13/01/2017 Newswatch

countries are refusing to grant them asylum. At 10pm Fiona Bruce will be

here with a round-up of the news today, but first it is time for

Newswatch. Hello and welcome to Newswatch with

me Samira Ahmed. The tables have turned as Donald Trump accuses the

media of spreading untruths about him. It is all fake news, it is

funny stuff, it did not happen. If that is the case, why is BBC News

giving so much time to the allegations about the

President-elect? Anything Donald Trump says Ordaz has

been intensely scrutinised in the build-up to his inauguration next

week. And when see all eyes were on his first press conference since the

election and it did not disappoint. Take a moment when a reporter tried

to ask a question. Go ahead. Not you. Your organisation is terrible.

Go ahead. The quiet. The quiet. Do not be rigged. Do not be rude. I am

not going to give you a question. You are a fake news. Could you state

categorically... After that attack on CNN as a fake news agency, would

other correspondence be brave enough to raise their hands. Go ahead. As

far as we understand the intelligence community... I am from

BBC News that is another beauty. If there was

more than a hint of sarcasm in that description, the President-elect

would not have got the BBC's coverage was beautiful. The dossier

they were investigating was an open secret. Journalists had been working

on it for months. It is a tale of sordid sexual escapades, Russian STB

be announced an money been funnelled to the charm campaign. The question

is whether it is fact, part fact, pulp fiction. It is not no if the

rumours I've fact or fiction, but the BBC heard last year about a

blackmail tape. But why did they not broadcast that news?

Are those were concerned about the extent the allegations. -- another

person was concerned. It was the website bugs feed that

published the 35 page dossier on fool on Tuesday evening. While it

was impossible for the BBC to ignore it, some people felt that dominated

the BBC's coverage. The editor of the BBC's news at six

and ten is poll Royal who's me now. It has been a big revelation that

the BBC was aware of a black one tape. -- blackmail tape. Why did the

BBC decide not to >> reporter-macBBC became aware

became aware of the existence of this dossier and these potential

allegations. We have robust editorial processes that we go

through in terms of verification and trying to substantiate the

allegations. We could not and they were unproven so we did not publish

them. As they saw this week, but Mike decided to publish the dossier

and they had their own editorial rationale in case for that.

Given that these allegations are not verified, should the BBC be

reporting on them at all? What happened on Tuesday became a story

and we were very careful on Wednesday to cover the story that

was playing out, but at the same time to be quite general about the

unproven allegations. We were careful about that. Once on US

networks started reporting the story, Donald Trump treated about

that overnight. There was a story on Wednesday morning that we had to

cover and that was obviously the main part of his news conference

that afternoon. It at the same time, we were very careful. One of the

correspondent said that in fairness to Donald Trump we're not going into

detail about the allegations. If they turn out to be false, will the

BBC be in a difficult situation? I don't think we will be because of

the care we took on Wednesday and after that to make sure that we were

not recirculating lots of detail about something that is unproven.

I'm happy and I think we will be in a good place. There are numerous

serious allegations being discussed about President-elect Trump's links

to rush hour. How will the BBC report on that? We will test what is

true and what can be substantiated, what is worthy of further

investigation and analysis, so we have a tried and tested process for

that built up three years and decades. Is that related to sources

and how many routes were since you have? As you know there are two

sources on all BBC stories. We're sticking to our editorial guidance

in this unique period of covering news. We heard there is saying that

there were different issues raised at the news conference and yet the

only one that really got any attention was the issue about the

blackmail tape and fake news. That was the main thing in the news

conference, but I would accept there were other things that were covered

as well. In the 6pm news, the main coverage was around the dossier and

the allegations but we did also talk about the questions around Donald

Trump's business interests and what he's doing with those. Across BBC

News, on the news channel, on the website, on the radio, other parts

of the story and the business side of Donald Trump was covered as well.

It felt watching that news conference that this is a very

different kind of experience for reporters. Journalists were chanting

conduct business as usual and asking questions. It feels like the BBC

will have to rethink in a different way how it deals with what the new

president says. Donald Trump, for example, in one street could appear

to change US policy towards China or nuclear weapons and there is no

detail, it is not done any conventional way in terms of a news

conference policy document, so that is difficult staff. -- in one feet.

But in one week he will be presidents we have to treat this

stuff seriously, examine it properly, and then decide whether we

developed the coverage are not. To quote Donald Trump, this issue is

number one. Send us your thoughts on the coverage of Donald Trump or any

aspect of BBC News. Details of how to contact us at the end of the

programme. Someone your comments this week, that kicked off the

annual debate to the extent that winter weather is newsworthy and the

deployment of reporters to affected areas. Friday morning sun to

reporters braving the elements. They snow has died down and it has been a

relatively calm morning. That is good news because it means that the

high wind that was predicted have not materialised and the high tide

here has passed without event. We had three hours of snow last night

18 6pm and 9pm. I came down very heavily and some of it has stuck.

Someone has written help in the snow, that is a sign of how

treacherous conditions will be this morning. It is not just the snow but

it is also the ice on the pavement, it can be slippy and difficult

conditions on the roads here. Some people thought that a mountain was

being made out of a mole hill. Thank you for your comments this

week. If you want to share your opinions appear on the programmes

you can call us or e-mail us using the details on screen. You can find

us on Twitter and Ehrlich at our website. -- and you look at. That is

from us and we will be back to hear your thoughts about BBC coverage

again next week.