now it's time for newswatch with samira ahmed.to newswatch, with me, samira ahmed. coming up, what will the reorganisation of bbc news and the move of some staff out of london mean for viewers? and could there be a conflict of interest when bbcjournalists are paid by commercial organisations to speak at external events? it's been a big week for the bbc�*s elections team, with votes still being counted in a whole host of contests across england, wales and scotland. in the build up to thursday's vote, it was the election for the scottish parliament which occupied much of the airtime, including the live broadcast on tuesday night of the final leaders�* debate from edinburgh. we'd like the leaders to engage in a respectful debate, and that means not talking over one another, so at the outset, can we all agree on that? agreed. yeah, promise? yep. ok, i'm going to hold you to that, thank you. no surprise that that promise wasn't entirely kept. the election in scotland may have implications for all parts of the united kingdom if it makes

hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed.westminster—watchers, but did the bbc give too much airtime and credence to the words of dominic cummings? and is bbc news showing us too much of him, too? no doubt who the person of the week was, at least from the media's point of view. dominic cummings' appearance on wednesday in front of a joint health and science parliamentary committee had been much anticipated. and for most people in and around westminster, at least, it didn't disappoint, with a startling series of revelations, claims, accusations and insults. but not everyone was persuaded of the value of his seven hours of testimony, with elisabeth blandon wondering... and glenn thirlby similarly asked... but yadwiga billewicz disagreed... one part of the session which caught the attention of bbc—watchers was when the prime minister's former chief adviser described how, over the course of last year, he largely stopped speaking to journalists — with one exception. the main person, really, though, that i spoke to in the whole of

hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed. it was box office tv for westminster—watchers, but did the bbc give too much airtime and credence to the words of dominic cummings? and is bbc news showing us too much of him, too? no doubt who the person of the week was, at least from the media's point of view. dominic cummings�* appearance on wednesday in front of a joint health and science parliamentary committee had been much anticipated. and for most people in and around westminster, at least, it didn't disappoint, with a startling series of revelations, claims, accusations and insults. but not everyone was persuaded of the value of his seven hours of testimony, with elisabeth blandon wondering... and glenn thirlby similarly asked... but yadwiga billewicz disagreed... one part of the session which caught the attention of bbc—watchers was when the prime minister's former chief adviser described how, over the course of last year, he largely stopped speaking to journalists — with one exception. the main person, really, though, that

(talks backward) hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed.efurbishment of boris johnson's flat was paid for, but are viewers as interested as bbc news thinks they are? and was a downing street press briefing on covid the right place to ask about those redecorations? for several weeks, allegations of improper conduct on the part of borisjohnson and his government have been swirling around the media, and this week, three such stories all related to the prime minister's integrity dominated bbc news. most prominent was the question of who paid what and when toward the redecoration of mr johnson's downing street flat. in an interview on saturday on the news channel, martine croxall suggested to the former labour party director of communications, alastair campbell, that many people might not be that bothered about the details of the case. do voters really care? doesn't this just look like the rough—and—tumble of politics in what's been an extraordinary year? i think people should care about this because we're talking about the nature of our governm

hello, and welcome to newswatch, with me, samira ahmed.f out of london mean for viewers? and could there be a conflict of interest when bbcjournalists are paid by commercial organisations to speak at external events? it's been a big week for the bbc�*s elections team with votes still being counted on a whole host of contests across england, wales and scotland in the build up wales and scotland in the build up to thursday's wrote it was the election for the scottish parliament that occupied much of the airtime including the live broadcast on tuesday night of the final leaders' debate from edinburgh. taste of the final leaders' debate from edinburgh.— of the final leaders' debate from edinburgh. we would like the leaders — from edinburgh. we would like the leaders to _ from edinburgh. we would like the leaders to engage - from edinburgh. we would like the leaders to engage in - from edinburgh. we would like the leaders to engage in a - the leaders to engage in a respectful debate and that means, not talking over one another, so at the outset

hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed.oubt who the person of the week was, at least from the media's point of view. dominic cummings' appearance on wednesday in front of a joint health and science parliamentary committee had been much anticipated. and for most people in and around westminster, at least, it didn't disappoint, with a startling series of revelations, claims, accusations and insults. but not everyone was persuaded of the value of his seven hours of testimony, with elisabeth blandon wondering...

