the problem was clear, the cause of it less so. the government insisted there was no lack of fuel, just a shortage of drivers. but you hundreds of new swatch viewers told us they put the blame squarely on the media and specifically bbc. two of those viewers join me now. as doesjonathan munro, bbc deputy director of news. carolyn, can i start with you. what did you object to with that news coverage? basically, i felt it was a bit of a nonstory that was built up to the point where people started saying, don't panic. if we have learned anything from covid—19 and the lockdown, if you say don't panic, people panic. people including my own

sister—in—law rushed out to fill their cars with petrol, and that is what caused the problem. jonathan, this is a specific point. did the bbc hype the story early on when it was only a few petrol stations? i don't think so. i don't think it was a nonstory. i think a lot of people were affected, whether it was supply issues or at the pump whether there was an inability to fill up. so when dealing with stories like this, it is how do you solve the dilemma which clearly exists between reporting the story that lots of people are interested in, and as carolyn says, being in danger of making it a self—fulfilling prophecy and making people like her sister—in—law want to change her behaviour. it was the second headline onf thursday evening, and then it was the lead on the friday morning

on the news channel. once it is that prominent, you can see why people think that is giving it a message. there is a prominent debate. at the time, about three quarters of petrol stations in england were having some problem with deliveries and supply to the consumer. there are all sorts of layers to the story, like consumer behaviour stories but also stories about government preparedness and resilience in the just—in—time supply chains and supplies to supermarkets and retail outlets. so quite a lot of layers to go into. anna, you are a driving instructor yourself. how are you affected by the way the story developed over the days? it was huge, it was instant. i have no problems with. receiving, filling my car up until last friday morning i when this new story broke, and literally i had to stop - work that friday and have not been able to go back - since because i cannot get fuel in my local area. friday morning it is when their problem kicked off which is after it had been given prominence on bbc news.

a lot of people have been really badly affected, cancelled medical, social care and medical operations. did people think about the consequences of the prominence it got on the friday morning? we did think a lot about it. other workers whose livelihoods were affected, including people delivering care in the community, such as nurses. those people are clearly not panic buying. it is part of their essential tools to go to work. in the case of nurses and care deliveries that has a real knock on to people who are vulnerable. they are not in any sense panic buying. reporting on the business sense is what we try to do. on the prominence point, whether willie done a story it

—— whether we lead on a story it does slightly depend on what else is happening in the world. we have covered the events in afghanistan and the terrible events around the sarah everard murder. back end of last week was a little bit quieter elsewhere in the world and it did achieve a prominence in our bulletins and elsewhere which was due to the prominence of the importance of the story and what else is happening in our programmes. you are shaking your head. what is your response to the explanations? it kinda bears out my thoughts is, there is no other news, let's make this one a bit bigger. quite honestly, from friday, three to even yesterday, the bbc was still showing a variety of people and forecourts talking about not being able to get fuel. just continuing to add to the problem. my bbc east midlands show started it show at 6:35 yesterday with a photoshop of lots of empty pumps. honestly. that is just irresponsible

journalism in my view. you need to recognise when you are causing a problem. not simply fuel the fire because it is something to make news. anna, you are really upset as well because this has affected your livelihood. what would you like the bbc to learn from the way the story has been covered and the fact that so many viewers have complained? we're not the only professionj that has been hugely affected by this but we were just getting on our feet - from lockdowns before. i think the bbc need to be held to account in the way _ that they are funded. you have a social- responsibility to report the truth. and what annoys me about this story, if you had other fuel- providers, notjust bp— who were jumping onto the media saying we are fine, absolutely fine and stops buying fuel. . we don't have a problem with delivery. _ so where did thisl story come from? to me, it was just . scaremongering and

sensationalism with the purpose of gaining viewer numbers. - you have heard what the viewers say. what lessons do you think the bbc is learning from this? i think it is not our job to change the news but report the news. but they are arguing that it played a role in turning it into a bigger story with this momentum. but i think the case that carolyn mentioned with shots of the series of pumps with no petrol available, that actually happened and was not made up. we have to balance that with the responsibility about the bbc voice in the debate publicly and ensure that we are acting responsibly. and i completely agree with her. but our responsibility is to report the whole picture, so to say as we did several times on most of our bulletins that there were parts of the country that weren't particularly badly affected. there were some rural areas not as badly affected as urban areas. northern ireland was not affected at all. we went around the country

