:00:00. > :00:00.Now it's time for Newswatch, presented by Samira Ahmed.
:00:00. > :00:13.This week, the BBC expands its services in other languages.
:00:14. > :00:19.Welcome to Newswatch. Coming up... After recent nuclear missile test,
:00:20. > :00:26.is this a good time for the BBC to launch which service targeted at
:00:27. > :00:35.North Korea? Should BBC News be covering a story about an
:00:36. > :00:39.unfortunate incident in a toilet. First, many of those interviewed on
:00:40. > :00:42.news and current affairs programmes have been advised by public
:00:43. > :00:47.relations professionals on what to say and how to behave. If you are
:00:48. > :00:53.appearing on TV as a PR person yourself, what could possibly go
:00:54. > :00:57.wrong? On Monday's Newsnight, the co-founder of Belle Pottinger, which
:00:58. > :01:00.had been expelled by the PR trade body for unethical behaviour in
:01:01. > :01:06.South Africa, demonstrated the answer to that question. You were
:01:07. > :01:17.the man who went out to South Africa to secure this deal...
:01:18. > :01:36., sorry about that. Don't worry about it. We went out to the people
:01:37. > :01:41.who represented the Gupta 's. He knew of all...
:01:42. > :01:53.One of the key things is the problem with the account. This reaction on
:01:54. > :02:19.Twitter was called... There was more embarrassment on
:02:20. > :02:23.Tuesday for the Home Office after the Guardian published a draft
:02:24. > :02:27.document it obtained containing proposals aimed at cutting the
:02:28. > :02:32.numbers of low skilled migrants from Europe following Brexit. The BBC
:02:33. > :02:39.followed up the story but one viewer rang us with his concerns over the
:02:40. > :02:44.journalistic ethics. How do the BBC and other media sources justify
:02:45. > :02:49.broadcasting information to the public from so-called leaked
:02:50. > :02:55.documents? They are not leaked, they are stolen. The media should be
:02:56. > :03:01.forced, by law, to divulge their informant's details so be made them
:03:02. > :03:07.be prosecuted and lose their jobs. Which they are obviously not fit to
:03:08. > :03:12.be in any way. It is theft. We have had reaction to panorama, showing
:03:13. > :03:15.distressing footage from an immigration removal Centre,
:03:16. > :03:21.Brockhaus, which had been filmed secretly by a member of staff. BBC
:03:22. > :03:27.News picked up on the story last Friday. Undercover investigation
:03:28. > :03:30.mark, abuse or assault detainees. The incident is picked up by the
:03:31. > :03:42.hidden camera worn by another officer.
:03:43. > :03:48.He has worked here for two years and he approached Panorama after
:03:49. > :03:52.becoming disturbed about the working practices he saw. He was applauded
:03:53. > :04:07.the documentary and Tracy Jensen called it...
:04:08. > :04:15.The BBC's motto going back 90 years has been nations shall speak peace
:04:16. > :04:20.unto nation. But which nations? The BBC is updating its provision of
:04:21. > :04:25.language services by adding several new ones, including one in pigeon.
:04:26. > :04:27.It is spoken by 75 million people in Nigeria and many more elsewhere in
:04:28. > :04:52.Africa. The introduction last month of audio
:04:53. > :04:56.updates in pigeon with daily video bulletins due to be added in
:04:57. > :05:01.November, has already had an impact on social media and it is part of
:05:02. > :05:06.what the BBC World Service is calling its biggest expansion since
:05:07. > :05:13.the 1940s with 1400 staff being hired, backed by ?289 million of
:05:14. > :05:17.government funding. 12 new language services are launching. They include
:05:18. > :05:20.one targeted at North Korea, where, particularly at this time of
:05:21. > :05:29.heightened international tension over nuclear missile tests, it seems
:05:30. > :05:30.unlikely the BBC will be greeted with open arms.
:05:31. > :05:34.To talk about what the BBC's changing with its language services,
:05:35. > :05:38.I am joined by the deputy editor of the BBC world language group. We
:05:39. > :05:45.mention Korean and pigeon, what are you expanding and why? We are
:05:46. > :05:49.opening 11 language services. The Korean service for the Korean
:05:50. > :05:52.peninsula and Korean speaking audiences around the world. We have
:05:53. > :06:00.done this because there has never been a greater need for the reliable
:06:01. > :06:04.and independent language the BBC provides. In some countries where
:06:05. > :06:09.some news is available, but in many countries where there isn't very
:06:10. > :06:14.much all reliable international news, it has been part of our
:06:15. > :06:18.mission since the war. It is a continuation and extension of that.