it's time now for newswatch with samira ahmed. right at the end of last week? and why did a vox pop with a hartlepool voter cause such fury on social media? politicaljunkies who may have been bemoaning the lack of any uk elections last year because of the pandemic had their fill of psephology at the end of last week. it all began just after the polls had closed on thursday's news at ten. this has been a labour seat since the 1960s, but the tories think that they're in with a real chance now. huw. reeta, much more to come tomorrow, but thanks very much for now. reeta chakra barti there. with me is our political editor laura kuensberg. we're always talking about stakes being high, laura, so let's just spell it out. what are the stakes for labour and the conservatives tomorrow? huw edwards was back on friday... a very good morning, everyone. ..and on saturday. good afternoon, everyone. and though he was taking a well—earned rest on sunday, the results and analysis continued then too. taking the mayor of peterborough and cambridgeshir

now it's time for newswatch with samira ahmed. in charge of bbc news and current affairs and later its director—general, led an investigation into all of this. but lord dyson found that that internal investigation was "woefully ineffective" and that the bbc then covered up what it had discovered. these damning findings about a 26—year—old edition of panorama were followed on thursday night by the latest addition of that same strand. martin bashir spun a web of elaborate lies to win the trust of the princess. and what makes it more wicked is the degree of detail which martin bashir appears to have gone into. for 25 years, the bbc defended its global scoop but now stands accused of a failure of integrity. having left the bbc in 1999, martin bashir returned in 2016, appearing on newswatch having been promoted to religion editor. last week, he resigned again due to issues with his health, and this week apologised for mocking up the documents he showed to earl spencer, but said that they had no bearing on princess diana's choice to tak

it's time now for newswatch with samira ahmed.k that they're in with a real chance now. hugh. rita, much more to come tomorrow, but thanks very much for now. with me is our political editor laura kuensberg. we're always talking about stakes being high, laura, so let's just spell it out. what are the stakes for labour and the conservatives tomorrow? huw edwards was back on friday, and on saturday. and although he was taking a well earned rest on sunday the results and analysis continued then as well. it was all too much for some viewers, such asjulie from lincolnshire, who recorded her thoughts on camera for us. last saturday afternoon, i switched on my tv to catch up with the latest news on bbc one, only to find the election coverage on yet again. this had been reported in the morning, at lunchtime, and looking at the tv guide, had been all day. i switched to the bbc news channel where the same programme was being shown. while i totally appreciate that news coverage of elections is absolutely essential, having it run on all availa

hello, and welcome to newswatch, with me, samira ahmed. that debate along with analysis and interviews before and afterwards was broadcast to news channel viewers across the uk. but ian frost, for one, still couldn't understand that decision. now, when we were off the air in march because of the restrictions to programme production brought on by covid, the bbc�*s director—general tim davy announced a blueprint for what he called the corporation's biggest transformation in decades. the headline ambition was to move its creative and journalistic centre away from london, which means more editions of newsnight and the today programme being presented from around the uk. there's also a restructuring in news involving the creation of so—called "story teams", including climate and science which will move to cardiff, technology which goes to glasgow and learning and identity which will be based in leeds. daniel sj expressed his concern. and, costs are being cut with 150 jobs being lost in news on top of over 500 post closures announced last year. t

hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed.t. in an interview on saturday on the news channel, martine croxall suggested to the former labour party director of communications, alastair campbell, that many people might not be that bothered about the details of the case. do voters really care? doesn't this just look like the rough—and—tumble of politics in what's been an extraordinary year? i think people should care about this because we're talking about the nature of our government, the nature of our democracy. jon byrne agreed with alastair campbell, writing... but caroljude was not alone in saying... that view that the public was less interested in the details of who paid for those new curtains and soft furnishings than bbcjournalists seemed to be continued to feature prominently in our inbox during the next few days, as the story remained prominent in the headlines. today at six, boris johnson and his downing street flat — the questions thatjust will not go away. where exactly did the prime minister get the tens of thousands

hello and welcome to newswatch with me, samira ahmed.bed how, over the course of last year, he largely stopped speaking to journalists — with one exception. the main person, really, though, that i spoke to in the whole of 2020 was laura kuenssberg at the bbc, because the bbc has a special position in the country, obviously, during the crisis. and because i was in the room for certain crucial things, i could give guidance to her on certain very big stories. the use of anonymous sources in political reporting has long been a concern among some newswatch viewers, and that "outing" of himself by dominic cummings as one of those sources led valerie ching—dolling, among others, to question how reliable and credible he was. but graham king had a different perspective... we asked bbc news about this, and they told us... matt hancock came in for a particular tongue—lashing from dominic cummings, so it was no surprise that when the health secretary appeared the next day at the downing street briefing, laura kuenssberg put one of mr cummings' alleg