0:00:00 > 0:00:00All in positive territory tonight.
0:00:00 > 0:00:02Now it's time for Newswatch, with Samira Ahmed.
0:00:02 > 0:00:04This week, BBC coverage of child abuse in Telford
0:00:04 > 0:00:06is under the spotlight.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Hello, and welcome to Newswatch with me, Samira Ahmed.
0:00:13 > 0:00:19Was the BBC too slow to report claims that up to 1,000 children
0:00:19 > 0:00:23in Telford may have been victims of abuse by grooming gangs
0:00:23 > 0:00:26of mainly Pakistani heritage?
0:00:26 > 0:00:28And, as calls are made for the Kremlin-backed TV station
0:00:28 > 0:00:31Russia Today to be taken off the air in Britain, should Question Time
0:00:31 > 0:00:34have chosen one of its presenters as a guest?
0:00:38 > 0:00:41First, the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Yulia continued to dominate the news agenda this week, raising many
0:00:44 > 0:00:48questions for BBC News.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52One was the extent to which Theresa May's unequivocal
0:00:52 > 0:00:55statement that Russia was culpable for the attack should be taken
0:00:55 > 0:01:00on trust or challenged.
0:01:00 > 0:01:06Some members of the audience felt the BBC had erred too much
0:01:06 > 0:01:09in the former direction, with Derek Culson writing...
0:01:14 > 0:01:17And George Skinner agreed.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27The Prime Minister announced on Wednesday a number of measures
0:01:27 > 0:01:37to be taken against Russia, but not one that had been widely
0:01:42 > 0:01:45to be taken against Russia - but not one that had been widely
0:01:45 > 0:01:47mooted, taking the television station Russia Today
0:01:47 > 0:01:48off the air in the UK.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52The broadcaster is widely regarded as a mouthpiece for the Kremlin,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54which made the choice of one of the panellists on BBC
0:01:54 > 0:01:56One's Question Time a surprise to some people.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58A broadcaster with the Russian-funded TV channel RT,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01and presenter of a weekly current affairs programme on that
0:02:01 > 0:02:02channel, Afshin Rattansi.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06That guest booking was already causing concern before the programme
0:02:06 > 0:02:09went out on Thursday, with Matthew Holbert tweeting...
0:02:17 > 0:02:20And Dan watched the programme and wondered...
0:02:25 > 0:02:27It's not the first time journalists from Russia Today have
0:02:27 > 0:02:30appeared on BBC News, and we asked the BBC whether it was
0:02:30 > 0:02:32appropriate for them to do so.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34They told us...
0:02:53 > 0:03:00The Russian theme continued that evening, as Newsnight on BBC Two ran
0:03:00 > 0:03:03an item which irked some viewers, not so much for its content
0:03:03 > 0:03:05as for the studio background.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Did Jeremy Corbyn misread the mood of his party in the Commons
0:03:08 > 0:03:11yesterday when he refused to point the finger at Russia?
0:03:11 > 0:03:20Last night, a group of Labour backbenchers said it unequivocally.
0:03:20 > 0:03:25They accept the Russian state's culpability for the spy poisoning.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27Some people felt the photograph of Jeremy Corbyn in a Russian-style
0:03:27 > 0:03:30hat surrounded by a red picture of the Kremlin portrayed
0:03:30 > 0:03:32the Labour leader as a collaborator with Moscow.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34Susan was one of them, and recorded this video for us.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36I felt compelled to contact you regarding the Newsnight
0:03:36 > 0:03:38programme last night.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40And the portrayal of Jeremy Corbyn in some
0:03:40 > 0:03:42kind of a Russian hat next
0:03:42 > 0:03:45to a portrayal of the Kremlin.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49I feel that this is a very biased depiction of the man,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51and those more gullible in society will absolutely associate Jeremy
0:03:51 > 0:03:59Corbyn with Russia and Russians.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01I'm only interested in justice and honesty, and I don't
0:04:01 > 0:04:02see any of that here.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Very disappointed.