to our correspondents in order to get an accurate picture of what was happening in their part of the uk. thank you all. after 16 years in power, germany's leader and colette merkel is standing down. —— after 16 years in power, germany's leader angela merkel is standing down. on sunday, the country went to the polls to decide who would be her successor as chancellor and the make—up of the new parliament. the bbc covered the election online and with a three and a half hour special programme on the news channel in the afternoon. when the late bbc one news went out that evening, the result was on a knife edge. excitement ricocheted around the headquarters of germany's social democrats tonight. dismissed as political has—beens not long ago, the smell of election victory, even if a narrow one, now hung in the air. results, though, still need to be confirmed.

those waiting for the results to be confirmed may have tuned in eagerly to the following night's late bulletin. but they had to wait until 23 minutes into the bulletin for this. following the general election over the weekend, germany's social democratic party says it has a mandate to form a government. with 26% of the vote, the leader said he would create a coalition with the greens and liberals before christmas, but the christian democrat party now led by angela merkel�*s successor says it also has a right to try to form a coalition of its own. the news journalist was watching and had this response. michael crick, formerly of the bbc and bbc four news...

finally, back to those queues for fuel, which as we have seen, have resulted in a lot of frustration and anger. on saturday morning, one part of the bbc�*s output raised a laugh is on people. check out the name on the man reported on attempts of drivers trying to fill their cans with fuel. phil mccalla said there full cut in stock more for us and how is it looking there. they have run out here. all of the pumps are covered up with labels on things. june clark was one of those amused with that. writing... we do understand that phil mccann puzzling presence on the forecourt there

was just a coincidence. he was swiftly trending on twitter, where some proposed other names. we can assure you that sue perunleaded or diesel mcnopetrol does not feature. e—mail news watch at bbc duck us on twitter at @newswatchbbc. you can call us on the number below. have a look at our website for previous interviews. that is all from us. we will be back to hear your thoughts next week. more rain and wind on the way. it is autumn, after all, but for some of us saturday may end up being a bit of a write—off.

and in fact, over the next few days the weather will remain very unsettled — spells of heavy rain, gales at times and even the possibility of some travel disruption. and the atlantic is looking a lot more vigorous in its weather patterns in the last few days. we're seeing low pressures forming, propelled by a powerful jet stream. and you can see a low pressure anchored just to the north—west of the uk, another one to the south forming, and that's the one that's going to bring the particularly wet spell of weather on saturday. so, through the early hours, we're already expecting some rain across western areas of the uk. but ahead of that there is plenty of clear, dry weather, so eastern and central areas may actually wake up to some sunshine. that sunshine may even last until mid—morning or perhaps early afternoon in the extreme east, but very quickly those clouds will increase, and we've got some particularly wet weather there for the south and the south—east and some strong winds too. further north—west in the afternoon, it's going to be more of a mixed bag, so for belfast and glasgow i think some sunny spells certainly in the forecast.

so here's saturday night. that low pressure and its extensive rain front moves out of the way, and then the weather opens up a little bitjust in time for the marathons on sunday. so for the london marathon, expect some sunshine, the marathon in belfast as well. nowhere will be completely dry. in fact showers are expected on sunday, with a keen westerly breeze, but at least we're not going to have that really prolonged rain. now, the temperatures both on saturday and sunday will be around the mid—teens — not that it'll feel like it because of the strength of the wind and also the prolonged rain. and then, on monday, the next area of low pressure heads our way. so early on monday there could be some sunshine around, but certainly by monday afternoon and evening we'll start to see the next area of wet weather approaching south—western parts of the uk. so a very unsettled spell of weather over the next few days — quite typical for october, really. here's the summary. you can see a lot of rain

shower icons there, temperatures mostly in the mid—teens. there's just a hint that, sometime later next week, things will settle down at least for a bit. bye— bye.

welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories. optimism from health experts as a pill developed to treat severe coronavirus reports positive trial results that could halve the chances of dying. after the murder of sarah everard by a serving police officer, london's metropolitan police tries to regain the public trust. two new streams of lava pose a further threat of destruction as the la palma volcano forces thousands to flee. nobody knows how much my mother is going to flow into the sea. there is no sign of this ending anytime soon. europe's first mission to mercury is making a flyby

approach on the night side of the planet.