By Peter John Meiklem

THE senior BBC executive responsible for all the corporation's journalism has accepted BBC network news must improve if it is to satisfy Scottish audiences.

Mark Byford, the BBC's deputy director-general and chair of its journalism board, told a public meeting in Glasgow last week that improvements could be made to the network news.

He said: "Of course we can do better, we want to do better."

However, he said the number of England and Wales-only stories carried by the network news was not a major issue with viewers. He said he received more complaints about "presenters' style of dress and intonation" than about the choice of stories carried by the main network news shows broadcast on BBC1 at 6pm and 10pm.

Last week the Sunday Herald revealed unpublished new research, commissioned by the watchdog BBC Trust, that claimed Scots were left poorly informed about events in their own country by the failure of the network news to cover events outside England.

Byford, who fielded a series of ill-tempered questions on the number of England-only stories on BBC network news during the debate, said he accepted there were "grievances" and pledged to talk to senior colleagues about how best to address them. He refused to outline any detailed changes the BBC might make.

He said recent coverage of immigration, a subject where there is a notable difference between public attitudes north and south of the Border, was an example of BBC coverage operating effectively. Input from Scottish political editor Brian Taylor had helped inform the network's coverage of the topic, Byford added. "Brian Taylor helped shape the debate on immigration, it was absolutely fantastic and we want more of that," he said.

Asked why stories that happened in England, such as the murder of London schoolboy Damilola Taylor, appeared to get more coverage than similar crimes in Scotland, such as the killing of Glasgow teenager Kriss Donald, Byford said the BBC was there to cover the "whole of the UK".

He added: "The audience value the BBC's output. We provide news that is rooted in excellence. Any suggestion that we don't is simply not true."

Byford was in Glasgow for a public debate on how well broadcasting serves Scottish democracy, organised by the Scottish Broadcasting Commission. Daily Telegraph Scotland editor Alan Cochrane, academic Gerry Hassan, ITV editor-in-chief David Mannion and Sunday Herald columnist Iain Macwhirter made up the rest of the panel.

Mannion said there was a case to made for separate news programmes that looked at the world from the various different perspectives in the UK.

He said: "Every time I come to Scotland it feels more like a different country. That is not a bad thing. But we have to operate commercially, and the question is, who is going to pay for separate news programmes?"

Gerry Hassan accused both Mannion and Byford of not understanding the needs of Scottish viewers. "They simply don't get it," he said.

Making reference to a 19th-century brand of Scottish literature criticised for being overly sentimental and small-minded, Cochrane said any plans for a separate news programme would result only in "kailyard television".