Week so on wednesday all eyes were on his first News Conference since novembers election and in terms of spectacle, it didnt disappoint. Take the moment when a reporter from cnn tried to ask a question. Since youre attacking us can you give us a question. Mr President Elect, since youre attacking our News Organisation can you give us a chance . Not you, your organisation is terrible. Give us a chance to ask a question. Mr President Elect, can you state categorically. Can you give usa you state categorically. Can you give us a question, youre attacking us, can give us a question, youre attacking us, can you give us a question, youre attacking us, can you give give us a question, youre attacking us, can you give us a give us a question, youre attacking us, can you give us a question, can you give us a question . Im not going to give you a question, you are fake news. Mr president , can you state categorically. After are fake news. Mr president , can you state categorically. After that attack on cnn as being a purveyor of fa ke attack on cnn as being a purveyor of fake news, would other correspondence be brave enough to raise their hands . Step forward ian pannell. Go ahead, go ahead, youve been waiting. As far as we understand the intelligence community. Ian pannell from bbc news. Bbc news, thats another beauty if there was more than a hint of sarcasm in that description the President Elect may not have thought the bbcs subsequent coverage allegations passed on to Us Intelligence agencies last year wasnt exactly beautiful. The dossier they were investigating was an open secret. Journalists had been working on it for months too. Its a story of sexual escapade, russian espionage and multimillion dollar Cash Payments allegedly funnelled to the trump campaign. The question for washington insiders is whether it is fact, part fact or pulp fiction. Its not currently known whether those rumours are fact or fiction, but we do know the bbc heard last year from multiple sources of the existence of a Blackmail Tape. So why didnt it broadcast that news then . That was a question bothering roger others work and turned about the extend the bbc were reporting the allegations now. Were concerned. Jo greenhorn said john brooks also wondered Andrew Garrett asked it was the website buzzfeed which published the 35 page dossier in full on tuesday evening. While understanding that it was impossible for the bbc to ignore, some viewers felt the corporation wrongly allowed it to dominate their coverage. Brian watson e mailed on wednesday well, the editor of the bbcs news at 6pm and news at 10pm is paul royal and hes with me now. Its been a big revelation that the bbc was aware of allegations a Blackmail Tape might exist some months ago. Lets start with that. How did the bbc find out about it and why did the bbc decide not to report on it at all . The bbc like other News Organisations became aware of the existence of this dossier and these potential allegations. Obviously we have robust editorial processes we go through in terms of verification and trying to substantiate the allegations. We couldnt, theyre unproven and so we werent publishing them. In the end, as we saw this week, Buzzfeed News decided they were going to publish the 35 page dossier and allegations and they have their own editorial rationale and case law that. Given that these allegations are still not verified now, some viewers will be saying, well, should the bbc be reporting on them now either . Clearly what happened overnight on tuesday became a story and we were very careful on wednesday to cover the story that was playing out, but at the same time be quite general and unspecific about the unproven allegations and we were really careful about that, so clearly once some us networks started reporting the story, donald trump tweeted about that overnight, there was a story on wednesday morning that we had to cover and that was obviously the main part of his News Conference that afternoon. But at the same time we we re very that afternoon. But at the same time we were very careful and actually in one of our broadcasts on the 1pm news, one of the correspondence said in fairness to donald trump, were not going into detail about the allegations. If they do turn out to be false, will the bbc be in a difficult position . I dont think the bbc will be in a difficult position because of the care we took on wednesday and thereafter to make sure we werent affectively recirculating lots of details about something that at this stage is unproven. So im happy that we think we will be in a good place. There are numerous serious allegations being discussed about Donald Trumps links to russia, what is the bbc policy on how to report them . We are going to stick to our editorial approaches and guidelines in terms of trying to test what is true, what is fact, what can be substantiated, what is worthy of further investigation or analysis and explanation. And so we have a very tried and tested process for that built up through years and decades. Is that partly certain kinds of sources regarded as trust worthy, having a certain number of them . The bbc has two sources on stories and theres been discussions around all of that. Really sticking to our editorial guidelines and processes in what is really quite a unique period in terms of covering news. What about airtime . We heard viewers saying there were all these different issues raised in that News Conference, and yet the only one that really got any attention was theissue that really got any attention was the issue about the Blackmail