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tv   Newswatch  BBC News  April 28, 2017 9:30pm-9:46pm BST

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this is bbc world news. that's pretty up—to—date with the headlines. the us secretary of state, rex tillerson, has chaired a meeting of the un security council about taking further steps against north korea over its nuclear and missile programme. he has urged the council to act before north korea does. earlier, president trump warned that a major conflict could break out with north korea over its nuclear programme. skrela student media have a broadcaster these pictures of the word games held there on tuesday. on the eve of the donald trump's 100 day in office, there on tuesday. on the eve of the donald trump's100 day in office, he has delivered a speech to the rifle association, the first us president to do that since ronald reagan. francis is in egypt and a visit to encourage tolerance between christian and muslim faiths. earlier this month, 45 people were killed in the bombing of two kristian churches. a visit from me. first of
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all, he is his watch. hello. welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. viewers say they want policy information, not personal insults. but has the bbc‘s general election coverage already got mired in mudslinging — mostly against jeremy corbyn? and criticisms too about how both french presidential candidates have been described on air. although the general election campaign still hasn't officially started, there was no doubt this week about where the focus of politicians and broadcasters lay. all the party leaders were out on the stump and facing questions on a wide variety of subjects. after some pressure on the issue, tim farron of the liberal democrats told the bbc‘s eleanor garnier that he did not believe gay sex was a sin. i was asked the question early on and i didn't want to get into a series of questions, unpicking the theology of the bible. isn't itjust that it's your christian belief
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and you didn't want to admit it? no, that's not the case. what i want is to make sure that we deal with something that's become an issue. so this is blatant electioneering? it's a sense of understanding that the question was asked to me a week ago, i don't think people want political party leaders telling them what is and isn't sin. some viewers thought that line of questioning was excessive or inappropriate. maureen lancaster wrote, "the continual questioning and probing of tim farron about his beliefs over gay sex was intrusive, unneeded and irrelevant. he said he doesn't believe it is a sin and that's the end of the debate. but no, the questioner went on, and on, and on." and here's kevin steele. "the bbc‘s concentration on the private religious beliefs of the leader of the liberal democrats over a number of programmes, and within their website, is grossly unacceptable. i suspect if tim farron was a muslim or a jehovah's witness, or a jew, the bbc would not dream of asking the question, or even reporting it." grace dalton put it like this,
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when she rang us this week. i think it was very, very wrong that the bbc really was interrogating him and trying to pressurise him into answering a question that is not at all relevant to the current election campaign. his views on homosexuality have clearly not impacted his policies. he is absolutely not in favour of any person of any orientation, sexually, being discriminated against. so he should not be pressurised into saying something that conflicts with his personal beliefs. but most of our correspondence this week has been about the treatment of the labour leader, jeremy corbyn. last friday, deputy political editor john pienaar was on his tail. he stood by what is called the triple lock — pensions up every year by inflation, or average earnings, or 2.5%. can labour afford this, along with other promises? he hopes he can win this argument. sorry, i'm not quite sure where i'm going.
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the use of that comment from jeremy corbyn was picked up by some viewers who considered it an example of an insidious tendency to snipe at the labour leader. one anonymous caller left us this telephone message. you make it a cheap shot on corbyn, just little drops, like "i don't know where i'm going." it's always seemingly undermining the person's direction. that's how i see it. subtle things like that. you should avoid that, stereotypes that chip away a little bit at corbyn. well, bbc news was also getting out and about this week to hear views onjeremy corbyn from members of the public, several of them made their disapproval quite clear. as voters focus on choosing their next prime minister, some questioned the labour leader's credibility. i usually vote ukip. but i will vote conservative. rather than have that idiot, jeremy corbyn, i'll go for theresa may. like she says, he can only lead
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a political demonstration, but he can't lead his party. i've always been labour, and stuff like that. but i can't, he just can't be trusted. he just seems like he doesn't know what he's doing. well, david atkinson, among many others, felt that jeremy corbyn is getting a rough dealfrom the bbc, leaving us this message. i've been disgusted to see that once again the bbc are allowing people to be interviewed who are calling jeremy corbyn an idiot. i can almost guarantee that nobody would be saying the same thing about mrs may, or mr farron, or mr nuttall, any of the other leaders. it's absolutely disgraceful that the bbc are so anti—corbyn. they should show him the respect they show theresa may. it's no surprise that jeremy corbyn‘s political opponents are not holding back from the personal attacks either. on thursday, the foreign secretary borisjohnson unleashed his own — at the same time introducing many of us to a new term of abuse.
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in the sun newspaper today, borisjohnson launched a personal attack on the labour leader, calling him a mutton—headed old mugwump who would be calamitous in downing street. campaigning in essex, mr corbyn said they were focused on serious debate, not name—calling. well, a mugwump, in case you're wondering, is a mid—19th century word from the algonquian for "great chief". but i think we can assume mrjohnson meant it in its current sense of a person who remains aloof or independent, especially from party politics. exercising newswatch viewers though was the issue of whether bbc news made too much of that personal comment, thus playing into the conservatives' agenda and trivialising the campaign. joan campbell thought it was the case of "boris doesn't likejeremy, so was calling him names in the playground. you have reached the gutter."
