Editing Today (BBC Radio 4)

{{short description|British radio programme}}
{{redirect|Today programme|TV programmes called Today|Today (disambiguation)#Television{{!}}Today#Television}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name = Today
| image = File:Today programme (BBC Radio 4).jpeg
| format = News, current events, and factual
| runtime = {{unbulleted list |120–180 minutes}}
| country = [[United Kingdom]]
| language = English
| home_station = {{nowrap|[[BBC Home Service]] (1957–1967)<br>[[BBC Radio 4]] (1967–present)}}<br>BBC News (2024–present)
| presenter = {{unbulleted list |[[Justin Webb]] |[[Nick Robinson (journalist)|Nick Robinson]] |[[Amol Rajan]]| Anna Foster |[[Emma Barnett]]}}
| editor = Owenna Griffiths
| rec_location = {{unbulleted list |[[Broadcasting House]] (1957–1997, December 2012–present) |[[BBC Television Centre]] (1997 – December 2012)}}
| first_aired = {{start date|1957|10|28|df=y}}
| website = {{url|www.bbc.co.uk/today|Programme website}}<br>{{url|www.twitter.com/BBCR4Today|Twitter}}
}}

'''''Today''''', colloquially known as '''''the Today programme''''', is [[BBC Radio 4]]'s long-running morning news and current-affairs [[radio programme]]. Broadcast on Monday to Saturday from 06:00 to 09:00 (starting on Saturday at 07:00), it is produced by [[BBC News]] and is the highest-rated programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4673116.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=2 February 2006 |title=Wogan's listenership close to 8m}}</ref> In-depth political interviews and reports are interspersed with regular news bulletins, as well as ''[[Thought for the Day]]''. It has been voted the most influential news programme in Britain in setting the political agenda,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4440000/newsid_4444700/4444751.stm |title=BBC News tops MPs' survey |date=14 April 2005 |publisher=BBC Newswatch}}</ref> with an average weekly listening audience around 6 million.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/rajar-radio-figures-round-up-radio-4s-today-loses-300000-listeners-following-departure-of-jim-naughtie/ |title=Rajar radio figures round-up: Radio 4's Today loses 300,000 listeners following departure of Jim Naughtie |date=19 May 2016 |work=[[Press Gazette]] |publisher=Progressive Media International |access-date=24 November 2016 |quote=According to figures released by Rajar, it had an average reach of 6.8m listeners per week in the first three months of 2018, compared with 7.1m in the first quarter of 2015.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sherwin |first=Adam |date=4 August 2016 |title=Brexit effect helps BBC Radio 4 Today programme win record audience |url=https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/radio/brexit-effect-helps-bbc-radio-4-today-programme-win-record-audience/ |quote=Today's weekly audience soared to 7.35m listeners [...] The figure exceeded the programme's previous record high of 7.18m in 2011, according to figures from listening bureau Rajar.}}</ref>

==History==
''Today'' was launched on the [[BBC Home Service]] on 28 October 1957 as a programme of "topical talks" to give listeners an alternative to listening to [[light music]]. The programme's founders were [[Isa Benzie]] and [[Janet Quigley]]. Benzie gave the programme its name and served as its first ''[[de facto]]'' editor.<ref>Paul Donovan, 'Benzie, Isa Donald (1902–1988)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/65410, accessed 4 March 2017]</ref> It was initially broadcast as two 20-minute editions slotted in around the existing news bulletins and religious and musical items. It became part of the BBC's Current Affairs department in 1963, and started to become more news-orientated. The two editions also became longer, and by the end of the 1960s it had become a single programme two hours in length that enveloped the news bulletins and the religious talk that had become ''[[Thought for the Day]]'' in 1970.<ref>Lizzie Clifford [http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/thought_for_the_day/main_report "Thought for the Day’: Beyond the god-of-the-slots"], ''Ekklesia'' [c.2009]</ref> In May 1977, Radio 4 controller [[Ian McIntyre]] cut it to two 25-minute parts, filling the gap with ''[[Up to the Hour]]''. The new format was unpopular with BBC staff, including [[Peter Donaldson (newsreader)|Peter Donaldson]] who on at least one occasion openly ridiculed the programme on air.<ref>{{cite news |title='Voice of Radio 4' Peter Donaldson dies at 70 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34707749 |publisher=BBC News |date=3 November 2015}}</ref> It also provoked comments in the diary columns of the daily newspapers. From July 1978, ''Today'' returned to its previous length and ''Up to the Hour'' was dropped.<ref>{{cite web |last=Purves |first=Libby |author-link=Libby Purves |title=Today turns 50 |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2718237.ece |url-status=dead |work=[[The Times]] |location=London |date=23 October 2007 |access-date=27 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615125432/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2718237.ece |archive-date=15 June 2011}}</ref>

