:00:00. > :00:00.much indeed. Over 800 households being evacuated from Camden, that
:00:00. > :00:07.just being announced in the last hour. More on that on the ten
:00:08. > :00:13.o'clock news, but now it is time for Newswatch.
:00:14. > :00:16.Hello and welcome to Newswatch. Many questions remain
:00:17. > :00:20.after the Grenfell Tower fire, but some viewers questioned
:00:21. > :00:24.whether BBC news coverage served to incite anger amongst residents.
:00:25. > :00:30.You could stop it spreading by spending ?2 more...
:00:31. > :00:35.The interview Emily Maitlis conducted with Theresa May last
:00:36. > :00:37.Friday seemed to unfairly lay all blame for the fire personally
:00:38. > :00:47.How Huw Edwards occupied himself for the first four minutes
:00:48. > :00:57.In the very early hours of Monday morning, the sound of multiple
:00:58. > :01:00.police sirens was heard again on the streets of London.
:01:01. > :01:03.And the BBC's overnight news service reported the facts,
:01:04. > :01:09.We start with breaking news this hour.
:01:10. > :01:12.A number of people have been injured in North London after a vehicle
:01:13. > :01:18.The Muslim Council of Britain has said that worshippers were hit
:01:19. > :01:21.by a van as they left prayers at the Finsbury Park mosque.
:01:22. > :01:23.One eyewitness has told the BBC that at least three people
:01:24. > :01:29.Some hours later, it emerged that one man, Makram Ali,
:01:30. > :01:32.died in the attack and that another, Darren Osborne, had been arrested
:01:33. > :01:35.on suspicion of attempted murder and terror offences.
:01:36. > :01:37.Before that, though, a number of viewers objected
:01:38. > :01:40.to the way the incident had initially been
:01:41. > :01:48.One of them rang Newswatch with his thoughts.
:01:49. > :01:51.I am calling about your recent coverage of the
:01:52. > :01:55.I just don't understand why the mainstream media right now
:01:56. > :01:59.is not calling this out as a terrorist attack.
:02:00. > :02:02.At the moment, which is very disappointing.
:02:03. > :02:05.Considering that, if it was a Muslim, you would be
:02:06. > :02:10.very quick to point out that it is a terrorist attack.
:02:11. > :02:13.But for a white guy or anyone else who's running people
:02:14. > :02:15.over, for some reason, you have a different way
:02:16. > :02:41.Well, we put that view to BBC News and they told us...
:02:42. > :02:43.Last Friday afternoon, the distress and anger which had
:02:44. > :02:46.been building up in the wake of the Grenfell Tower
:02:47. > :02:56.Here is Jeremy Cooke reporting on that night's News at Six.
:02:57. > :02:58.A crowd storms Kensington Town Hall demanding action.
:02:59. > :03:18.How could this tragedy have happened, on this scale?
:03:19. > :03:29.That evening and through the weekend, BBC reporters heard
:03:30. > :03:32.many appeals and complaints of that kind from residents of the estate
:03:33. > :03:40.I just want to know how many people have died.
:03:41. > :03:46.Why are people being rehoused outside London?
:03:47. > :03:53.These are fundamental questions and only, we are days
:03:54. > :03:59.It is always the public that runs to rescue.
:04:00. > :04:05.Those questions were heard many times on camera
:04:06. > :04:08.And others were put to the Prime Minister on Friday.
:04:09. > :04:12.That was in an interview by Emily Maitlis of Newsnight.
:04:13. > :04:18.There were two types of material that could have been used
:04:19. > :04:20.used in the cladding - one was flammable
:04:21. > :04:22.and one was fireproof, and the fireproof one cost ?2 more.
:04:23. > :04:27.We have yet to find out what the cause of the fire was.
:04:28. > :04:33.You could have stopped it spreading by spending ?2
:04:34. > :04:37.The Fire Service are looking at what the cause of the fire was.
:04:38. > :04:40.And it is important that we get to the bottom of this, that we find
:04:41. > :04:43.But you were recommended this, in 2013.
:04:44. > :04:46.You were in government, then, and the coroner said you could have
:04:47. > :04:48.stopped this with a sprinkler system in every block.
:04:49. > :04:50.And the government has taken action on the recommendations
:04:51. > :04:55.Lots of reaction from Newswatch viewers to that interview.
:04:56. > :04:57.Typical was Ian Whitehouse, who recorded his thoughts
:04:58. > :05:06.We all have the utmost sympathy and sadness
:05:07. > :05:09.However, nothing can justify the appalling
:05:10. > :05:12.viciousness of the haranguing of the Prime Minister
:05:13. > :05:19.It was more like a kangaroo court diatribe, based on assumptions
:05:20. > :05:28.of responsibility and guilt which hadn't yet
:05:29. > :05:29.even been discussed, let alone proven.
:05:30. > :05:31.Other viewers contacted us with their concerns about reporting
:05:32. > :05:44.And the allegations and emotions expressed by residents.
:05:45. > :05:47.Here are the views of David Shute and Alan Cummings.
:05:48. > :05:49.The BBC was on the spot for immediate eyewitness accounts,
:05:50. > :05:51.in competition with rivals which reached fever pitch, recently.
