arrested on suspicion of stabbing, and the bbc should report the facts and not be so left—wing and �*woke�* that they don't want to report the truth. we asked bbc news for their reaction to those two opposing criticisms, and they told us: in the wake of sir david's killing, politicians have been speaking about the abuse they receive online and that's put the focus again on social media companies, and whether they can do more to moderate and exclude content. it's a reminder of how ubiquitous facebook, apple, google and so on have become, and how central they are now to much of the bbc�*sjournalism — particularly the reporting of technology correspondent rory cellan—jones. rory�*s about to leave the corporation and we'll be speaking to him in a moment, but first, a reminder of some of his work in a ao—year career covering a wide range of subjects. here in nanwich, the complete variety of british cheeses is on display and they're keen to emphasise it's notjust a load of old cheddar. now, the really revolutionary thing about this car is that there's no steering wheel and no paddles. everything is controlled from this central stick. it steers the car, it brakes it, it turns the lights on — everything. here's the problem — just about everyone who wants a phone has already got one, and they can't really get any smaller so the industry's betting that sales will now be kick—started by bigger phones that can do more. from presidents to pop stars, from footballers to royals, they've all decided that a tweet is the best way to speak to the world, to publicise your latest album or maybe to announce an impending birth. well, the bbc�*s outgoing technology correspondent rory cellan—jonesjoins me now. it was a bit of a this is your life moment. that was a terrifying selection of clips! i was fascinated by the cheese! how has the bbc�*s tech — for reporters, i was thinking — changed since you first joined — in 1981, was it? ididjoin in1981. i was in leeds as a researcher on look north. we were on film. you had to wait 45 minutes for the film to go through what was called the bath, the processing studio. even when i came to london as a producer in 1983, there was not a computer in sight. in fact, to my huge embarrassment, my first real encounter with computers in the newsroom was to go out on strike of them. we were all called out on strike because we wanted some money to use the beastly things. but then, of course, everything changed. computerisation affected every area of industry, including broadcasting, and the bbc raced to catch up and adopt the latest technology. right up to kind of news and filming on your phone. i wondered as well, if you can, what would you say is the most important tech story that you've covered? well, the day — a few days after i was appointed officially technology correspondent — i'd been covering the area for ages and eventually they said, "oh yes, we'll call you technology correspondent" — in 2007, i was at the unveiling of the iphone by steve jobs in san francisco — that was january 2007. and in retrospect, that looks like the beginning of a huge revolution, the smartphone era. there had been smartphones before then but not ones that really captured the imagination. and everything has changed since then. if you think of what we had in 2007 in terms of connectivity, and what we have now, that was the moment that we realised that we were all going to be carrying incredibly powerful computers around with us wherever we went, and they would change a lot of the way we lived and worked. makes me think of one of the complaints that we've had over the years on newswatch, which is launches like that — were they, too often, free advertising on the bbc? well, that's fascinating. i was actually hauled onto this programme the weekend after my report went out because some people said, "that'sjust a plug for a new product by apple". and i defended myself, and i was slightly heart—in—mouth about it. isaid, i remember, "just imagine that the bbc had been around when the model t ford arrived. should we have covered that, or was thatjust a product? no, it was the beginning of the motoring revolution." and, as i said, i stuck my neck out and said, "well, this could be the start of another revolution, so it is significant". and i think i've been proved right. we're going to make some history together today. ithink, you know, we're in danger of not reflecting the incredible advancements in technology, not giving people a flavour of the magic of technology because we're rightly concerned about the negative impacts, too. when you think, for instance, the advancements made in artificial intelligence over the last ten years — which are quite extraordinary — the fact that computers can translate from one language to another instantly, that computers can see things and know what they are, that computers are learning to drive cars — these are extraordinary and important developments and yes, we should cover the negative sides but we should also give people a sense of wonder about these gadgets. i mean, that's what i've tried to retain throughout — a sense of excitement about technology. some of those early stories were very optimistic, weren't they, about the potential of things like, you know, music streaming, smartphones, as you mentioned — but you're leaving this beat as the mood around a lot of these tech companies and their products has really soured, and coverage has become much more serious about possible regulation, hasn't it? yeah, i think there's a sort of arc in this journey. from 2007 to about 2012, there was huge optimism about this technology. we were enjoying using it, we were excited about each new product and i put the high point at — do you remember the london 0lympics�* opening ceremony in 2012 when tim berners—lee sat onstage and sent a tweet out, saying, "this is for everyone"? and it seemed to be a democratising force, this combination of smartphones and social media. and ever since then, it's been downhill, frankly, and we are now more aware of the obsessiveness of these gadgets — i'm one of the worst for staring at my phone all day, tweeting virtually 