[[Jack de Manio]]<ref>[http://www.radioacademy.org Jack de Manio]. Radio Academy.</ref> became its principal presenter in 1958. He was held in affection by listeners, but became notorious for on-air gaffes (announcing a documentary on [[Nigeria]] titled ''The Land of Niger'' as ''The Land of Nigger'', and referring to [[Yoko Ono]] as "Yoko Hama, or whatever her name is", for instance).<ref name="Chignell2011">{{cite book|author=Hugh Chignell|title=Public Issue Radio: Talks, News and Current Affairs in the Twentieth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ieCqz0sEVIC&pg=PA91|date=2 September 2011|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-34645-1|page=91}}</ref> In 1970 the programme format was changed so that there were two presenters each day. De Manio left in 1971, and in the mid-1970s the team of [[John Timpson]] and [[Brian Redhead]] became established. Timpson had been critical of the content, style and professionalism of ''Today''; describing it once as "not so much a programme, more a way of telling the time" and being filled with "eccentric octogenarians, prize pumpkins, and folk who ate lightbulbs and spiders".<ref>{{cite book|title=Life on Air: A History of Radio Four|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeonairhistory00hend|url-access=limited|first=David|last=Hendy|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199248810|year=2007|page=[https://archive.org/details/lifeonairhistory00hend/page/n64 50]}}</ref>

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, under editors [[Ken Goudie]] and [[Julian Holland (journalist)|Julian Holland]], ''Today'' made moves to broaden its appeal away from broadcasting a lot of national politics with London-centric bias. Presentation was split for a time between London, usually by John Timpson, and from Manchester, usually by Brian Redhead. The objective was to make it more of a balanced, national programme. The on-air humour of the two presenters and the split of locations made the programme very popular and influential. Brian Redhead was quoted, "If you want to drop a word in the ear of the nation, then this is the programme in which to do it."<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/today_programme.shtml Today Programme] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301070808/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/today_programme.shtml |date=1 March 2014 }}. BBC Press Office. October 2007.</ref> This pairing lasted until Timpson's retirement in 1986. Other presenters during this period included [[Libby Purves]] in the late 1970s. [[John Humphrys]] and [[Sue MacGregor]] joined the rotating list of presenters in 1986. [[Peter Hobday (presenter)|Peter Hobday]], who had first broadcast on the programme in the 1950s, was a regular presenter from the early 1980s and a favourite with listeners because of his relaxed, urbane style.

By this time the programme was benefiting from publicity gained after it became known that Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] was a regular listener. Ministers thus became keen to go on the programme, but the tough, confrontational interviewing they encountered led to accusations that the BBC was biased. Criticism was particularly directed against Redhead, who was often seen as being on the left. Chancellor [[Nigel Lawson]] accused him, during a live interview in 1988, of having been a Labour voter all his life.<ref>Michael Leapman [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-brian-redhead-1409045.html Obituary: Brian Redhead], ''The Independent'', 24 January 1994</ref> The style of the male interviewers was analysed and contrasted with the approach of MacGregor, who was alleged to be giving subjects an easier time. The "Big 8:10" interview that follows the 8 am news had become an important institution of British politics, a position it retains.<ref>{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Zoe |title=When Newsnight got a wife |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/apr/03/today-programme-women-presenters-bbc |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=3 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Mahoney |first=Elisabeth |title=Radio review: Today interview |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2012/jan/10/today-interview-radio-review |work=The Guardian |date=10 January 2012}}</ref>

After [[Brian Redhead]] died in January 1994, [[James Naughtie]] became a member of the team. Peter Hobday presented the programme regularly until 1996; [[Sarah Montague]] replaced MacGregor in 2002. [[Carolyn Quinn]] was a regular presenter until 2008 as was [[Edward Stourton (journalist)|Edward Stourton]] until 2009. Other more occasional presenters include the BBC's [[Stephen Sackur]] and [[Tim Franks]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/timfranks/tim_franks Tim Frank's Blog]. BBC blogs archive</ref> [[Evan Davis]] and [[Justin Webb]]<ref name="WEBB">{{cite press release |title=Justin Webb joins Radio 4's Today programme presenting team |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2009/08_august/26/webb.shtml |publisher=BBC |date=26 August 2009}}</ref> were the newest regular presenters to join the roster until [[Mishal Husain]] in 2013. Husain became the second regular female presenter when Naughtie began to cover the [[2014 Scottish independence referendum|Scottish Independence referendum]] as a ''[[Good Morning Scotland]]'' presenter for two days a week, and across the BBC's output. Naughtie returned to ''Today'' before the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]].<ref name="Deans">Jason Deans and Josh Halliday [https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/jul/16/bbc-mishal-husain-join-today "BBC's Mishal Husain to join Today"], ''The Guardian'', 16 July 2013</ref>

