:00:00. > :00:07.There will be a full round up at 10pm, but now, News watch.
:00:08. > :00:09.Hello, welcome to Newswatch with me Samira Ahmed.
:00:10. > :00:12.On this week's programme: What's the BBC's Economics Editor doing
:00:13. > :00:14.standing in the street trying to catch numbers?
:00:15. > :00:17.And do we need to know that this distinguished human rights lawyer
:00:18. > :00:33.is married to a Hollywood film star?
:00:34. > :00:37.It's an annual challenge for BBC News - how to make the complex
:00:38. > :00:39.economics of the Budget accessible, without dumbing down.
:00:40. > :00:41.It was only to be expected that there were plenty
:00:42. > :00:46.But what surprised many viewers was that in a preview piece
:00:47. > :00:49.on Monday, some of those numbers seemed to be flying right
:00:50. > :00:54.into the hands of the BBC's Economics Editor, Kamal Ahmed.
:00:55. > :01:02.Inflation could fit 2.8% by the end of the year. That could mean a
:01:03. > :01:09.squeeze on living standards. The price of fuel has already hit an 18
:01:10. > :01:14.month high. It now costs ?9 and more to fill up the average family car
:01:15. > :01:18.than it did a year ago. And what about the all-important issue of
:01:19. > :01:19.business confidence? Well, the latest survey suggest that
:01:20. > :01:21.confidence is declining. Graham Ford was incredulous
:01:22. > :01:34.at what he saw, and left us He was standing in the street as if
:01:35. > :01:39.he was in Sesame Street, with figures coming down out of the sky.
:01:40. > :01:47.This has lost all credibility for the news. Your convoluted is try to
:01:48. > :01:51.bowl of things going on around him. This is just another example of the
:01:52. > :01:56.news totally dumbing down. Just give us the news from people who know
:01:57. > :01:57.what they are talking about in the studio. Thank you very much.
:01:58. > :01:59.Elsewhere in the report other figures - and words -
:02:00. > :02:02.popped up in the nearby countryside, and there was also a strong line
:02:03. > :02:04.in finding descriptions in nature which also applied
:02:05. > :02:19.With little discernible Brexit effect, what has been behind the sun
:02:20. > :02:23.continuing to shine on the UK's finances. So the economic waters of
:02:24. > :02:28.the moment are not too treacherous for Philip Hammond. But this will
:02:29. > :02:29.not be a Budget is full of big giveaways, despite the brighter
:02:30. > :02:29.economic environment. After hearing those lines of script
:02:30. > :02:32.and watching the graphics, another viewer, Michael O'Shea,
:02:33. > :02:46.recorded on camera his views It was frustrating and distracting.
:02:47. > :02:52.So much so I cannot recall what he was talking about. They reminded me
:02:53. > :02:56.of year seven pupils when they first used PowerPoint, they used every
:02:57. > :03:01.feature and gimmick regardless of its suitability of relevance. I
:03:02. > :03:05.appreciate graphics has its place in news presentation, maybe in the
:03:06. > :03:07.studio, but a presenter talks to the screen and we do not need to be
:03:08. > :03:09.entertained with a news presentation.
:03:10. > :03:10.In another report the following night,
:03:11. > :03:12.more numbers were dropping down from the sky,
:03:13. > :03:14.although this time not into Kamal Ahmed's hands.
:03:15. > :03:22.And there were visual metaphors, too,
:03:23. > :03:29.with the BBC's Economics Editor on a bridge over the Tyne,
:03:30. > :03:31.which then became the backdrop for a rather spectacular bar chart.
:03:32. > :03:34.So, was all this invention a fun way of making a complex
:03:35. > :03:37.subject more accessible - or self-indulgent dumbing down?
:03:38. > :03:41.Richard Lynch enjoyed Monday's numbers-in-the-hand trick, tweeting:
:03:42. > :03:44."Loving the graphics from Kamal on BBC News At ten tonight...
