:00:00. > :00:00.an honour. At ten o'clock there will be a full round-up of the news but
:00:07. > :00:09.now it is time for the turn of Newswatch with Samira Ahmed looking
:00:10. > :00:15.at the role of language in news headlines.
:00:16. > :00:17.Hello and welcome to the first Newswatch of 2017 with me,
:00:18. > :00:20.Samira Ahmed, where we'll be rounding up some of the comments
:00:21. > :00:23.you've made about BBC News since we went off air before
:00:24. > :00:26.Jill Saward died this week, but should
:00:27. > :00:28.the BBC News website have described her in its
:00:29. > :00:35.headline as a campaigner rather than as a victim?
:00:36. > :00:38.And the year of celebrity deaths ended with several more,
:00:39. > :00:54.Did the BBC lose perspective over the extent of its coverage?
:00:55. > :00:57.First, the New Year has brought no respite from the terrorist attacks
:00:58. > :00:59.that have become a regular feature of news broadcasts.
:01:00. > :01:02.On Sunday came the latest atrocity, targeting those enjoying a night out
:01:03. > :01:05.NEWS READER: Less than two hours into the New Year,
:01:06. > :01:08.a gunman opened fire outside, bullets ricocheting as he shot
:01:09. > :01:17.Another camera showed people cowering as the attacker struck,
:01:18. > :01:27.Inside, his killing spree continued - Turks and foreigners murdered,
:01:28. > :01:29.others jumping into the freezing Bosphorus to escape.
:01:30. > :01:32.39 people have died in the attack and the coverage of it raised
:01:33. > :01:34.questions we have heard before from Newswatch viewers
:01:35. > :01:47.Now, how much TV news coverage did you want from the BBC
:01:48. > :01:51.Some may have appreciated a break from what can be a fairly
:01:52. > :01:53.grim diet of stories, but with many normal bulletins
:01:54. > :01:55.dropped or shortened, others feel they were underserved,
:01:56. > :01:57.including on the BBC's 24-hour news channel.
:01:58. > :02:32.One annual staple of news coverage which did appear
:02:33. > :02:41.Much of the focus was on sports stars, as described by Andy Swiss,
:02:42. > :02:43.and pop stars and actors, reported on by Lizo Mzimba.
:02:44. > :02:46.At the end of a glittering year for British sport,
:02:47. > :02:51.for five of its greatest stars the greatest of honours.
:02:52. > :02:53.Patricia Routledge has been made a dame.
:02:54. > :02:55.Kinks frontman Ray Davis said he felt humility
:02:56. > :03:06.Victoria Beckham becomes an OBE for services
:03:07. > :03:11.Anthony Hainsworth took exception to the balance of the reporting,
:03:12. > :03:44.And celebrity culture was at the heart of another series
:03:45. > :03:47.of complaints on what's sadly become a very familiar theme in 2016.
:03:48. > :03:54.Here's the start of BBC One's late bulletin on Christmas Day.
:03:55. > :03:58.In the last hour the death has been announced of
:03:59. > :04:06.George Michael shot to fame in the 1980s as half of the band
:04:07. > :04:09.Wham and went on to have a hugely successful solo career.
:04:10. > :04:11.He sold more than 80 million records worldwide.
:04:12. > :04:20.The whole news bulletin tonight, apart from ten minutes, has been
:04:21. > :04:33.It's time you reported the real news.
:04:34. > :04:35.George Michael's was of course not the only death to be reported
:04:36. > :04:40.on the BBC over the past couple of weeks, as the viewers
:04:41. > :04:43.on the BBC over the past couple of weeks, as other viewers
:04:44. > :04:50.It's the 27th of December and today, the BBC News and Channel 130
:04:51. > :04:55.An enormously long one for Carrie Fisher, there's still
:04:56. > :05:08.contributions on George Michael, the author Richard Adams and about
:05:09. > :05:12.There's so many important things happening in this world.
:05:13. > :05:18.Good morning, every time I switch on the news to find out what's
:05:19. > :05:21.happening in the world, all I see is an endless film of yet
:05:22. > :05:29.another pop star who has taken himself to an early grave.
:05:30. > :05:32.Sad for friends and family but, please, could you please
:05:33. > :05:40.Thursday saw the death of Jill Saward, a long-term
:05:41. > :05:42.campaigner for the rights of survivors and victims of sexual
:05:43. > :05:47.violence, having herself been raped at the age of 21.
:05:48. > :05:53.The news was widely and prominently reported at the BBC.
:05:54. > :06:01.With George Alagiah tweeting that he was proud that TV's six
:06:02. > :06:03.o'clock bulletin led on her life and influence.
