:00:00. > :00:00.assistance. That's it from me. At 10pm you will get a full round-up of
:00:00. > :00:09.the day 's news. But first, it's NewsWatch.
:00:10. > :00:11.Hello and welcome to NewsWatch with me, Samira Ahmed.
:00:12. > :00:13.After the Manchester Arena bombing, we discussed how news should report
:00:14. > :00:18.the horror of a terrorist attack without giving the perpetrators
:00:19. > :00:30.And we look at how Newsround covered that news for its young audience.
:00:31. > :00:33.It was shortly after half past ten on Monday night when the news came
:00:34. > :00:37.through of what would turn out to be the worst terrorist attack in the UK
:00:38. > :00:41.Let's break away from the election campaign for a moment,
:00:42. > :00:44.we have some news coming into us out of the north-west.
:00:45. > :00:46.Greater Manchester police have warned people to stay away
:00:47. > :00:52.As officers respond to what they are describing
:00:53. > :00:55.as an incident amid reports on social media of some
:00:56. > :01:03.By the following morning, the scale of the violence had become clear.
:01:04. > :01:06.Breakfast invited three of those who had been at the Ariana Grande
:01:07. > :01:17.I really admire you for coming on this morning and talking
:01:18. > :01:20.with such honesty about this because there is all sorts of quotes
:01:21. > :01:23.people can come out with saying, we will fight back and go one
:01:24. > :01:29.But at a time like this, it is just devastating to be
:01:30. > :01:32.involved in that and to be part of it.
:01:33. > :01:38.But discussion divided NewsWatch viewers, with Anne Williams one
:01:39. > :01:43.of a number concerned that: Adrian Clark was also not alone
:01:44. > :02:08.Adrian Clark was also not alone in writing:
:02:09. > :02:12.there were further complaints about other eyewitness interviews,
:02:13. > :02:15.and some of the images shown on television.
:02:16. > :02:19.On Wednesday, the diplomatic row with the United States developed,
:02:20. > :02:22.after the New York Times printed close-up photographs of fragments
:02:23. > :02:25.of the bomb used and the apparent tattered remains of the backpack
:02:26. > :02:32.Those photographs were also shown on the BBC News,
:02:33. > :02:52.The point was made by others, too, as in this anonymous telephone call.
:02:53. > :02:58.The government was completely outraged by America showing pictures
:02:59. > :03:02.of the Manchester bombing and the aftermath.
:03:03. > :03:13.There were more general concerns about the quantity of the coverage
:03:14. > :03:20.playing into the hands of those responsible for the atrocity,
:03:21. > :03:38.Other viewers objected to the repeated use
:03:39. > :03:41.of video, showing panicked concertgoers fleeing the scene,
:03:42. > :03:48.with Shane Mitchell recording this video for us.
:03:49. > :03:51.What I just don't understand is why the BBC keeps playing this
:03:52. > :03:53.footage when there is one of these terrorist atrocities.
:03:54. > :03:55.Of the people screaming as it is happening.
:03:56. > :03:59.Our natural human reaction if we hear something like that,
:04:00. > :04:02.somebody suffering and terrified, and people who are being murdered,
:04:03. > :04:07.It's dehumanising and weird and intrusive to have
:04:08. > :04:16.Well, we put some of those points to the BBC News,
:04:17. > :04:40.Much of the revulsion at the attack stems
:04:41. > :04:42.from it being directed largely at children and young people,
:04:43. > :04:44.Much of the revulsion at the attack stems
:04:45. > :04:46.from it being directed largely at children and young people,
:04:47. > :04:49.one of the victims was just eight years old.
:04:50. > :04:51.That presents a particular journalistic challenge to the BBC's
:04:52. > :04:55.programme and website specifically for children, Newsround.
:04:56. > :04:58.How to report on a shocking event of a special interest
:04:59. > :05:02.to its audience, without scaring them unnecessarily, or sugar-coating
:05:03. > :05:07.Here are some examples of how the programme makers
:05:08. > :05:15.Welcome to a special Newsround from Manchester city centre.
:05:16. > :05:17.You are joining us here because late last night,
:05:18. > :05:21.there was a terror attack at an Ariana Grande concept
:05:22. > :05:28.What's important to remember is that although events
:05:29. > :05:32.like this are very sad, they are also rare.
:05:33. > :05:34.Worrying stories are often in the news because they don't
:05:35. > :05:39.So what should you do if you are feeling sad or anxious?
:05:40. > :05:44.Amongst the confusion last night, lots of people in Manchester
:05:45. > :05:49.And hotels like this one in the city centre were also helping people
:05:50. > :05:55.I just wanted to thank the people who all helped them.
:05:56. > :05:59.Did it put you off from maybe going to the city centre?
:06:00. > :06:02.I don't think it should put me off, but I am a little bit put off,
:06:03. > :06:05.because I just think, if they are trying to scare us,
:06:06. > :06:09.then we should show them we're not scared and we shouldn't let them.
:06:10. > :06:11.Newsround has been widely praised on social media for the approach
:06:12. > :06:17.it's taken this week, with Tamal Ray tweeting this: Well
:06:18. > :06:34.it's taken this week, with Tamal Ray tweeting this:
:06:35. > :06:37.Well the editor of Newsround is Lewis James and he joins us now
:06:38. > :06:41.Lewis, how did you decide to cover the Manchester bomb attack?