:03:45. > :03:49.While Andrew Watson thought there were:
:03:50. > :03:54."Some great The Day Today-style flying graphics on BBC News tonight.
:03:55. > :04:09."Fair play to Kamal Ahmed for keeping a straight face."
:04:10. > :04:11.Let's explore those reactions with the Deputy Editor of the BBC's
:04:12. > :04:21.News at Six and News at Ten, Hilary O'Neill.
:04:22. > :04:25.Viewers do understand that using graphics to try make it clear and
:04:26. > :04:31.understandable, but these ones, they were just dropping out of the sky.
:04:32. > :04:35.They didn't mean anything. They did mean something, every number there
:04:36. > :04:40.was a relevant. It was therefore a reason. The locations had been
:04:41. > :04:43.thought through and I thought it was informative and creative and
:04:44. > :04:47.entertaining, and actually, I don't have a problem with it myself. I do
:04:48. > :04:56.understand if some viewers thought it was slightly distracting, are but
:04:57. > :04:58.all we are trying to do with an awful lot of material and a big
:04:59. > :05:01.collection of numbers is to make it as clear as possible and hopefully
:05:02. > :05:09.do that in a way that engages the view and is not just the numbers in
:05:10. > :05:12.a studio. Is interesting that you deliberately went out of the studio
:05:13. > :05:16.for that reason, because fewer say it ended up being distracting. He's
:05:17. > :05:21.doing this in the street and in the end, it is the number he has just
:05:22. > :05:24.said out loud, there's nothing graphic on the representation of the
:05:25. > :05:28.number that helps you understand it better. I think if there was only
:05:29. > :05:32.one number, I would accept that. But if there's an awful lot of numbers,
:05:33. > :05:37.maybe the viewers who complained are just super numerous in way that I am
:05:38. > :05:42.not, and an expert in the economy in a way I am not, but we do know a
:05:43. > :05:47.whole range of people were glad about it were watching and we need
:05:48. > :05:52.to try to accommodate people who don't necessarily already know the
:05:53. > :05:55.numbers and lots of the audience research shows that firstly, people
:05:56. > :05:59.have a vague idea quite often but not necessarily the detail, and
:06:00. > :06:02.secondly, even if they do know the detail, they do not mind being
:06:03. > :06:08.reminded, especially ahead of the big day like a Budget. Specific
:06:09. > :06:10.complaint made was that it looks like the BBC's graphics team got
:06:11. > :06:16.carried away by what you can do, rather than what is useful. And with
:06:17. > :06:19.the scene on the streets, there was an inflation figure which was up and
:06:20. > :06:26.it dropped down from the sky which is illogical. The details of what
:06:27. > :06:31.goes up and down... But it's interesting. The graphic is meant to
:06:32. > :06:39.be clear, the figures about going up when it comes down. But the arrow
:06:40. > :06:44.was up. I think over all, you write these things keep changing and
:06:45. > :06:48.evolving, because the technology allows us to. We do want to be on
:06:49. > :06:52.the wrong side and do things for the sake of it. But that would have been
:06:53. > :06:57.meticulously planned and the only motivation behind it would be trying
:06:58. > :07:02.to make what is sometimes a dry chunk of information interesting to
:07:03. > :07:04.viewers. I'm sorry if some found it distracting and we always need to
:07:05. > :07:10.take into consideration if we've gone too far or are we serving our
:07:11. > :07:18.audience or pleasing ourselves and of course, that's what we'll
:07:19. > :07:23.continue to do. Viewers were saying that it was quite childish, pushing
:07:24. > :07:30.metaphors about sunny days and troubled waters. Is this not a
:07:31. > :07:37.regular viewer? We often talk about storm clouds gathering. In fairness,
:07:38. > :07:44.he was in those locations for a reason. He was in Hampshire
:07:45. > :07:48.specifically because consumer spending is up there and that was a
:07:49. > :07:51.reflection of the story he was partly telling and also when
:07:52. > :07:55.unemployment is low there. In the second piece, he was there because
:07:56. > :07:59.although the economy is growing a little, is below where the rest of
:08:00. > :08:02.the UK years. There are reasons why he was where he was. And it is
:08:03. > :08:07.unfair given that we sometimes come in for a lot of criticism as an
:08:08. > :08:12.organisation and as a news organisation forced King to London
:08:13. > :08:15.all the time and being in a studio and doing it from a metropolitan
:08:16. > :08:19.point of view, so we went out and about. Thank you.