0:04:10 > 0:04:18Now, last weekend, the Sunday Mirror said it had uncovered written
0:04:18 > 0:04:24Britain's worst ever child grooming scandal,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27with claims that up to 1,000 girls had been abused since the 1980s.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29Over the next two days, other newspapers followed
0:04:29 > 0:04:30that up extensively.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34But there was only limited mentions on BBC News.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Scores of people wondered why - with one of them, David,
0:04:37 > 0:04:40leaving us this phone message on Tuesday morning.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Hi, I woke up this morning to the horrific stories
0:04:42 > 0:04:45about the child abuse in Telford, so I thought I'd go
0:04:45 > 0:04:46on to the BBC app,
0:04:46 > 0:04:47which I use regularly.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49And lo and behold, there was nothing about it.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51You've got five stories in the website.
0:04:51 > 0:04:53There's one about pork pies and one about the danger
0:04:54 > 0:04:55of Chinese takeaways.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56Are you going to cover this scandal?
0:04:56 > 0:04:59The BBC was accused in the press of ignoring the story,
0:04:59 > 0:05:02and Adam Paulson agreed, writing...
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Andrew e-mailed...
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Well, on Tuesday, the Victoria Derbyshire Show interviewed a victim
0:05:29 > 0:05:32of child exploitation in Telford.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34But it wasn't until Wednesday that BBC One bulletins ran
0:05:34 > 0:05:37a report on the subject, from Sima Kotecher.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44Night-time in Telford.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Recent reports say up to 1,000 girls could have been
0:05:47 > 0:05:51sexually abused in the town
0:05:51 > 0:05:56over the last four decades.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58The police here say at the moment they are dealing
0:05:59 > 0:06:00with less than 50 cases.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03For many, the BBC's reaction was to little, too late.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07Trevor Bell thought...
0:06:07 > 0:06:12And Robert tweeted this question...
0:06:17 > 0:06:21Well, let's put that to James Stevenson,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23the BBC's News Editor,
0:06:23 > 0:06:26who joins me now.
0:06:26 > 0:06:27Can we start with...
0:06:27 > 0:06:33The story broke in the Sunday Mirror.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35When did the BBC national news think it was worth reporting?
0:06:35 > 0:06:39So, immediately we could see that it was a good and strong piece
0:06:39 > 0:06:41of journalism by the Sunday Mirror.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44And it was widely covered in our paper review on the Sunday.
0:06:44 > 0:06:47And we saw it was a story that we needed to follow up,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50and we began to do that.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52As early as Monday morning, the Victoria Derbyshire Programme
0:06:52 > 0:06:59was leading its output on this story.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02And later that day, The World at One interviewed the leader
0:07:02 > 0:07:03of Telford Council to challenge him about
0:07:03 > 0:07:04what was going on.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06Which is radio.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08We quickly saw it was a story that needed to be covered,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11and that it needed our original reporting effort to follow up,
0:07:11 > 0:07:12and that's what we did.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15We heard from a viewer who said he used the news app.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18I was wondering, when did the story appear on the front
0:07:18 > 0:07:19page of the website?
0:07:19 > 0:07:21There was a story on the website on Monday.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22That was on the England index.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25There were various developments in the story as the week has gone
0:07:25 > 0:07:28on, I'm sure you've seen and the viewers have seen how
0:07:28 > 0:07:29the story has developed.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32So, the initial suggestion was that possibly 1,000 victims.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35That was based not on hard information, but on an extrapolation
0:07:36 > 0:07:37based on work with an academic.
0:07:37 > 0:07:38So, we pursued it.
0:07:38 > 0:07:39And we waited the story.
0:07:39 > 0:07:41We look at it in depth.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43It's probably worth saying, to address your point directly,
0:07:43 > 0:07:52that we're in the middle of this huge spy drama and scandal,
0:07:52 > 0:08:01the poisoning scandal in Salisbury, and that's consumed a huge amount
0:08:01 > 0:08:04of our airtime, as has the death of Ken Dodd,
0:08:04 > 0:08:11and then later in the week Stephen Hawking.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14Even in a busy news period, this has been an exceptionally busy
0:08:14 > 0:08:17news week, and we've tried to cover the Telford story in the mix amongst
0:08:17 > 0:08:20all of the other things that we've been doing.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Audiences would say, a really busy news week, this
0:08:22 > 0:08:23is a really important new story.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24That's certainly true.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27And I'd like to sort of challenge an idea that I think probably
0:08:27 > 0:08:29viewers might be left with by the sequence
0:08:29 > 0:08:30they've just seen.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33This is a scandal that's been unfolding in Telford over many
0:08:33 > 0:08:36years, and we have been covering it in great depth and with great
0:08:36 > 0:08:37prominence during that time.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39So, the Operation Chalice brought to life the scale
0:08:39 > 0:08:43of abusing in Telford.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45There was then the criminal prosecution, which saw seven men
0:08:45 > 0:08:47being sent to prison a few years ago.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50So, we have consistently been reporting this story as it's gone
0:08:50 > 0:08:58along, and we've done so again this week.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02The TV bulletins are where millions of people go expecting to be told
0:09:02 > 0:09:05told what are the big, important stories, and it wasn't
0:09:05 > 0:09:07until Wednesday, three days later, that there was a report
0:09:07 > 0:09:08about Telford on the national bulletins.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Why?