On 7 July 2015, the BBC announced that James Naughtie was to leave the programme, to become a Special Correspondent for [[BBC Radio 4]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2015/james-naughtie|title=James Naughtie appointed Special Correspondent for Radio 4|publisher=Media Centre}}</ref> Two days later, [[Nick Robinson (journalist)|Nick Robinson]] was announced as Naughtie's replacement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2015/nick-robinson-today|title=Nick Robinson to become a presenter on BBC Radio 4's Today programme|publisher=Media Centre}}</ref> In April 2018, [[Martha Kearney]] joined the team in a straight swap with [[Sarah Montague]], who left to take over Kearney's old role as lead presenter of ''[[The World at One]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/radio/2018-03-30/bbc-radio-4-today-programme-presenter-sarah-montague-leaves-martha-kearney-world-at-one/|title=Sarah Montague leaves BBC Radio 4's Today programme after 18 years|work=Radio Times}}</ref>

On 19 September 2019, [[John Humphrys]] hosted his last edition of ''Today'', after 32 years on the show. His last major guests were former Prime Ministers [[David Cameron]] and [[Tony Blair]], as well as drag personality [[Dame Edna Everage]].<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=John Humphrys hosts his final edition of Radio 4 Today programme |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-49739135 |publisher=BBC News |date=19 September 2019}}</ref>

On 17 December 2024, [[Mishal Husain]] hosted her final shift as Today co-presenter, with several past and present Today presenters joining her in the studio to pay tribute.

The BBC announced on 10 March 2025 that presenter [[Anna Foster]] would join the programme's presenting team in April 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anna Foster to join BBC Radio 4’s Today presenting team |url=https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2025/anna-foster-to-join-today-presenting-team |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en}}</ref>

==Current presenters==
{| class="wikitable"
|-  style="background:#ff030d; text-align:center;"
! Year began !! Presenter
<!--If removing presenters from this table, please add them to the "Former presenters" section of this article-->
|-
| 2009 ||[[Justin Webb]]
|-
| 2015 ||[[Nick Robinson (journalist)|Nick Robinson]]
|-
| 2021 ||[[Amol Rajan]]
|-
| 2024 ||[[Emma Barnett]]
|-
|2025
|[[Anna Foster]]
|}

==Former presenters==
The longest-serving presenter on Today was [[John Humphrys]], who presented the programme for 32 years and 260 days between 1987 and 2019.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Ian |date=18 September 2019 |title=Humphrys bows out as longest serving presenter in Today's history |language=en-GB |work=Belfast Telegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/humphrys-bows-out-as-longest-serving-presenter-in-todays-history-38510558.html |access-date=14 October 2022 |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>{{colbegin}}
* [[Robert Hudson (broadcaster)|Robert Hudson]] (1964–1968)
* [[John Tidmarsh]] (1968–1969)
* [[Jack de Manio]] (1958–1971)
* [[Douglas Cameron (broadcaster)|Douglas Cameron]] (1970–1974)
* [[Robert Robinson (broadcaster)|Robert Robinson]] (1971–1974)
* [[Desmond Lynam]] (1974–1975)
* [[Barry Norman]] (1974–1976)
* [[Gillian Reynolds]] (1975–1976)
* Paul Barnes (1975–1977)
* [[Nigel Rees]] (1976–1978)
* [[Libby Purves]] (1978–1981)
* [[Hugh Sykes (journalist)|Hugh Sykes]] (1978–1982)
* [[John Timpson]] (1964, 1970–1976, 1978–1986)
* [[Jenni Murray]] (1985–1987)
* [[Brian Redhead]] (1975–1993)
* [[Peter Hobday (presenter)|Peter Hobday]] (1983–1996)
* [[Anna Ford]] (1993–1999)
* [[Winifred Robinson]] (1996–2000)
* [[Sue MacGregor]] (1984–2002)
* [[Carolyn Quinn]] (2004–2008)
* [[Edward Stourton (journalist)|Edward Stourton]] (1999–2009)
* [[Evan Davis]] (2007–2014)
* [[James Naughtie]] (1994–2015)
* [[Sarah Montague]] (2001–2018)
* [[John Humphrys]] (1987–2019)
* [[Martha Kearney]] (2018-2024)
* [[Mishal Husain]] (2013-2024)
{{colend}}

==Newsreaders==
Among the newsreaders are [[Chris Aldridge]], Viji Alles, [[Charles Carroll (newsreader)|Charles Carroll]], Lisa Costello, Mark Forrest, Caroline Nicholls, Tina Ritchie, [[Alan Smith (radio)|Alan Smith]], [[Tom Sandars]], and Jane Steel.