Tape and fake news. I think that was. That was the main thing in the News Conference, but i would totally accept there were other things covered in the News Conference as well. In the 6pm news for example, the main coverage was around the dossier and the allegations butjon sopel did also talk about the questions around Donald Trumps Business Interests and what he was doing with those. And obviously across bbc news, on the news channel, on the website, on the radio, other parts of the story and The Business Side of donald trump was covered on the day and beyond as well. Because it felt watching that news co nfe re nce well. Because it felt watching that News Conference that this was a very different kind of experience for reporters. It felt like journalists we re reporters. It felt like journalists were trying to conduct business as usual asking questions, and the way he spoke to them, it feels like the bbcs going to have to rethink in a much bigger way how it deals with what the president says. Pierre. I think donald trump for example code in one tweet appeared to change us policy towards china or towards Nuclear Weapons and theres no detail, its not done in a conventional way in terms of a News Conference or a policy document, and so that is difficult stuff. But at the same time, he is President Elect of the United States and in a weeks time will be president. So we have to treat this stuff seriously, examine it properly and then decide whether we develop the coverage or not. But to quote donald trump, i think forjournalists at not. But to quote donald trump, i think for journalists at the not. But to quote donald trump, i think forjournalists at the moment this issue is number one tricky. Paul royall, thank you very much. Please do send us your thoughts on the coverage of donald trump or on any aspect of bbc news, details of how to contact us at the end of the programme. Just time now for a couple more of your comments this week, which kicked off something of an annual debate over the extent Winter Weather is newsworthy and the deployment of reporters to affected areas. Friday morning saw two correspondents braving the elements, simonjones in correspondents braving the elements, simon jones in canterbury correspondents braving the elements, Simonjones In Canterbury and first Kate Sweeting by the humber bridge. The snow has died down and its been a relatively calm morning and thats good news because it means the high winds that were predicted havent materialised and that means that the high tide here has passed without event. We had around three hours of snow la st we had around three hours of snow last night between 6pm and 9pm and it came down very heavily, and some of it has stuck. You can see down there some of it has turned to ice, someone there some of it has turned to ice, someone has actually written help in the snow there, perhaps a sign of how treacherous conditions are going to be this morning. Its notjust the snow itself but its the eyes down here on the pavement, it can be very slippy and also difficult conditions on the roads here ice. Some viewers bought a mountain was being made out of and i see Molehill Withjohn major rewriting jan childe wondered while Eleanor London had another theory thank you for all your comments this week. If you want to share your opinions on bbc news and Current Affairs or even appear on the programme, you can call us on ore mail or e mail newswatch at you can find us on twitter at and on our website. The address for that is thats all from us. We will be back to hear your thoughts on bbc News Coverage again next week. Goodbye. The cold weather will continue throughout the weekend but of course theres still immediate concerns along the east coast with severe but flood warnings out from the environment agency. The winds are continuing to ease, though, through the remainder of the night. Very icy out there with still some wintry showers around. Obviously the roads and surfaces could be quite damp so and surfaces could be quite damp so a few and surfaces could be quite damp so afewc and surfaces could be quite damp so a few c and crunchy start with a widespread frost around. Temperatures in the Countryside Nippy in the morning. It looks like there will be a few wintry showers around, particularly near the east coast where there could be sleek and hailand coast where there could be sleek and hail and heavy ones around and further west as well, perhaps a bit wintry over the hills but good spells of sunshine around. Certainly another cold day but not as bitter as the winds are strong. Cold on sunday but it looks like the cold airwill hang around sunday but it looks like the cold air will hang around in the east, still some wintry issues potentially hear. If you have plans for the weekend then please do stay tuned to the forecast. A very warm welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to our viewers in North America and around the globe. My names ben bland. Our top stories donald trump lashes out on twitter against allegations he has stronger ties to russia than previously thought. The us Congress Takes the First Step Towards getting rid of obamacare. But theres mounting concern about what could replace the Controversial Health care programme. The un is calling on european governments to do more as the cold snap sweeping the continent claims the lives of migrants and refugees. And a baby girl who was taken from a hospital in the us has been found alive and well by police after more than 18 years
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