09/02/2018 Newswatch


09/02/2018

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LineFromTo

And now it's time for Newswatch.

This week, we examine the changes to

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the BBC weather forecasts.

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Hello and welcome to Newswatch

with me, Samira Ahmed.

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On the show...

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How wise was it for a BBC reporter

to be following this

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woman down a dark street?

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And the BBC's weather

forecasts have had a makeover

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but are they clearer or have

they made the picture more murky?

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Tuesday marked 100 years since some

women receive the right to vote

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and Breakfast marked the occasion

with an all-female line-up,

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from the two main presenters

to sports and weather presenters

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and a roster of women guests.

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Some members of the

audience approved...

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Thank you for a show presented

exclusively by women.

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Well done.

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But, she went on, what happened

to the usual black and minority

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ethnic presenters that

are on the show?

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And Iryna questioned the whole idea.

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In doing this, the BBC is demeaning

women because it shows that

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according to the BBC,

women get exposure because of their

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gender, not ability.

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Across BBC News that day,

the anniversary was recognised.

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Kevin Jones applauded

the coverage as a whole but had

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one major reservation.

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Wednesday evening's

bulletins included a report

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from Michael Buchanan about an NHS

Trust in Liverpool where according

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to a report seen by BBC News,

patients had suffered unnecessary

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harm because a senior leadership

team was out of its depth.

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The chief executive at the time,

Bernie Cuthel, was tracked

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down on the News at Six.

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We tried to get

an interview with her.

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Excuse me.

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Bernie Cuthel.

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BBC News.

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We would like to talk to you about

Liverpool community health.

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We just want to ask

you a couple of questions.

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Are you a bully, Ms Cuthel?

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Are you a bully, Ms Cuthel?

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And as you can see,

Bernie Cuthel did not

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want to answer any questions.

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A later version of that report

for the News at Ten made it clear

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that Bernie Cuthel had not responded

to two previous requests

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for an interview.

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But some viewers of the News at Six

were clearly unhappy

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at what they had seen,

with Michelle Smith explaining why

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in this video she recorded for us.

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I was absolutely appalled

to see that the reporter

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who wanted a comment

from her was chasing her down a dark

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street, as she was walking alone,

shouting at her and running

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after her, to get a quote,

asking her questions

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like, are you a bully?

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Well, in my opinion,

BBC, your reporter was

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the bully in this case.

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And it was absolutely unnecessary.

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Well, we put that objection to BBC

News and they told us...

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Please do let us know your thoughts

on anything we are covering

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in the programme or on any aspect

of BBC News.

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Details on how to contact us coming

up at the end of the programme.

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Now, since its first radio

weather bulletin in 1922,

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the data used for BBC forecasts has

been provided by the Met office.

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But no longer.

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Although the Met Office

will still work with the BBC

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on severe weather warnings,

BBC now has a new weather

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service provider.

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Although the presenters

are the same, there is also

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a new look seen online

on the weather app and from last

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Tuesday, on television.

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For that day's News at One,

Sarah Keith Lucas talked

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through some of the changes.

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Let's zoom into northern England

and in this example,

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you can see quite clearly

the showers falling as rain but also

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as snow over the higher ground.

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And it is not only on the small

scale that things are changing.

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But also on the global scale.

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We can now look at satellite data

from right around the world,

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we can also add on pressure fields

and frontal systems.

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Well, some members of

the audience have responded

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with enthusiasm like Adam.

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But Paul Smith complained

of a lack of clarity.

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Apart from the change from a brown

to green background,

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some viewers detected a change

in the shape of the map,

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with the new, longer,

thinner version giving more

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space to Scotland.

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Others objected to the increased

text shown on screen,

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with Dennis Franklin writing...

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Well, to answer that

question and others I'm

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joined by Liz Howell,

the

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head of BBC weather.

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Thank you for coming on Newswatch.

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People are saying it

wasn't broke, why did you

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change the weather?

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Well, under EU laws

we had to run a regulated

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procurement process when our

previous contract ran out.

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And quite simply,

Meteo Group was the best

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fit.

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In every respect.

