0:00:00 > 0:00:01News with Samira Ahmed.
0:00:08 > 0:00:10A Happy New Year, and welcome to the first Newswatch of 2018
0:00:10 > 0:00:13with me, Samira Ahmed.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15This week, after the BBC announces it's increasing its religious
0:00:15 > 0:00:21affairs coverage, we'll be asking why and what the impact will be?
0:00:21 > 0:00:24The BBC's Religion Editor, Martin Bashir, tells us how he'll be
0:00:24 > 0:00:27tackling the competing demands of religious groups,
0:00:27 > 0:00:30and the non-believing majority.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37First, the New Year brought with it some distressing news,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40including the deaths of six people, including British businessman
0:00:40 > 0:00:44Richard Cousins, in a seaplane accident in Australia.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47The crash was reported extensively on BBC News,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50too much so for several viewers, including Alan Winn.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55He wrote to us on Tuesday.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20You've been sending us your comments on BBC News output over
0:01:20 > 0:01:23the Christmas and New Year period, and one concern that's been voiced
0:01:23 > 0:01:26was the contrast some perceived in the coverage of two fires that
0:01:26 > 0:01:31took place on December 29th - one in an apartment building
0:01:31 > 0:01:34in the Bronx, New York, which killed 12 people,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37and one in a restaurant in Mumbai, where at least 15 people died.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39Imtiyaz Ansari rang that day identifying a discrepancy
0:01:39 > 0:01:48in the news reporting of the two incidents.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50It obviously showed a great deal of the fire that
0:01:50 > 0:01:51took place in the Bronx.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54Where 12 people had died.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56But the same incident of fire has taken place in Mumbai
0:01:57 > 0:01:58where 15 people have died.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02Not a single mention of this incident.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04And even your website, this incident is hidden well
0:02:04 > 0:02:07inside the Asia region.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10While the New York fire is right on the front page.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12Why so biased?
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Just before Christmas, the BBC published its plans
0:02:18 > 0:02:20to increase the ambition of its coverage of
0:02:20 > 0:02:22religion and ethics.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26The review covered all areas of programming, from Songs of Praise
0:02:26 > 0:02:29to Thought for the Day, but in news it proposed increased
0:02:29 > 0:02:35investment and output, and a new post of Religion Editor.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38The scope and nature of reporting on religion is a subject that's
0:02:38 > 0:02:40bound to divide audiences, with some feeling it's given
0:02:40 > 0:02:41insufficient attention.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44For instance, David Parry wrote to us recently to ask
0:02:44 > 0:02:47about the BBC News website.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02And when Sarah Mullally was appointed the first female
0:03:02 > 0:03:06Bishop of London last month, the news was mentioned only briefly
0:03:06 > 0:03:09on that night's evening bulletins, to the disgruntlement
0:03:09 > 0:03:14of Gareth Jones - as he explains here.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16This was an important story for the established church,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19and for women's equality.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Even if you had run this story earlier, surely it warranted
0:03:22 > 0:03:26a regular slot throughout the day.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28Particularly at a time when the role of women in society
0:03:29 > 0:03:32is at the forefront of our thinking.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37Others, though, regret the proposal for more religious coverage,
0:03:37 > 0:03:40with some suspicious that the BBC is proselytising.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42Sue Nelson tweeted this week.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57A tough task, then, to satisfy conflicting demands,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59and the main person responsible is Martin Bashir, who's just become
0:03:59 > 0:04:02the BBC's first Religion Editor.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05He became a household name when his interview with Diana,
0:04:05 > 0:04:06Princess of Wales for Panorama in 1995 made
0:04:07 > 0:04:09international headlines.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12After other high-profile programmes on the likes of Louise Woodward,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15and on Michael Jackson, for ITV, he went to work
0:04:15 > 0:04:17in the United States, but returned a year or so ago
0:04:17 > 0:04:21to the BBC, where he'd worked at the start of his career.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25In December, he followed Pope Francis on his tour of Asia,
0:04:25 > 0:04:27and reported on the Archbishop of Canterbury's Christmas Day
0:04:27 > 0:04:29message, and from Bethlehem on the preparations
0:04:29 > 0:04:33for Christmas there.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36It is in this place, where borders and walls fortify
0:04:36 > 0:04:40a sense of identity and religious separation, that the Christian
0:04:40 > 0:04:45church is seeking to spread its message of peace
0:04:45 > 0:04:49and goodwill at Christmas.