2a hours a day — but also the power of these social media networks to cause harm, as well as the good that they claim they can do. now there's an argument that, given the size and power of some these corporations — the likes of google and amazon, and apple — that in a sense, we should challenge them the way that we challenge governments. and i wonder if the bbc does that enough. well, i think we do. i mean, one thing you should be aware of is notjust the power they have but the obstructiveness in terms of getting them to come on air. i mean, apple is a great case in point. a brilliant company in many ways, extraordinarily controlling. i've not had an interview with an executive from apple in more than ten years. i did interview stevejobs a couple times, never been allowed to interview tim cook. got close one time, and was then told that the interview had been given to an american tv channel. when i watched his piece, it involved him hugging tim cook as tim cook came offstage, which is not quite how the bbc would've done it. so we are faced with very, very powerful and controlling organisations. well, we just wish you all the best in your retirement. thank you so much for coming on. well, i've enjoyed it. and can i say also, i'm still huge believer in the mission of the bbc. it's a place where we go forfacts, truth, impartiality in a world where that's becoming more difficult to find. rory cellan—jones, thank you. thank you. finally, if some people struggle to get to grips with new technology, the latest inflation figures also provided problems for wednesday's lunchtime news. the cost of living dipped slightly in september, despite rising prices for fuel and transport. the office for national statistics says inflation is measured by the consumer prices index, dipped to 3.1% last month. well, those of you with a grasp of numbers will have noticed that if inflation was 3.1% last month, then that means that prices have actually risen by that amount, not dipped. it's the rate of inflation that's gone down, not the cost of living itself. robert was one of those who spotted it, and he recorded this video for us. i was watching the bbc news at 1pm on wednesday, and was surprised to hear that the cost of living, according to the headline, has gone down in september. this wasn't actually true and, in fact, the package that followed showed that the rise in the cost of living had gone from 3.2% in august down to 3.1% in september. however, the package was introduced with the words "the cost of living has dipped in september". i'd have thought that bbc could tell the difference between a rise and a fall. thank you 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, email us. or you can find us on twitter @newswatchbbc. you can call us on: and do have a look at our website. that's all for us. we'll be back to hear thoughts on bbc news coverage again next week. goodbye. hello. the weather has thrown just about everything at us over the last week or so — heavy rain, squally winds, a bit of snow over high ground in scotland — so what does the weekend have in store? well, actually, a return to milder conditions, some brisk winds and some rain at times, courtesy of this frontal system that you can see pushing in from the west. but it is moving quite slowly — it's running up against high pressure — so there will still be a fair amount of dry weather around through saturday and, where skies have been clear, a really chilly start across parts of eastern scotland and eastern england. that is, though, where we will see the rest of the sunshine. —— that is, though, where we will see the best of the sunshine. more cloud further west, the odd spot of drizzle and then, our weather front bringing persistent rain quite slowly eastwards across northern ireland and into western scotland. it'll be breezy or windy wherever you are but particularly windy in the west of scotland with wind gusts in excess of 50 mph in exposed places, but feeling relatively mild —12, 13 or 1a degrees. as we head through saturday night, there will be a lot of cloud. we'll see outbreaks of rain moving very slowly eastwards through scotland, hanging on across parts of northern ireland, getting into northwest england, parts of wales and the south—west as well, but a much milder start to sunday morning. and our frontal system will continue to trudge its way eastwards through the day. and really, i think this weather front is going to break up into showers, so it won't be raining all the time. but we are going to see some even milder weather, if anything, spreading northwards across the uk. so, this is sunday's forecast. we will see a lot of cloud to start off. some outbreaks of rain tending to break up into showers with some sunny spells developing, too. a brisk wind once again, but because that wind is coming up from the south, it is going to feel really quite mild with temperatures getting to 1a or 15, maybe 16 degrees in one or two places. now, what about the coming week? well, we are going to see further frontal systems pushing in from the west. a potential that the warm weather front could become quite slow—moving out towards the north and west of the uk. a bit of uncertainty about that, but we can certainly see quite a lot of rain in some northern and western areas. but there is some mild weather to come as well with brisk south—westerly winds. and the further south you are, the better chance of staying dry at least for a few days. and here, temperatures could climb all the way to 18 degrees. for now. thanks for watching, and we will see you soon. this is bbc news. our top stories: more details on how the actor alec baldwin accidentally shot dead a crew member on the set of his latest film — court documents suggest he was told the gun was safe. the european union accuses belarus of state sponsored people smuggling. we follow one group of migrants, on their way to europe. abortion in mexico — we hearfrom women a month after a landmark ruling which decriminalised it. as european football is expanded is the global game doing enough to counter climate change?

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