this is the top issue. once again, very early on, joe biden drew blood on it. yeah, and i think, zurch, you're right. the bar was set incredibly low this time because he'd had a terrible debate three weeks ago, he had been the predominant interrupter right the way through — more than 73 times. and for that reason, they introduced the mute button. americast has been podcasting since january, but as of a couple of weeks ago also appears on radio 4 and on the bbc news channel. it's gone down well with its various audiences, with one listener, philip, describing it as... but as we've discussed before on newswatch, there have been wider criticisms about the bbc‘s coverage of the us presidential election. julie king wrote to us this week to say... and paul lamb objected to what he called... well we hope to discuss how americast has been covering well, we can now talk to the editor of americast, dino sofos. and what the pros and cons on our of putting a podcast on television. and what the pros and cons on our of putting a podcast on televisionm is such an sight —— an exciting format for current affairs and that is what you see the bbc is expanding its podcast portfolio. and welcome to our podcast which now seems to have moving pictures as well by the wonders of technology... have moving pictures as well by the wonders of technology. . ii have moving pictures as well by the wonders of technology. .. i think people really appreciate the informal style on television. i also added a programme called newscast which was called brexitcast and we took at the television and audiences really, responded well watching correspondents they see on the 10pm news or hear on the today programme every day being just informal, undoing their top button, kicking off their shoes and just talking in a kind of normal and informal way they would talk to their friends down the pub and i think that's a really great format and a great way to convey information and to get into the nitty—gritty, the story, without using too much jargon. it's a really intimate format. when you listen to a podcast, it is notjust like putting the radio on and you listen to whatever is on at that time. you are specifically choosing to click on something on the bbc sounds app and spent half an hour with that presenter or group of presenters listening to a specific story or a specific episode of a podcast. and that gives us i think a real privilege. we know we are kind of talking into your ears while you are on the train or on your car stereo or some of are on the train or on your car stereo oi’ some of oui’ are on the train or on your car stereo or some of our listeners say they listen to us as they are nodding off to sleep. it is really intimate and allows us to have a conversation with the audience. again, during the pandemic, we have had so many people come to us with stories, it is a great way of generating contacts affect we created a real community, that is what podcasting allows you to do. and the other benefit is we don't have the time constraints that you sometimes have on the 10pm news so when laura kuenssberg has two minutes talking to huw edwards at the top of the ten o'clock news, she then comes into the newscast studio and we have half an hourfor her to elaborate on the story of the day and she can come in and opened her notebook and kind of tell the audience all the things she's learned that day talking to her sources. so you're not getting that anywhere else on the bbc. it is really fabulous, it is very simple... the most important thing is it is authentic. we are not putting it on. whenjohn and emily who are old colleagues who used to present on the news along time ago and know each other so when they talk off airand and know each other so when they talk off air and switch the cameras oi’ talk off air and switch the cameras or microphones, that is just how they talk each other. as you would do when you would talk about a serious subject so on newscast we often have to cover stories such as the terrorist attack in niece and of course are tone altered, it is not a lwa ys course are tone altered, it is not always jokes and jollity and laughter. —— the attack in nice. rae i have a simple question, why are swing states swing states? we have a format on americast called americanswer, which is a really cheesy pun... we have loads of questions coming in with people asking us about hunter biden, joe biden‘s sun pots and e—mails and the new york post story and whether there was anything in that. and that is moving up the sort of story that is moving up the sort of story that is leading the news agenda every day and something people are interested are in and want to know about. we have a format where john are in and want to know about. we have a format wherejohn and emily can spend 20 minutes talking about that in great detail. thank you all of you for being with us... our listeners keep e—mailing us saying they hope this is not the end in americast in a week's time. we will continue doing it for at least until inauguration i think and then we will have to see. but that is another great thing is that if there is something to say in this space, we will continue doing the podcasts and when it is the right time to stop doing it, we will stop doing it. brexitcast eventually transitioned into newscast and we will have to see what happens with americast eventually. but for the time being we think it has really got a future. do let us know your thoughts on next week's coverage of the election in the united states, or on any aspect of bbc news — details of how to contact us at the end of the programme. now for some of your other concerns this week. impartiality has always been considered one of the main goals of bbc news, and this week the corporation released some new guidance on how