0:04:49 > 0:04:50Merry Christmas!
0:04:50 > 0:04:52At Canterbury Cathedral, Archbishop Justin Welby said that
0:04:52 > 0:04:56although Christ was born without any political leverage,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59he provides more freedom to individuals than the world's
0:04:59 > 0:05:02most powerful leaders.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04Pope Francis praised the United Nations, but he did not
0:05:04 > 0:05:08refer to the UN's accusation that Myanmar had been involved
0:05:08 > 0:05:13in ethnic cleansing.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16And while he said the future of this nation must include
0:05:16 > 0:05:19all races and religions, he did not use the word Rohingya.
0:05:19 > 0:05:27Well, Martin Bashir is with me now.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Welcome to the programme. The status of religion in news coverage has
0:05:30 > 0:05:35clearly gone up, as you are now editor and not just a correspondent.
0:05:35 > 0:05:41In admission perhaps that the BBC hasn't been doing enough on it?We
0:05:41 > 0:05:45have seen a decline in religious affiliation, a decline in attendance
0:05:45 > 0:05:49at church and places of worship, so I think that the BBC is responding
0:05:49 > 0:05:55in part in the way that religious groups have responded, by demanding
0:05:55 > 0:05:58more coverage, and the BBC is responding to that. But I don't
0:05:58 > 0:06:05think it is the BBC railing. I think you have seen a cultural change.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Some listeners and viewers might be worried about the fact that
0:06:07 > 0:06:15religious groups are demanding more coverage and reduce Derry the BBC is
0:06:15 > 0:06:18giving it.We are a diverse country with different religious commitments
0:06:18 > 0:06:22and all of those people pay the licence fee and deserve to Lee
0:06:22 > 0:06:30expect some return. Of them will say they have a desire for worship
0:06:30 > 0:06:33programmes, documentaries, observational programmes, so I think
0:06:33 > 0:06:38that the BBC's output is responding to that. Of course, there plenty of
0:06:38 > 0:06:41other for people who have no religious interest whatsoever, but I
0:06:41 > 0:06:46think it would be wrong to say that we shouldn't provide material that
0:06:46 > 0:06:51for many people is important and central.The majority don't believe
0:06:51 > 0:06:56in God, and humanists like the person in the comments are worried
0:06:56 > 0:06:59that the BBC is being seen to bow to pressure from organised religious
0:06:59 > 0:07:04groups at a time when a great number of people say they don't believe in
0:07:04 > 0:07:08God.If you are saying that the only thing we are doing in our religious
0:07:08 > 0:07:13coverage relates to Christianity or Islam or Sikhism, I would say that
0:07:13 > 0:07:17would be wrong and unfair, but that isn't what we are doing. We are
0:07:17 > 0:07:19reflecting the broad expression of interest among the British
0:07:19 > 0:07:29population. People do have a desire to express themselves beyond the
0:07:29 > 0:07:35purely physical and material world. Spiritually in the broadest sense?
0:07:35 > 0:07:39Yes.Will we hear more from religious leaders expressing what
0:07:39 > 0:07:43they believe?I don't think we are allowing people to simply
0:07:43 > 0:07:49proselytise. The question is, are we going to have people on like
0:07:49 > 0:07:52American TV evangelists preventing their view and trying to persuade
0:07:52 > 0:07:57viewers? That isn't what the BBC doesBritain is nominally a
0:07:57 > 0:08:03Christian country but should that dominate religious coverage?