:05:52. > :05:53.And because of that their obligations for broadcasting
:05:54. > :05:57.accurately and with accountability is being compromised.
:05:58. > :06:02.They have proved, in the event, to being totally inaccurate,
:06:03. > :06:04.highly emotive and often personally influenced accounts broadcast
:06:05. > :06:14.I think that in the recent Grenfell Tower tragedy we saw
:06:15. > :06:17.reporting which was actually starting to incite violence,
:06:18. > :06:25.incite further trouble, which is not what reporting is about.
:06:26. > :06:27.Another viewer who got in touch on the subject was Jon Brookes,
:06:28. > :06:29.and he joins us now from our Ipswich studio.
:06:30. > :06:31.Jon, there were lots of concerns about coverage
:06:32. > :06:38.Last week a number of viewers commented on it being used
:06:39. > :06:41.as a backdrop to news bulletins when it was still burning.
:06:42. > :06:56.There was no real need to have somebody on the scene standing
:06:57. > :07:04.It seemed as though you were dwelling on...
:07:05. > :07:08.In a way, it was a type of hysteria, because in the end it wound a lot
:07:09. > :07:10.of people up to make protests when they might
:07:11. > :07:16.The BBC need to realise that perhaps they were part of the megaphones
:07:17. > :07:18.talk by a lot of people, including politicians,
:07:19. > :07:21.who incited those people to behave like that.
:07:22. > :07:24.In filling the air time in the days after the disaster,
:07:25. > :07:26.did you have views about people discussing what might have
:07:27. > :07:35.Normally, when this happens anywhere, in any factory,
:07:36. > :07:37.the health and safety people come in, the police
:07:38. > :07:40.and the inspectorates, and they decide what's caused it.
:07:41. > :07:43.But the speculation on there was massive.
:07:44. > :07:50.It may well be, that it was the panels, it
:07:51. > :07:52.seems to be the case, but speculation without
:07:53. > :08:00.One of the other issue you wanted to raise and some other viewers did,
:08:01. > :08:02.was about interviews with the Prime Minister
:08:03. > :08:09.and the way she was treated in relation to the fire.
:08:10. > :08:18.Mrs May, I'm not one of her supporters, but
:08:19. > :08:21.how could she be held responsible or blamed for what's happened there?
:08:22. > :08:24.Now we know that those panels are in place all over the UK
:08:25. > :08:27.and that is down to planning people making sure that they are
:08:28. > :08:30.She can't be responsible for that, and yet, some people
:08:31. > :08:37.You think the BBC was doing interviews in an irresponsible way?
:08:38. > :08:40.I don't think you helped matters by allowing those people to say
:08:41. > :08:43.what they were saying, particularly outside when they were
:08:44. > :08:48.Well, as you know, we did want to talk to someone from the BBC
:08:49. > :09:23.And they have given us this statement.
:09:24. > :09:27.Any thoughts in response to that statement,
:09:28. > :09:29.particularly when they talked about accountability in interviews?
:09:30. > :09:32.Yes, how can you judge accountability when you have no
:09:33. > :09:35.facts to back up the claims that it was the cladding?
:09:36. > :09:40.I've never heard a producer admit he is wrong about anything.
:09:41. > :09:43.They can waffle all they like but, in this case,
:09:44. > :09:49.To accentuate it to the degree that they did.
:09:50. > :09:52.After all, there was no need to have them there every day
:09:53. > :10:02.And I just think that people who had relatives in there,
:10:03. > :10:04.how do you think they must have felt?
:10:05. > :10:08.Finally it has been an extremely busy news period,
:10:09. > :10:10.most of it very bad, so it is understandable
:10:11. > :10:13.if some of the audience, perhaps even some of the journalists
:10:14. > :10:16.wanted it all to occasionally just calm down and stop.
:10:17. > :10:20.On Tuesday night it did just that as those watching the ten o'clock
:10:21. > :10:45.evening bulletin on News Channel were treated to this...
:10:46. > :10:50.There followed four minutes of Huw Edwards waiting patiently,
:10:51. > :10:53.checking over his script and taking notes, all interspersed with some
:10:54. > :11:02.Viewers on BBC One only had a bit of that before the presentation
:11:03. > :11:04.announcer took over with a holding message and some music.
:11:05. > :11:09.Apparently the BBC News technical system crashed seconds before ten
:11:10. > :11:11.o'clock and although Huw Edwards wasn't told he was on air
:11:12. > :11:16.for a couple of minutes, having heard pandemonium
:11:17. > :11:23.in the background, he thought he would take the conservative
:11:24. > :11:24.approach and just sit there, quietly.
:11:25. > :11:30.The glitch prompted a flurry of reaction on Twitter.
:11:31. > :11:41.Thank you for all your comments this week.
:11:42. > :11:44.Please send us your thoughts on BBC News and current affairs.
:11:45. > :12:08.And you can catch up on a programme any time you have missed it. We were
:12:09. > :12:11.back to hear your thoughts about BBC news coverage this time next week.
:12:12. > :12:16.Goodbye.