:00:00. > :00:00.countries are refusing to grant them asylum. At 10pm Fiona Bruce will be
:00:00. > :00:00.here with a round-up of the news today, but first it is time for
:00:00. > :00:16.Newswatch. Hello and welcome to Newswatch with
:00:17. > :00:19.me Samira Ahmed. The tables have turned as Donald Trump accuses the
:00:20. > :00:26.media of spreading untruths about him. It is all fake news, it is
:00:27. > :00:31.funny stuff, it did not happen. If that is the case, why is BBC News
:00:32. > :00:36.giving so much time to the allegations about the
:00:37. > :00:40.President-elect? Anything Donald Trump says Ordaz has
:00:41. > :00:48.been intensely scrutinised in the build-up to his inauguration next
:00:49. > :00:52.week. And when see all eyes were on his first press conference since the
:00:53. > :01:01.election and it did not disappoint. Take a moment when a reporter tried
:01:02. > :01:14.to ask a question. Go ahead. Not you. Your organisation is terrible.
:01:15. > :01:22.Go ahead. The quiet. The quiet. Do not be rigged. Do not be rude. I am
:01:23. > :01:31.not going to give you a question. You are a fake news. Could you state
:01:32. > :01:37.categorically... After that attack on CNN as a fake news agency, would
:01:38. > :01:46.other correspondence be brave enough to raise their hands. Go ahead. As
:01:47. > :01:51.far as we understand the intelligence community... I am from
:01:52. > :01:57.BBC News that is another beauty. If there was
:01:58. > :02:04.more than a hint of sarcasm in that description, the President-elect
:02:05. > :02:08.would not have got the BBC's coverage was beautiful. The dossier
:02:09. > :02:15.they were investigating was an open secret. Journalists had been working
:02:16. > :02:20.on it for months. It is a tale of sordid sexual escapades, Russian STB
:02:21. > :02:26.be announced an money been funnelled to the charm campaign. The question
:02:27. > :02:34.is whether it is fact, part fact, pulp fiction. It is not no if the
:02:35. > :02:41.rumours I've fact or fiction, but the BBC heard last year about a
:02:42. > :03:02.blackmail tape. But why did they not broadcast that news?
:03:03. > :03:09.Are those were concerned about the extent the allegations. -- another
:03:10. > :03:41.person was concerned. It was the website bugs feed that
:03:42. > :03:48.published the 35 page dossier on fool on Tuesday evening. While it
:03:49. > :03:50.was impossible for the BBC to ignore it, some people felt that dominated
:03:51. > :04:25.the BBC's coverage. The editor of the BBC's news at six
:04:26. > :04:29.and ten is poll Royal who's me now. It has been a big revelation that
:04:30. > :04:36.the BBC was aware of a black one tape. -- blackmail tape. Why did the
:04:37. > :04:39.BBC decide not to >> reporter-macBBC became aware
:04:40. > :04:47.became aware of the existence of this dossier and these potential
:04:48. > :04:50.allegations. We have robust editorial processes that we go
:04:51. > :04:57.through in terms of verification and trying to substantiate the
:04:58. > :05:05.allegations. We could not and they were unproven so we did not publish
:05:06. > :05:10.them. As they saw this week, but Mike decided to publish the dossier
:05:11. > :05:17.and they had their own editorial rationale in case for that.
:05:18. > :05:24.Given that these allegations are not verified, should the BBC be
:05:25. > :05:26.reporting on them at all? What happened on Tuesday became a story
:05:27. > :05:32.and we were very careful on Wednesday to cover the story that
:05:33. > :05:36.was playing out, but at the same time to be quite general about the
:05:37. > :05:42.unproven allegations. We were careful about that. Once on US
:05:43. > :05:50.networks started reporting the story, Donald Trump treated about
:05:51. > :05:53.that overnight. There was a story on Wednesday morning that we had to
:05:54. > :05:58.cover and that was obviously the main part of his news conference
:05:59. > :06:04.that afternoon. It at the same time, we were very careful. One of the
:06:05. > :06:09.correspondent said that in fairness to Donald Trump we're not going into
:06:10. > :06:15.detail about the allegations. If they turn out to be false, will the
:06:16. > :06:19.BBC be in a difficult situation? I don't think we will be because of
:06:20. > :06:24.the care we took on Wednesday and after that to make sure that we were
:06:25. > :06:30.not recirculating lots of detail about something that is unproven.