0:08:03 > 0:08:07Christianity has the largest stakeholding in Britain and
0:08:07 > 0:08:12globally, and we have an established church, bishops in the House of
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Lords, the monarch is the supreme governor of the Church of England,
0:08:15 > 0:08:22but we are trying to reflect a whole gamut of Britain's religious and
0:08:22 > 0:08:25faith expressions, and so in the last year I've done stories on
0:08:25 > 0:08:30anti-Semitism and the rise of it, I've covered the issue of Sharia
0:08:30 > 0:08:35councils and how the impact on Muslim marriages. I've tried to step
0:08:35 > 0:08:39beyond simply issues within the life of the Church of England but, having
0:08:39 > 0:08:43said that, I am very aware that there are many Christian people that
0:08:43 > 0:08:47have been critical of the BBC and have set in the past that the BBC
0:08:47 > 0:08:51hasn't fairly or reasonably covered the church, and I am seeking to
0:08:51 > 0:08:56address that criticism.Does being a Christian yourself mean that some
0:08:56 > 0:09:01people might say you can't report fairly on religion and be impartial,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05because you believe everyone else is wrong?What would you say to someone
0:09:05 > 0:09:10said, you can't cover a racial discrimination story because of your
0:09:10 > 0:09:15ethnicity?You give me your answer. My answer would be the same as
0:09:15 > 0:09:20yours, and that is that we have professional training and standards,
0:09:20 > 0:09:23and I would expect to be held to those standards as much as anybody.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28Our professional training means that we cover the stories as fairly and
0:09:28 > 0:09:32impartially as we possibly can.You are famous partly because, for a
0:09:32 > 0:09:38time, you wait controversial programmes, such as the interview
0:09:38 > 0:09:42with Diana, Princess of Wales, about the state of her marriage. Some
0:09:42 > 0:09:44people might be surprised you what the religion editor.Some people
0:09:44 > 0:09:51probably will be. I did a first degree in English literature and
0:09:51 > 0:09:55history and then went to kings college in London and studied
0:09:55 > 0:09:58theology and history. I am doing some academic work at the moment in
0:09:58 > 0:10:03the whole area of religion. So it's something that's been with me
0:10:03 > 0:10:09lifelong. I haven't expressed it through my professional life
0:10:09 > 0:10:12previously, but it's very much a part of who I am. I don't think that
0:10:12 > 0:10:18this portfolio is restrictive. In fact, I think it's an opportunity to
0:10:18 > 0:10:24explore all kinds of issues affecting humans, expression,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28ethics, decisions, everything from how you parent your children to how
0:10:28 > 0:10:31you die, and I don't think there's another portfolio that I would be
0:10:31 > 0:10:38more interested in this one.Timber ship, thank you for coming in. --
0:10:38 > 0:10:46Martin Bashir. Finally, we have seen reports about weather conditions
0:10:46 > 0:10:49across the UK. On Wednesday, Chris Page rounded up some of the effects
0:10:49 > 0:10:55of Storm Eleanor around the country. In Clevedon, the promenade was out
0:10:55 > 0:10:58of bounds and emergency services were on stand-by as the winds
0:10:58 > 0:11:04whipped up waves. Wales also suffered. Anglesey had fierce gusts
0:11:04 > 0:11:09and ferocious tides.Several viewers spotted a spelling mistake, and they
0:11:09 > 0:11:16were not impressed. This viewer e-mailed:
0:11:39 > 0:11:44thank you for all your comments. If you want to share your opinions on
0:11:44 > 0:11:48BBC News or current affairs or appear on the programme, you can
0:11:48 > 0:11:55call us on this number.
0:12:00 > 0:12:06That's all from us. We'll be back to hear your thoughts about BBC News
0:12:06 > 0:12:06coverage again next