05/01/2018 Newswatch

News with Samira Ahmed.

A Happy New Year, and welcome

to the first Newswatch of 2018

with me, Samira Ahmed.

This week, after the BBC announces

it's increasing its religious

affairs coverage, we'll be asking

why and what the impact will be?

The BBC's Religion Editor,

Martin Bashir, tells us how he'll be

tackling the competing demands

of religious groups,

and the non-believing majority.

First, the New Year brought with it

some distressing news,

including the deaths of six people,

including British businessman

Richard Cousins, in a seaplane

accident in Australia.

The crash was reported

extensively on BBC News,

too much so for several viewers,

including Alan Winn.

He wrote to us on Tuesday.

You've been sending us your comments

on BBC News output over

the Christmas and New Year period,

and one concern that's been voiced

was the contrast some perceived

in the coverage of two fires that

took place on December 29th -

one in an apartment building

in the Bronx, New York,

which killed 12 people,

and one in a restaurant in Mumbai,

where at least 15 people died.

Imtiyaz Ansari rang that day

identifying a discrepancy

in the news reporting

of the two incidents.

It obviously showed a great

deal of the fire that

took place in the Bronx.

Where 12 people had died.

But the same incident of fire has

taken place in Mumbai

where 15 people have died.

Not a single mention

of this incident.

And even your website,

this incident is hidden well

inside the Asia region.

While the New York fire

is right on the front page.

Why so biased?

Just before Christmas,

the BBC published its plans

to increase the ambition

of its coverage of

religion and ethics.

The review covered all areas

of programming, from Songs of Praise

to Thought for the Day,

but in news it proposed increased

investment and output,

and a new post of Religion Editor.

The scope and nature of reporting

on religion is a subject that's

bound to divide audiences,

with some feeling it's given

insufficient attention.

For instance, David Parry wrote

to us recently to ask

about the BBC News website.

And when Sarah Mullally

was appointed the first female

Bishop of London last month,

the news was mentioned only briefly

on that night's evening bulletins,

to the disgruntlement

of Gareth Jones -

as he explains here.

This was an important story

for the established church,

and for women's equality.

Even if you had run this story

earlier, surely it warranted

a regular slot throughout the day.

Particularly at a time

when the role of women in society

is at the forefront of our thinking.

Others, though, regret the proposal

for more religious coverage,

with some suspicious

that the BBC is proselytising.

Sue Nelson tweeted this week.

A tough task, then, to satisfy

conflicting demands,

and the main person responsible

is Martin Bashir, who's just become

the BBC's first Religion Editor.

He became a household name

when his interview with Diana,

Princess of Wales for Panorama

in 1995 made

international headlines.

After other high-profile programmes

on the likes of Louise Woodward,

and on Michael Jackson,

for ITV, he went to work

in the United States,

but returned a year or so ago

to the BBC, where he'd worked

at the start of his career.

In December, he followed

Pope Francis on his tour of Asia,

and reported on the Archbishop

of Canterbury's Christmas Day

message, and from Bethlehem

on the preparations

for Christmas there.

It is in this place,

where borders and walls fortify

a sense of identity and religious

separation, that the Christian

church is seeking to spread

its message of peace

and goodwill at Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

At Canterbury Cathedral,

Archbishop Justin Welby said that

although Christ was born without any

political leverage,

he provides more freedom

to individuals than the world's

most powerful leaders.

Pope Francis praised

the United Nations, but he did not

refer to the UN's accusation that

Myanmar had been involved

in ethnic cleansing.

And while he said the future

of this nation must include

all races and religions,

he did not use the word Rohingya.

Well, Martin Bashir is with me now.

Welcome to the programme. The status

of religion in news coverage has

clearly gone up, as you are now

editor and not just a correspondent.

In admission perhaps that the BBC

hasn't been doing enough on it?

We

have seen a decline in religious

affiliation, a decline in attendance

at church and places of worship, so

I think that the BBC is responding

in part in the way that religious

groups have responded, by demanding

more coverage, and the BBC is

responding to that. But I don't

think it is the BBC railing. I think

you have seen a cultural change.