the concept should be applied in practice, laying out limits on when and how staff — especiallyjournalists — should make their personal opinions public, either on social media or by going on marches or demonstrations, for instance. there has been much debate over whether the guidelines would prevent staff from attending equality events such as pride, although the bbc has said no one is banned from doing so, and we plan to discuss this with a bbc executive on next week's programme. in the meantime here's a taste of the reaction, with rebekah posting this... many news bulletins now contain vox pops, short clips of members of the public being asked for their views on the restrictions imposed on them because of covid—i9. one such contribution from the end of last week, from maureen eames in barnsley, made more impact than most. and after an outspoken vox pop with her on thursday, bbc news went back to her last friday to hear more of her opinions. she's become a bit of a celebrity since. a parish councillor for nearly 50 years, she remains sceptical about further measures in her hometown. lockdown will finish and then we'll be back again for a few weeks, and then we'll be back to lockdown, we can't afford it. is it not worth it to save lives? but you're not saving lives! because there's other people dying of other things — more people dying than covid. maureen's thoughts were given a wide airing across bbc news and on elsewhere on social media — too wide for some viewers, including andrew western, who wrote last friday... and margaret reece added... this year's christmas gatherings may be smaller—scale than normal, because at the moment, in england, the rule of six makes it illegal for more than six people to meet up. recently victoria derbyshire gave an interview to the radio times, in which she said she would break that rule, so that her family could celebrate christmas together, her comments offended a number of people, including the townsend family, who emailed... well after the interview came to light, on tuesday victoria derbyshire posted a tweet, saying... thanks for all your comments this week. if you want to share your opinions about what you see or hear on bbc news on tv, radio, online and social media, e—mail newswatch at bbc.co.uk, or you can find us on twitter @newswatchbbc and use the hashtag #newswatchbbc. you can call us on 0370 010 6676, and do have a look at our website, bbc.co.uk/newswatch. that's all from us. we'll be back to hear your thoughts about bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello there. after a relatively quiet end to the working week, this weekend is looking very unsettled. we've got rain and gales in the forecast both saturday and sunday, likely to lead to some problems with minorflooding in places and also the risk of some disruption from the strength of the winds. now, through tonight, this rain will start to pile its way northwards associated with a first area of low pressure. some of that rain will turn out to be quite heavy and persistent across northwestern areas by the end of the night, the winds picking up too. it will turn much milder across england and wales, but still quite chilly across the north of the uk. now, this deep area of low pressure has been named storm aiden by the irish met service, a real squeeze in the isobars across the republic of ireland. this is where we're likely to see the biggest of the impacts, but there will be impacts as well further east, around western britain, as this storm system continues to move northwards and eastwards. it'll send a band of heavy, in fact, at times torrential rain eastwards, very squally winds with it. behind it, skies brighten up. it stays wet for the northwest corner of the uk. gales widespread across the country, touching 70 miles an hour, though, around some irish sea coasts, so there's likely to be some disruption. despite all that, it's going to still be fairly mild, although it might not feel like it. temperatures hovering around the mid—teens for many of us. now, that wind and rain spills northwards. it's quiet very briefly before the next area of low pressure goes running into southern and western areas early on sunday. again, those overnight temperatures range from seven to 11 degrees, not quite as mild as what we're expecting tonight in the south. now, this next area of low pressure will bring another spell of rain and gales, which will tend to clear away from northern and eastern areas fairly quickly through sunday morning. and then skies brighten up again and we should see some sunshine, but there will be some heavy and blustery showers in the north and the west — in particular, some merging together to produce some longer spells of rain. and it really will be very windy with even severe gales for western scotland. mild again in the south east, but turning a bit cooler further north and west. so a very unsettled weekend to come. the combination of rain and gales has prompted several yellow met office weather warnings, so stay tuned to those and keep up—to—date with the weather forecast. however, as we head on into next week, it looks like high pressure will start to build in, and that will settle things down nicely. but it will turn cooler. this is bbc world news america. reporting from new york city, i'm laura trevelyan. texas breaks early voting records — nine million have cast their ballots for president there, that's more than voted state—wide in 2016. and we still have four days to go. staying out west —— in arizona, native americans are dying from coronavirus in disproportionately high numbers, as the nation crosses nine—million infections. locals say the pandemic means ‘instant death'. it was a hard time for me and now, people that i've known and there should because of covid—i9. it is heartbreaking.