:06:19. > :06:28.In deciding what languages you offer, a lot of countries don't have
:06:29. > :06:32.independent news. Those audiences who don't have a lot of choices. A
:06:33. > :06:39.number of the Bridges services, we are opening a number of languages to
:06:40. > :06:42.cover Ethiopia and Eritrea because we see a lack of free access to
:06:43. > :06:47.independent and reliable news in that market. We have three
:06:48. > :06:52.additional Nigerian languages. Audiences watching Newswatch, we pay
:06:53. > :06:56.a licence fee, where is the money coming from? The extension is coming
:06:57. > :06:59.from new government investment. It was done because it felt there
:07:00. > :07:04.wasn't a commercial case, you could never run these services on a
:07:05. > :07:12.commercial basis. The licence fee payers pay for existing World
:07:13. > :07:16.Service? They pay for a certain amount of it and the government has
:07:17. > :07:20.come in with the money for the expansion of these language
:07:21. > :07:23.services. The BBC is supposed to be independent and when you are
:07:24. > :07:28.expanding into places like the Korean peninsula with government
:07:29. > :07:31.money, doesn't it look political? The BBC has had grand and aid
:07:32. > :07:35.funding from the government over a long time to pay for the World
:07:36. > :07:42.Service. In that time, we were confident our own independent
:07:43. > :07:46.editorial content. We wouldn't take money from the government if it had
:07:47. > :07:50.editorial strings attached. The government understand that and they
:07:51. > :07:55.don't want the BBC News to be viewed with suspicion as the voice of the
:07:56. > :07:59.government. For the government, they have pagan expansion of the
:08:00. > :08:04.services, it was the BBC who decided which languages we added. Although
:08:05. > :08:08.the government retains a role in deciding if any future services are
:08:09. > :08:14.close, the BBC has editorial independence on what goes on those
:08:15. > :08:17.services. The BBC of professional diplomats. The North Korean
:08:18. > :08:22.government has told the BBC it is not happy about this new language
:08:23. > :08:28.service. Is it provocative to go ahead? We think there is a value in
:08:29. > :08:33.areas of tension for there to be access for impartial and reliable
:08:34. > :08:35.and independent news. We think it helps de-escalate points of
:08:36. > :08:39.international tension. Our view is, the BBC will help in the long-term
:08:40. > :08:47.with access. There is a huge amount of concern about fake news on how it
:08:48. > :08:50.is being manipulated by countries to ferment into ethnic problems in
:08:51. > :08:53.different territories around the world. The BBC has an important
:08:54. > :08:58.mission to get into that space and make sure that a free and impartial
:08:59. > :09:03.and accurate information is available as a gold standard, if you
:09:04. > :09:07.like. We help it de-escalate 's political tensions, not the other
:09:08. > :09:10.way around. What about the journalists providing the services,
:09:11. > :09:15.some will be based in London, but in places like North Korea, where you
:09:16. > :09:19.have no presence on the ground, how dangerous it might be to provide a
:09:20. > :09:24.service tailored for a local market? We don't have an operational base in
:09:25. > :09:29.North Korea, but the BBC does periodically get access inside North
:09:30. > :09:33.Korea, albeit under restrictive and you are monitored and surveilled by
:09:34. > :09:39.the authorities. But the issues of whom are the journalists providing
:09:40. > :09:43.that language service, who maybe the National is from there? The
:09:44. > :09:47.objective of this service is not political. We do language and
:09:48. > :09:52.countries. It is a Korean language service for all Korean language
:09:53. > :09:57.speaking services. We're not setting it up as a platform for dissidents
:09:58. > :10:01.or to destabilise the North Korean government. If we did do that, in
:10:02. > :10:05.that political weight it with the and devalue the BBC's international
:10:06. > :10:09.bases around the world. It would be counter-productive and we would not
:10:10. > :10:16.do it. We are doing it on the same basis as other International News
:10:17. > :10:20.service to provide independent, trusted, free news, but for the
:10:21. > :10:25.values as journalists and not as a political objective.
:10:26. > :10:29.Jamie Angus, thank you. A light-hearted story that has been
:10:30. > :10:34.fascinated but disgusting some viewers this week. Because it
:10:35. > :10:37.concerns a toilet mishap. It is about an unnamed woman from Bristol
:10:38. > :10:41.on a first date. What happened when she went back to his house and
:10:42. > :10:47.needed the toilet. Are you ready? Here is headache,
:10:48. > :10:51.Liam Smith. Unfortunately it wouldn't flush and she decided to
:10:52. > :10:56.throw it out of the window. My house is quirky and the bathroom doesn't
:10:57. > :11:01.open into the outside garden. It opens to an air gap and there is a
:11:02. > :11:06.double glazed window between that and the outside garden. She was
:11:07. > :11:12.reaching in to try and get the to out of the window. She asked me help
:11:13. > :11:18.to get out and she was stuck. Embarrassing, certainly. Unpleasant,
:11:19. > :11:19.undoubtedly. Newsworthy? Some people had their doubts, including Michael
:11:20. > :11:43.Hill e-mail... Thank you for all your comments, if
:11:44. > :11:46.you want to share your opinions on BBC News and current affairs or
:11:47. > :11:55.appear on the programme, you can call us on...
:11:56. > :12:03.Do have a look at our website. That is all from us, I will be back in a
:12:04. > :12:05.fortnight and Roger Bolton will be here next week to hear your thoughts
:12:06. > :12:20.about BBC News coverage. We are still dodging downpours this
:12:21. > :12:28.evening but some will be turning dry as the evening goes on. We will keep
:12:29. > :12:29.a feed of showers coming over Northern