0:09:10 > 0:09:17So, it was covered in brief on the News at Ten on Tuesday night.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19A 15-second read...
0:09:19 > 0:09:24As I've explained, we've got a very busy news period and there's
0:09:24 > 0:09:28a limited number of stories we can cover.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31The reason it became a network TV bulletin story on Wednesday was
0:09:31 > 0:09:33because of partly our journalism.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35So, we interviewed the police in Telford, we interviewed
0:09:35 > 0:09:42a social worker in Telford, it was raised at prime
0:09:42 > 0:09:50a social worker in Telford, it was raised at Prime Minister's
0:09:50 > 0:09:51Minister's Questions, and the Prime Minister
0:09:51 > 0:10:00reacted to it.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Even, as I say, in this busy period, that obviously
0:10:02 > 0:10:03deserved the attention
0:10:03 > 0:10:05it got in the main TV bulletins that day.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08You will know what BBC viewers are saying, and we've had hundreds
0:10:08 > 0:10:11of complaints into the BBC, it's that it looked like the BBC
0:10:11 > 0:10:16felt awkward giving this story prominence
0:10:16 > 0:10:18because it was about white victims and Pakistani-heritage abuses.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20I know that's a view that some people hold,
0:10:20 > 0:10:24I really don't think it's the case.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28We've done a great deal of coverage of this area of abuse and this
0:10:28 > 0:10:30terrible story in Telford, but also elsewhere in the country.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33The BBC has just won a Royal Television Society Wward
0:10:33 > 0:10:35for the excellent documentary, incredible documentary,
0:10:35 > 0:10:37about abuse in the north-east of England based around Newcastle.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40That was the second story in the TV news three weeks ago.
0:10:40 > 0:10:45So, we've done a great deal of work on Rotherham,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48on a lot of this stuff initially, when this terrible situation came
0:10:48 > 0:10:49more fully to light.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51So, we've certainly committed to covering what is a harrowing
0:10:51 > 0:10:53and terrible story, and we've done it consistently over time.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56You will know, as Newswatch has debated it before,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58but coverage of the previous grooming scandals with this racial
0:10:58 > 0:11:00element, viewers every time feel the BBC runs shy
0:11:00 > 0:11:04of reporting stories prominently.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Do you think the BBC needs to have a rethink about how it runs
0:11:07 > 0:11:08and reports on these stories?
0:11:08 > 0:11:12No, I think we are doing the right thing and I think we are very
0:11:12 > 0:11:14determined to get to these terrible and dark and difficult
0:11:14 > 0:11:18stories, not just this one, but across the whole range.
0:11:18 > 0:11:19What I do think is true to say is that before
0:11:19 > 0:11:24the full nature and scale of what was going on in Bodrum
0:11:24 > 0:11:27and Rochdale and Oxford and other places came out,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31there was not as great an understanding of how, you know,
0:11:31 > 0:11:32profound a problem and how deep this ran.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36So, if you go back a decade, I think you can definitely say this
0:11:36 > 0:11:40story or this issue didn't get the attention it probably
0:11:40 > 0:11:42deserved at that point, that is something everyone
0:11:42 > 0:11:43has had to reflect on.
0:11:43 > 0:11:44James Stevenson, thank you.
0:11:44 > 0:11:50Thanks for your comments this week.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53If you want to share your opinions on BBC News, current affairs,
0:11:53 > 0:11:55or even appear on the programme, you can call us.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Or you can e-mail Newswatch.
0:11:58 > 0:11:59You can find us on Twitter, @NewswatchBBC.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02And do have a look at our website.
0:12:02 > 0:12:03That's all from us.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05We'll be back to hear your thoughts about BBC News
0:12:05 > 0:12:06coverage again next week.