:06:04. > :06:06.But when the story broke the BBC News alert and the website
:06:07. > :06:14.headlined its report of her death like this - using the word "victim".
:06:15. > :06:17.Prompting many complaints, like this one from Becky Stevens, on Twitter.
:06:18. > :06:18.Surely Jill was so much more than a rape victim.
:06:19. > :06:21.She was a survivor and successful campaign for the rights of others.
:06:22. > :06:23.Christopher Oxford called it a shamefully reductionist headline.
:06:24. > :06:25.Ms Saward was not defined by once being a victim,
:06:26. > :06:29.And Eleanor Hill thought it was an appalling headline.
:06:30. > :06:36.We put this to BBC News, and they referred to a 2004 BBC
:06:37. > :06:40.interview in which Jill Saward said that she had no complaint
:06:41. > :06:45.about being described as the Ealing vicarage rape victim,
:06:46. > :06:48.as it enabled her to challenge politicians and work for change.
:06:49. > :06:50.A BBC spokesman added, we are always very careful to report
:06:51. > :06:53.sensitively on the news of someone's death and we covered in detail
:06:54. > :06:57.Ms Saward's extensive work as a sexual assault campaigner.
:06:58. > :07:05.Ms Saward was the first person in the UK to be raped
:07:06. > :07:08.and waive her right to anonymity, and hers was one of the most
:07:09. > :07:10.high-profile criminal cases of the decade,
:07:11. > :07:12.the reason why she is so well-known and which led
:07:13. > :07:16.Well, another issue of language cropped up at the end of last year
:07:17. > :07:18.in relation to the death of another woman.
:07:19. > :07:21.Georgina Symonds was killed a year ago by Peter Morgan,
:07:22. > :07:23.who was sentenced four days before Christmas to life in
:07:24. > :07:29.This was the headline on the News at Six that night.
:07:30. > :07:31.Life for the property developer millionaire
:07:32. > :07:47.Once I'd sort of attempted to murder her, I'd be in a hell
:07:48. > :07:50.of a lot of trouble for that, and she could have still gone
:07:51. > :07:54.So no mention of Georgina Symonds' name there, but the one word
:07:55. > :07:56.was used there and online which worried a number of viewers.
:07:57. > :09:00.In response, BBC News told us this:
:09:01. > :09:02.Well, it's clear that the language used in reporting a death
:09:03. > :09:05.and especially the shorthand of a headline can give great offence
:09:06. > :09:07.to an audience, and that especially applies to suicide.
:09:08. > :09:11.Since we were last on air, we have had two examples of that.
:09:12. > :09:13.One following a story on Breakfast about a rowing trip
:09:14. > :09:16.across the Atlantic raising money for a crisis centre in memory of one
:09:17. > :09:22.We wish you all the best, stay safe, and hopefully we will pick
:09:23. > :09:25.up with you when you reach Antigua at the end of January,
:09:26. > :09:30.That is Sam, Toby, Rory and Harry, who are rowing the Atlantic to try
:09:31. > :09:33.and raise money for Harry's brother who committed suicide ten years ago.
:09:34. > :10:02.Rosalind Allen was watching that and e-mailed us with her response.
:10:03. > :10:05.A couple of days earlier, the phrase had also been
:10:06. > :10:07.used on the news ticker, scrolling across the bottom
:10:08. > :10:10.of the screen during an overnight bulletin and then, for this caller
:10:11. > :10:15.The ribbons running across the bottom has an item,
:10:16. > :10:17.news story, chief resigns after overworked employee
:10:18. > :10:22.20 or so news items after that, the next statement standing alone
:10:23. > :10:29.reads "I tried to kill myself several times."
:10:30. > :10:42.In the early hours of the morning, when vulnerable people
:10:43. > :10:50.it reads "I tried to kill myself several times."
:10:51. > :11:02.I object strongly to this, this is sickening.
:11:03. > :11:05.Again, we asked BBC News for a statement on issues of
:11:06. > :11:15.language about suicide and they told us:
:11:16. > :11:17.Well, thank you for all of your comments this week.
:11:18. > :11:19.As a New Year gets under way on Newswatch,
:11:20. > :11:22.we would like you to tell us what topics you would like us
:11:23. > :11:25.to cover, which news figures we should be interviewing.
:11:26. > :11:28.You can give us your opinion on BBC News current affairs
:11:29. > :11:31.and you can be quoted, or even appear on the programme.
:11:32. > :11:40.You can find us on Twitter and do have a look at our
:11:41. > :11:52.That's all from us, we will be back to hear what you thought of the BBC