:06:42. > :06:44.As you said in your introduction, this was probably the most
:06:45. > :06:47.challenging event that any of us have had to cover on Newsround,
:06:48. > :06:51.particularly because it appears the attack was targeted specifically
:06:52. > :06:55.at children and young people at a pop concert.
:06:56. > :06:57.We were aware right from the beginning I think both
:06:58. > :07:00.of the scale of the story and the horrendousness of it.
:07:01. > :07:05.But also I think the need for calm information to our audience.
:07:06. > :07:09.In order that they could try to put it into some kind of context,
:07:10. > :07:14.The images that you would not show, that other news outlets would,
:07:15. > :07:17.not just explicit images but, for example, even inside
:07:18. > :07:22.Yeah, we chose not to show any pictures from inside the arena.
:07:23. > :07:26.I think with this, it's always a judgment call, really,
:07:27. > :07:30.that we have to make on how much we can show that will properly
:07:31. > :07:35.tell the story but also whether we are going to cause
:07:36. > :07:39.additional distress to children, which we obviously want to avoid.
:07:40. > :07:41.We did not show anything from inside the arena,
:07:42. > :07:43.we did not show people injured, people on stretchers.
:07:44. > :07:49.We did show a emergency vehicles arriving and leaving.
:07:50. > :07:53.And we did show people talking about it.
:07:54. > :07:56.We did not show very distressed people, and we used animation
:07:57. > :07:58.in particular because that really helps us.
:07:59. > :08:00.We can convey things through animation in a way
:08:01. > :08:03.that is reassuring to children and in a way that does
:08:04. > :08:07.We also went out and spoke to children, as well.
:08:08. > :08:11.We spoke to children in Manchester, they had already heard about it.
:08:12. > :08:19.They were able to contextualise it for other children and were able
:08:20. > :08:21.to provide reassurance, by the way they were dealing
:08:22. > :08:27.Your coverage also focused on positive offers of support,
:08:28. > :08:30.such as from the hotels and the taxi drivers.
:08:31. > :08:34.Is that again a deliberate decision to emphasise that aspect of things?
:08:35. > :08:38.We emphasised the help that is given.
:08:39. > :08:45.I think, this is such a bleak story, in many ways.
:08:46. > :08:48.We emphasised the help that is given.
:08:49. > :08:50.I think, this is such a bleak story, in many ways.
:08:51. > :08:53.But one of the things that's not just Newsround but other news
:08:54. > :08:56.organisations in parts of the BBC emphasised was the fact that on that
:08:57. > :08:58.night, and afterwards, people rallied together.
:08:59. > :09:00.People gave taxi rides for free, hotels opened their doors,
:09:01. > :09:02.people open their doors to strangers on that evening.
:09:03. > :09:06.I think, in the midst of something that is so horrendous,
:09:07. > :09:08.it's important we feel to tell our audience that
:09:09. > :09:11.lots of people are helping coming together to help people
:09:12. > :09:15.You will know that adults really worry about how to explain
:09:16. > :09:23.From what you told me, it sounds like you do,
:09:24. > :09:25.trying to provide support for your audience?
:09:26. > :09:29.I think there is a realisation of that there is a limit
:09:30. > :09:31.to what we can do, and the best thing really for parents
:09:32. > :09:36.We direct children to their parents or to trusted adults,
:09:37. > :09:38.people like teachers, so that they can have
:09:39. > :09:41.Because we can't have that conversation
:09:42. > :09:47.I think it is a conscious decision for us to do it.
:09:48. > :09:50.This week, the feedback we have had from the audiences
:09:51. > :09:54.that they appreciate that advice and that parents appreciated it
:09:55. > :09:58.and have been referring to it on social media and so one.
:09:59. > :10:01.Yes, we do have a deliberate policy and we hope it is useful
:10:02. > :10:07.Are there any news events or stories that you feel
:10:08. > :10:09.you just would not cover, for Newsround audience?
:10:10. > :10:16.I don't think there's anything we would not cover.
:10:17. > :10:19.I think we think very carefully about a number of things
:10:20. > :10:23.In the case of these attacks, unfortunately, the scale of them
:10:24. > :10:26.and the revulsion at what had happened was so large that we felt
:10:27. > :10:29.that children would hear about it potentially very quickly
:10:30. > :10:37.That's why we made the decision to run with the events
:10:38. > :10:40.No, there isn't anything that is off-limits,
:10:41. > :10:43.but we do think long and hard about whether we have
:10:44. > :10:47.Sometimes we will wait a little while and then things are clear
:10:48. > :10:49.before we report things, because it's important for us to get
:10:50. > :10:55.Finally, by the end of the week, the general election
:10:56. > :10:58.campaign had resumed but when it was still suspended
:10:59. > :11:02.on Wednesday, Arthur Gould wrote to us with this concern: thank
:11:03. > :11:32.on Wednesday, Arthur Gould wrote to us with this concern:
:11:33. > :11:34.Thank you for all your comments this week.
:11:35. > :11:38.If you want to share your opinions on BBC News or current affairs
:11:39. > :11:43.or even appear on the programme, you can call us on 0370 0106676.
:11:44. > :11:51.Do have a look at previous interviews and discussions
:11:52. > :11:57.That's all from us, we will be back to hear your thoughts about BBC News