:10. > :08:14.creating good quality news stories, and I honestly feel on this occasion

:08:15. > :08:18.that this was very close to tabloid journalism, which I do not think has

:08:19. > :08:27.a place on the BBC at all. Claire Goring, thank you so much. Do

:08:28. > :08:31.let us know your thoughts on that or any aspect of BBC News.

:08:32. > :08:33.Details of how to contact us in a moment.

:08:34. > :08:37.Before that, some of your other comments in the last few days, when

:08:38. > :08:39.arguments over the forthcoming EU referendum have got evermore

:08:40. > :08:44.intense. One bone of contention is the

:08:45. > :08:46.make-up of various debates planned by broadcasters over the next few

:08:47. > :08:50.weeks. Robert Paxton has been the subject

:08:51. > :08:55.of furious attacks from the official vote Leave group after ITV, where he

:08:56. > :08:58.now works, announced they were inviting Ukip Bedene Nigel Farage

:08:59. > :09:01.and not one of their representatives onto a programme with the Prime

:09:02. > :09:04.Minister. Meanwhile, the BBC has faced

:09:05. > :09:09.criticism from the other direction after suggestions it would not be

:09:10. > :09:12.inviting Nigel Farage onto its own debate programme, at Wembley Arena

:09:13. > :09:20.two days before the referendum. The corporation says it has not yet

:09:21. > :09:22.decided who will be on the programme but the Ukip reader has already

:09:23. > :09:25.expressed concern there are plans to freeze him out, which has been

:09:26. > :09:41.echoed to us by Eric Adamson, who writes this...

:09:42. > :09:47.Who takes part in televised debates before a vote and what format they

:09:48. > :09:52.have has of course been a fraught topic before, with arguments over

:09:53. > :09:54.David Cameron 's participation in such programmes before the last

:09:55. > :10:01.general election. If anything, the problem is tricky at this time

:10:02. > :10:08.around as the vote Leave group, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove,

:10:09. > :10:12.boast Conservative MPs -- are both Conservative MPs. It seems the BBC

:10:13. > :10:15.live rally may go ahead without the participation of him or George

:10:16. > :10:20.Osborne, but this is something that we will certainly keep our eye on.

:10:21. > :10:33.Finally, the EU referendum has made one particular ubiquitous.

:10:34. > :10:37.One viewer left this message... No English dictionaries have any

:10:38. > :10:42.reference to the word Brexit, it is not a word, not a recognised word in

:10:43. > :10:46.the EU language. -- British land which, why use it? It is used by

:10:47. > :10:51.people in the media who do not have any regard to English language.

:10:52. > :10:56.-- language. Thank you for all of your comments this week, if you want

:10:57. > :10:59.to share your opinions on BBC news or current affairs, or even appear

:11:00. > :11:06.on the programme, call us on this number, or e-mail at this address.

:11:07. > :11:14.You can find us on Twitter, and do have a look at the website. That's

:11:15. > :11:16.all from us, we will be back to hear your thoughts about BBC News

:11:17. > :11:22.coverage again next week. Goodbye.