Some listeners and viewers might be

worried about the fact that

religious groups are demanding more

coverage and reduce Derry the BBC is

giving it.

We are a diverse country

with different religious commitments

and all of those people pay the

licence fee and deserve to Lee

expect some return. Of them will say

they have a desire for worship

programmes, documentaries,

observational programmes, so I think

that the BBC's output is responding

to that. Of course, there plenty of

other for people who have no

religious interest whatsoever, but I

think it would be wrong to say that

we shouldn't provide material that

for many people is important and

central.

The majority don't believe

in God, and humanists like the

person in the comments are worried

that the BBC is being seen to bow to

pressure from organised religious

groups at a time when a great number

of people say they don't believe in

God.

If you are saying that the only

thing we are doing in our religious

coverage relates to Christianity or

Islam or Sikhism, I would say that

would be wrong and unfair, but that

isn't what we are doing. We are

reflecting the broad expression of

interest among the British

population. People do have a desire

to express themselves beyond the

purely physical and material world.

Spiritually in the broadest sense?

Yes.

Will we hear more from

religious leaders expressing what

they believe?

I don't think we are

allowing people to simply

proselytise. The question is, are we

going to have people on like

American TV evangelists preventing

their view and trying to persuade

viewers? That isn't what the BBC

does

Britain is nominally a

Christian country but should that

dominate religious coverage?

Christianity has the largest

stakeholding in Britain and

globally, and we have an established

church, bishops in the House of

Lords, the monarch is the supreme

governor of the Church of England,

but we are trying to reflect a whole

gamut of Britain's religious and

faith expressions, and so in the

last year I've done stories on

anti-Semitism and the rise of it,

I've covered the issue of Sharia

councils and how the impact on

Muslim marriages. I've tried to step

beyond simply issues within the life

of the Church of England but, having

said that, I am very aware that

there are many Christian people that

have been critical of the BBC and

have set in the past that the BBC

hasn't fairly or reasonably covered

the church, and I am seeking to

address that criticism.

Does being a

Christian yourself mean that some

people might say you can't report

fairly on religion and be impartial,

because you believe everyone else is

wrong?

What would you say to someone

said, you can't cover a racial

discrimination story because of your

ethnicity?

You give me your answer.

My answer would be the same as

yours, and that is that we have

professional training and standards,

and I would expect to be held to

those standards as much as anybody.

Our professional training means that

we cover the stories as fairly and

impartially as we possibly can.

You

are famous partly because, for a

time, you wait controversial

programmes, such as the interview

with Diana, Princess of Wales, about

the state of her marriage. Some

people might be surprised you what

the religion editor.

Some people

probably will be. I did a first

degree in English literature and

history and then went to kings

college in London and studied

theology and history. I am doing

some academic work at the moment in

the whole area of religion. So it's

something that's been with me

lifelong. I haven't expressed it

through my professional life

previously, but it's very much a

part of who I am. I don't think that

this portfolio is restrictive. In

fact, I think it's an opportunity to

explore all kinds of issues

affecting humans, expression,

ethics, decisions, everything from

how you parent your children to how

you die, and I don't think there's

another portfolio that I would be

more interested in this one.

Timber

ship, thank you for coming in. --

Martin Bashir. Finally, we have seen

reports about weather conditions

across the UK. On Wednesday, Chris

Page rounded up some of the effects

of Storm Eleanor around the country.

In Clevedon, the promenade was out

of bounds and emergency services

were on stand-by as the winds

whipped up waves. Wales also

suffered. Anglesey had fierce gusts

and ferocious tides.

Several viewers

spotted a spelling mistake, and they

were not impressed. This viewer

e-mailed:

thank you for all your comments. If

you want to share your opinions on

BBC News or current affairs or

appear on the programme, you can

call us on this number.

That's all from us. We'll be back to

hear your thoughts about BBC News

coverage again next