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alistair leavey asked more generally, "why so many undermining comments about corbyn? theresa may is making the election of personality attacks, when it should be an election of government." well, we plan to explore the bbc‘s election coverage with a representative of the news department in the coming weeks. but before we leave the subject for now, let's mention some complaints made about the corporation's social media coverage, a more significant aspect of its output than in any previous election. last thursday, the presenter of radio 4's today programme, nick robinson, posted this on twitter. "no—one should be surprised that jeremy corbyn is running versus the establishment and is long on passion and short on details. story of his life." some wondered whether the former bbc political editor had overstepped the bounds of impartiality, with mark robson responding, "if this is not fake news, but actually robinson using his bbc account to insult corbyn, it is really unprofessional." nick robinson responded to objections like that by writing
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the following on facebook. "when i tweeted earlier that people shouldn't be surprised byjeremy corbyn‘s approach, as it was the story of his life, some read it as being pejorative and evidence of establishment sneering. i meant no such thing. my point was that the labour leader is doing what he has done for decades, and what brought him huge unexpected success in his party, so no—one should expect him now to change his approach. i, on the other hand, will read my tweets twice to check they don't read as if i mean something i never intended." meanwhile, the current bbc political editor, laura kuenssberg, also faced criticism after tweeting as follows on monday. "corbyn in scotland today, may not on the stump. seems tory strategy this morning to let labour stew in its own juice." hugh yeager was one of those objecting to that wording, commenting, "balanced reporters say theresa may hides while jeremy corbyn campaigns. laura kuenssberg's pro—conservative comments personify bias at bbc." so, is there a danger of tweets
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like this from bbcjournalists, with their requirement for brevity, infringing the corporation's guidelines on fairness and balance? we put that complaint to bbc news, who told us... "with her tweet, laura kuenssberg was simply making the point that because of the conflicting positions on trident within the labour party, the conservatives have made a conscious decision not to engage on the issue at that time." do let us know your thoughts on the use of social media by bbc news, any aspect of the bbc‘s election coverage, or, indeed, anything that concerns you or delights you which you see on news bulletins, programmes or online. stay tuned for details of how to get in touch with us. now, of course, the battle for seats in westminster is not the only election around at the moment. on monday, lucy williamson reported from paris following the first round of voting for france's new president. two years ago, he was
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a new face in politics. in two weeks, he could be the new president of france. last night, emmanuel macron arrived for his victory speech with his wife, brigitte. 2a years older than him, she was once his drama teacher. but one comment made there, and not infrequently elsewhere in the coverage, annoyed margaret, who wondered, "why was it felt necessary to mention that the french election winner emmanuel macron had a wife who was 2a years older than him?" richard spooner agreed, calling the reference ageist, sexist and certainly unacceptable. going through to the run—off with mr macron is... well, this is how europe editor katya adler described her on sunday night. far—right marine le pen, anti—immigration, anti—globalisation and anti—eu. her presidential plan? france for the french.
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that first epithet caught the attention of james williams, who e—mailed, "the media often use the term far—right to describe certain political figures and movements. please could you define this term? what does it mean?" that's another question we may well return to newswatch. but, in the meantime, one last comment about the bbc‘s coverage of the french election from john trueman. "can you please explain why the bbc repeatedly said the french election‘s first round was won by the two outsiders? going into the final day, the two candidates who eventually went through to the second stage were actually first and second favourites with all the bookmakers. it seems sensationalist headlines are required at all times." this weekend marks 100 days of donald trump's presidency. and it's certainly been a busy and controversial start to his term in office. bbc news marked the anniversary this week with a number of reports and programmes, including a panorama special confronted byjeremy paxman.
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and this raised again among viewers an argument we've had before, articulated here by angela merrick. "the bbc has consistently been rude and arrogant towards trump since he won the election. the bbc does not like trump and takes any and every opportunity to criticise and show donald trump in a very unfavourable light." thanks for all your comments this week. if you to want to share your opinions on bbc news and current affairs, or even appear on the programme, you can call us on 0370 010 6676, or e—mail newswatch@bbc. co. uk. you can find us on twitter at @newswatchbbc, and do have a look at our website, the address for that is bbc.co.uk/newswatch. and you can search for and watch previous discussions we've recorded there. that's all from us. we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. coming up in a sportday, we have
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more on the build—up to the dignified between anthony joshua more on the build—up to the dignified between anthonyjoshua and wladimir klitschko as the heavyweights get ready to battle it out at wembley stadium. britain's joshua weighed in at £10 heavier than the former champion, klitschko. we will also have all the football and rugby scores and a catch—up on the world snooker championship. that is all in sportday at half ten. now it is time for the review. hello and welcome to the film review on bbc news.
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to take us through this week's cinema releases is jason solomons. hi jason, what do we have this week? long weekend, a visit to the cinema is on the agenda for many families, and they can climb aboard a spaceship if they like. those saviours of space, the guardians of the galaxy, are back, complete with talking raccoon for volume two of guardians of the galaxy. the terrible atrocities of the armenian genocide in the first world war era turkey are on the agenda in the promise, getting big screen love treatment with christian bale, and rising star florence pugh takes centre stage for lady macbeth, a low—budget british chiller that has nothing to do with shakespeare.
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i was at the cinema at the weekend and i saw the trailer for guardians of the galaxy vol 2. oh my goodness, even watching the trailer, ifelt like i was bombarded with this wall of noise and fury and funny little creatures. that sums it up really. we'll move on! laughter if you saw volume 1 , you'll know that it is about... there a talking raccoon, a talking tree, it doesn't say much. itjust says, "i am groot." that tree has now been cut down to a tiny tree which is very cute. bear with me on this. i'll take your word for it. i don't know what they do, they save the galaxy from something, although the raccoon who is voiced by bradley cooper steals some stuff which means that half of the galaxy is after them in a kind of flash gordon style chase. as we join the action now, as they like to say in the crucible in sheffield, they are being chased by hordes of golden aliens.

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