Editing Today (BBC Radio 4) (section)

==Criticism==
"Radio 4 on the whole is good for using serious female presenters, but the ''Today'' programme lets it down badly", commented former ''Today'' newsreader [[Alice Arnold (broadcaster)|Alice Arnold]] early in 2013, pointing out that Sarah Montague was (then) the only female presenter among the regular presenters.<ref>Alison Roberts [https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/alice-arnold-you-look-at-men-of-a-certain-age-on-tv-and-think-if-you-were-a-woman-you-wouldnt-be-there-8442386.html "Alice Arnold: You look at men of a certain age on TV and think: 'If you were a woman, you wouldn't be there'"], ''London Evening Standard'', 8 January 2013</ref> During 2010, editor [[Ceri Thomas]] acknowledged that the gender balance was not ideal, but faced criticism for saying in an interview that the programme was not going to be the "first place you'll see those changes because it's just too tough an environment for novices, frankly".<ref>John Plunkett [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/mar/31/bbc-radio-4-today-female-presenters "Radio 4's Today editor under fire over comments on female presenters"], ''The Guardian'', 31 March 2010. See also Ceri Thomas [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/05/bbc-today-programme-women-presenters "BBC Radio 4: the fog of gender war"], ''The Guardian'', 5 April 2010, where he responded to the criticism.</ref> Radio 4 presenter [[Mariella Frostrup]] described the men involved in running the programme in an interview as "a bunch of misogynists",<ref>Alastair Jamieson [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7765948/Radio-4-Today-programme-run-by-misogynists-says-Mariella-Frostrup.html "Radio 4 Today programme 'run by misogynists' says Mariella Frostrup"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 26 May 2010</ref> but later retracted this statement by saying she had been "careless" in her vocabulary.<ref>Andrew Hough [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/7795125/Mariella-Frostrup-BBC-Radio-4-presenter-regrets-misogynists-jibe.html "Mariella Frostrup: BBC Radio 4 presenter 'regrets misogynists jibe'"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 2 June 2010</ref>

In 2011, ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'' journalist [[Kira Cochrane]] and colleagues researched the female–male ratio in the British media for a month. Concerning ''Today'' they found 83.5% of the contributors were male and the remaining 16.5% female.<ref>Kira Cochrane [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/dec/04/why-british-public-life-dominated-men "Why is British public life dominated by men?"] ''The Guardian'', 4 December 2011</ref> The issue was thought important enough for culture minister [[Ed Vaizey]] to request a meeting with the BBC in January 2012,<ref>Christopher Hope [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/9036757/Eight-out-of-10-guests-and-presenters-on-Today-programme-are-men-complains-minister.html "Eight out of 10 guests and presenters on 'Today' programme are men, complains minister"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 24 January 2012</ref> and for Director-General [[George Entwistle]], at the start of his brief period in charge of the BBC, to advocate that the next new ''Today'' presenter should be female.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/9553975/BBC-boss-next-Today-programme-presenter-should-be-a-woman.html "BBC boss: next Today programme presenter should be a woman"], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 19 September 2012</ref>

An interview with [[David Cameron]] conducted by John Humphrys in 2006 received 200 complaints concerning Humphrys' aggressive approach and "excessive" interruptions.<ref name="Silver06">James Silver [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/apr/10/mondaymediasection8 "'Humphrys could see me off too'"], ''The Guardian'', 10 April 2006</ref> Ceri Thomas became the programme's editor shortly afterwards and was asked about this issue. "I'm not going to rule out the confrontational interview as it is on occasion necessary... [A]ll the evidence we've got shows that the audience is overwhelmingly behind John Humphrys in general and support our right to do [this] kind of interviews."<ref name="Silver06"/>

In a 2012 article decrying the BBC's attitude to science reporting, ''Guardian'' science columnist Martin Robbins wrote: "The ''Today'' programme claims to be serious, but seems to work on the basis that the best way to enlighten viewers is to take two people and force them into a sort of intellectual-masturbation death match. [[Graham Linehan]] appeared on the show last year to discuss [[The Ladykillers (play)|his adaptation]] of ''[[The Ladykillers (1955 film)|The Ladykillers]]'' and found himself ambushed by questions that weren't just hostile, but sometimes completely bizarre."<ref name=grauniad>{{cite web |last=Robbins |first=Martin |title=The BBC's problem with science |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/the-lay-scientist/2012/jan/26/1 |work=The Guardian |date=26 January 2012}}</ref> Expert Women's Days, intended by the BBC as a training exercise intended in part to increase the number of female interviewees on ''Today'', took place in several locations in 2013.<ref>Maggie Brown [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/mar/18/bbc-expert-women-days-salford-glasgow-cardiff "BBC to hold Expert Women's Days in Salford, Glasgow and Cardiff"], ''The Guardian'', 18 March 2013</ref>