:08:20. > :08:21.Do let us know what you think about the visual presentation
:08:22. > :08:24.of television news, or about any aspect of BBC News.
:08:25. > :08:28.Stay tuned for details of how to contact us.
:08:29. > :08:31.There was another example this week of the BBC's Graphics department
:08:32. > :08:33.being busy making numbers fly around the screen in a report
:08:34. > :08:36.from Justin Rowlatt about possible restrictions on visas being given
:08:37. > :08:40.to Indians wanting to work in the United States.
:08:41. > :08:48.But it was the way the piece started that annoyed another viewer.
:08:49. > :08:55.She graduated from a top American university and has worked as a
:08:56. > :09:01.software engineer for Microsoft and Facebook. But she is not sure she
:09:02. > :09:08.would be welcome in America any more. Engineers like me are being
:09:09. > :09:13.pushed out of the US today. It is really unfortunate. Sue Robson rang
:09:14. > :09:22.us after watching that to make this point. I comedy what I have just
:09:23. > :09:27.seen. An item about troubles-macro restrictions on Indian engineers
:09:28. > :09:30.taking jobs in the USA. He has just shown an Indian engineer putting on
:09:31. > :09:37.her make-up and getting dressed, buttoning up her dress over her
:09:38. > :09:43.chest. And this on International winning's day, to! If she were a man
:09:44. > :09:49.he would not have shown him slicking back his hair and doing up his
:09:50. > :09:51.shirt. They would have shown him doing his job.
:09:52. > :09:53.The charge of sexism was also made on Tuesday,
:09:54. > :09:55.after an item on the News at Six about the persecution
:09:56. > :10:10.Tomorrow, the lawyer acting on behalf of the Yazidis will adjust
:10:11. > :10:14.the United Nations in New York and call for formal investigation into
:10:15. > :10:19.the genocide. Amal Clooney who is married to George Clooney Tommy why
:10:20. > :10:21.she's going to represent the Yazidis why their causes important to her.
:10:22. > :10:24.Vivienne Davies was one of a number of viewers watching that who had
:10:25. > :10:38.Is it really necessary to mention the fact that Amal Clooney is
:10:39. > :10:44.married to George Clooney? She's an intelligent woman who is doing the
:10:45. > :10:48.job that she does because of her intelligence, together with the
:10:49. > :10:53.knowledge and experience. And because she is married to a Fulham
:10:54. > :10:54.star. Put it out BBC, you can do better than that.
:10:55. > :10:57.Finally, back to the Budget and to numbers - specifically,
:10:58. > :10:59.the amount of extra funding for social care announced
:11:00. > :11:12.You will spend 2 billion on social care in England. A billion available
:11:13. > :11:13.in the next year. There is a longer-term review off to pay to
:11:14. > :11:40.look after the elderly. With that plea, we
:11:41. > :11:42.leave you this week. If you want to share your opinions
:11:43. > :11:45.on BBC News and current affairs, or even appear on the programme,
:11:46. > :11:48.you can call us on 0370 010 6676 You can find us on Twitter
:11:49. > :11:54.@newswatchbbc, and do have a look We'll be back to hear your
:11:55. > :12:22.thoughts about BBC News Comic up a detailed forecasting
:12:23. > :12:23.weather for the week ahead. Followed