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And so that's why they were

awarded the contract.

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So what are some of

the specific changes you've

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made that will notice?

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We're really excited

about some of these.

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So we have realistic mapping,

so we can put roads

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on their and urban areas

on there so we can show where

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weather is affecting travel.

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We have on the app

and on the website 14

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days now of forecast data

for each hour of the day.

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We have a feels like temperature,

which really tells

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people what it's going to be

like when they step out the door.

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We have a percentage chance of rain.

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Alongside that now the forecasters

and presenters have far more

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forecasting models available to them

than they ever had before.

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Are they more accurate?

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Well, we have, yes, we have more

high-resolution data.

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And we have more

models to choose from.

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The accuracy should go up.

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People have got used to more

realistic mapping and that's what

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we've introduced.

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We've got a green map and we've

got a green earth in

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the UK.

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We got a flat map now which gives

a better proportion to the UK,

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a more realistic proportion.

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And people needed a more modern

and contemporary look,

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actually they had got,

through audience research, they

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had got slightly bored

with the brown map.

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It looks like a reversion

to a flat earth.

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Well, there are many

projections of the Earth.

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Previously we had a tilted one

and of course some people

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weren't happy with that.

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But this is a projection people

are really comfortable with

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in the sense they are used to it,

it's one you see on the news, it's

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used in many other organisations.

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Why are they saying

it's more skinny?

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They've noticed it's different.

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Well, it's just proportional.

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It's more proportional

to the actual landmass of the UK.

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We do get viewers

complaining about the

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change of colour and the mapping

detail and that actually it looks

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less clear, they would say.

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Obviously we've only

launched a few days ago.

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We've done a lot of audience

testing with this work.

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We'll be listening

to audience feedback.

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You might tweak it?

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There are definitely

going to be tweaks to

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this overtime.

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Definitely.

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Good, good, good.

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A related point.

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The size of the place names.

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Tom Holt, who also happens

to be a lecturer in

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glaciology, e-mailed us.

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The label for Birmingham stretches

almost entirely across the Cambrian

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Mountains.

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He can't see the weather

for a huge stretch of Wales.

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It's hardly a user-friendly.

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People have different

opinions about labels and

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towns and cities on the map so we've

had comments they are too small,

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comments there are too many,

comments there are too few.

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We've had comments

we shouldn't have any

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town names on the map at all.

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Maybe fewer.

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Exactly.

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That's one of the many options

people are writing into

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us about.

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Over the years News watch viewers

have often complained about

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too much detail for whole parts

of the country they don't care about

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because they don't live there.

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How do you approach

that whole kind of

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competing demand situation, giving

a national picture in the time you

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have and give you enough local

detail for it to be useful?

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We tend to go for the

bigger impact weather

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and start there and make sure

people, where they are going to get

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storms or snow, or whatever,

understand the impact and the

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relevance of that for them.

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We try to give something

for every nation

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so somebody goes

away with something.

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BBC weather is a catalogue

of services, so you have

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the network service that

will give you the UK picture.

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You can have a regional TV

service which will give

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you a much more detailed picture.

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Then the app which really

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we've improved so much now.

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We'll give you a very, very local

forecast for your postcode

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each hour of the day.

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Liz Howell, thank you very much.

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Finally, we woke up

on Monday morning to some

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big sports news.

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Big enough at least to lead sports

bulletins and be the

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lead story on the BBC sport website.

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Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles had won

the Super Bowl for the first time by

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beating the New England Patriot.

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If that leaves you cold, or even

mystified, others, too, wonders why

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an American sporting event had

achieved such prominence on British

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television.

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Here is David Gibbs.

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I am a little perplexed

by the BBC's continuing

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high profile interest

in

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American football.

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Thank you for all your

comments this week.

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If you want to share your opinions

on BBC News and current

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affairs, or even appear

on the programme, you can call us...

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E-mail Newswatch...

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You can find us on twitter...

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Do have a look at our website.

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The address for that is...

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That's all from us.

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We'll be back to hear your

thoughts about BBC news

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coverage again next week.

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Goodbye.

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