:06:31. > :06:36.I'm happy and I think we will be in a good place. There are numerous
:06:37. > :06:44.serious allegations being discussed about President-elect Trump's links
:06:45. > :06:49.to rush hour. How will the BBC report on that? We will test what is
:06:50. > :06:55.true and what can be substantiated, what is worthy of further
:06:56. > :06:58.investigation and analysis, so we have a tried and tested process for
:06:59. > :07:05.that built up three years and decades. Is that related to sources
:07:06. > :07:11.and how many routes were since you have? As you know there are two
:07:12. > :07:18.sources on all BBC stories. We're sticking to our editorial guidance
:07:19. > :07:23.in this unique period of covering news. We heard there is saying that
:07:24. > :07:27.there were different issues raised at the news conference and yet the
:07:28. > :07:36.only one that really got any attention was the issue about the
:07:37. > :07:40.blackmail tape and fake news. That was the main thing in the news
:07:41. > :07:46.conference, but I would accept there were other things that were covered
:07:47. > :07:51.as well. In the 6pm news, the main coverage was around the dossier and
:07:52. > :07:54.the allegations but we did also talk about the questions around Donald
:07:55. > :08:01.Trump's business interests and what he's doing with those. Across BBC
:08:02. > :08:04.News, on the news channel, on the website, on the radio, other parts
:08:05. > :08:11.of the story and the business side of Donald Trump was covered as well.
:08:12. > :08:14.It felt watching that news conference that this is a very
:08:15. > :08:19.different kind of experience for reporters. Journalists were chanting
:08:20. > :08:25.conduct business as usual and asking questions. It feels like the BBC
:08:26. > :08:31.will have to rethink in a different way how it deals with what the new
:08:32. > :08:37.president says. Donald Trump, for example, in one street could appear
:08:38. > :08:43.to change US policy towards China or nuclear weapons and there is no
:08:44. > :08:47.detail, it is not done any conventional way in terms of a news
:08:48. > :08:56.conference policy document, so that is difficult staff. -- in one feet.
:08:57. > :09:00.But in one week he will be presidents we have to treat this
:09:01. > :09:04.stuff seriously, examine it properly, and then decide whether we
:09:05. > :09:18.developed the coverage are not. To quote Donald Trump, this issue is
:09:19. > :09:22.number one. Send us your thoughts on the coverage of Donald Trump or any
:09:23. > :09:26.aspect of BBC News. Details of how to contact us at the end of the
:09:27. > :09:32.programme. Someone your comments this week, that kicked off the
:09:33. > :09:35.annual debate to the extent that winter weather is newsworthy and the
:09:36. > :09:44.deployment of reporters to affected areas. Friday morning sun to
:09:45. > :09:49.reporters braving the elements. They snow has died down and it has been a
:09:50. > :09:52.relatively calm morning. That is good news because it means that the
:09:53. > :09:59.high wind that was predicted have not materialised and the high tide
:10:00. > :10:06.here has passed without event. We had three hours of snow last night
:10:07. > :10:13.18 6pm and 9pm. I came down very heavily and some of it has stuck.
:10:14. > :10:16.Someone has written help in the snow, that is a sign of how
:10:17. > :10:22.treacherous conditions will be this morning. It is not just the snow but
:10:23. > :10:29.it is also the ice on the pavement, it can be slippy and difficult
:10:30. > :10:31.conditions on the roads here. Some people thought that a mountain was
:10:32. > :11:24.being made out of a mole hill. Thank you for your comments this
:11:25. > :11:29.week. If you want to share your opinions appear on the programmes
:11:30. > :11:36.you can call us or e-mail us using the details on screen. You can find
:11:37. > :11:44.us on Twitter and Ehrlich at our website. -- and you look at. That is
:11:45. > :11:45.from us and we will be back to hear your thoughts about BBC coverage
:11:46. > :11:50.again next week.