==Editors==
* [[Jenny Abramsky]] (1986–1987)
* [[Phil Harding (BBC executive)|Phil Harding]] (1987–1993)
* [[Roger Mosey]] (1993–1997)
* [[Rod Liddle]] (1998–2002)
* [[Kevin Marsh]] (2002–2006)
* [[Ceri Thomas]] (2006–2012)
* Jamie Angus (2013–2017)
* [[Sarah Sands]] (2017–2020)<ref name="Grierson">{{cite news |last=Grierson |first=Jamie |title=Sarah Sands named editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jan/30/sarah-sands-named-editor-bbc-radio-4-today-programme-evening-standard |work=The Guardian |date=30 January 2017 |access-date=30 January 2017}}</ref>
* Owenna Griffiths (2020–present)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2020/owenna-griffiths-today-programme#:~:text=The%20BBC%20has%20announced%20that,BBC%20Radio%204%27s%20Today%20programme.&text=Owenna%20is%20currently%20the%20editor,over%2025%20years%27%20journalistic%20experience.|access-date=27 December 2020|publisher=BBC|title=Owenna Griffiths appointed editor of Today programme}}</ref>

==Guest editors==
{{further|List of Today programme guest editors}}
Beginning in 2003, for over one week at the end of December, guest editors have been invited to commission items for one edition of the programme. These usually reflect their social or cultural interests and at the end of each edition the guest editor is interviewed by a member of the regular presenting team about the experience.  Guest editors participating in the inaugural year of this feature were [[Monica Ali]], [[Thom Yorke]], [[Stephen Hawking]], and [[Norman Tebbit]], who is a frequent critic of the programme. Since its inception, notable guest editors have included: [[David Blunkett]], who used the programme as an opportunity to "turn the tables" on John Humphrys in 2005; [[Rowan Williams]], the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], whose appearance on 29 December 2006 encompassed discussions of his growing concerns about the "justification" for the invasion of [[Iraq War|Iraq]], Britain's role in the affair, and the consequences for British armed forces; and [[Peter Hennessy]], who, on 28 December 2007, led a visit to [[HMS Vigilant (S30)|HMS ''Vigilant'']] (a British [[Trident missile|Trident]] submarine) alongside its base at [[Faslane]]. Others including [[Queen Noor of Jordan]] (2005), [[Bono]] (2004) and [[Sarah, Duchess of York]] (2004) have also pitched in for this one-day editorial stint to promote their causes and interests.

==Notable features==
The programme has a regular slot for sports news and items, "Sports Desk", between 26 and 30 minutes past each hour, regularly presented by [[Garry Richardson]] (from 1981 to 2024), [[Jonathan Legard]] or [[Rob Bonnet]] and occasionally by [[Alison Mitchell]], [[Karthi Gnanasegaram]] or Chris Dennis.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj9z BBC Radio 4 – Today]. BBC (1 January 1970).</ref> From 1977 to 2024 it carried a daily [[horse racing]] [[Tip (gambling)|tip]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Caroline|last=Davies|title=BBC Radio 4 scraps daily horse-racing tips from Today programme|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/jun/24/bbc-radio-4-scraps-daily-horse-racing-tips-from-today-programme|work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|date=24 June 2024|accessdate=24 June 2024}}</ref>

If [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] is in session the previous day there will be a summary at about 06:50 (Yesterday in Parliament<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3081534.stm "Westminster to your ears"]. BBC News (13 May 2004).</ref>) presented by two from [[Robert Orchard]], David Wilby,<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/presenters/david_wilby.shtml David Wilby] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110193010/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/presenters/david_wilby.shtml |date=10 January 2009 }}</ref> Rachel Hooper and Susan Hulme.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/presenters/susan_hulme.shtml Susan Hulme] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110234105/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/presenters/susan_hulme.shtml |date=10 January 2009 }}</ref>

Journalist and historian [[Peter Hennessy]] has made an assertion in one of his books<ref>[[Hennessy, Peter]], ''The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War, 1945–1970''. Allen Lane, The Penguin Press. 256 pages. {{ISBN|0-7139-9626-9}}</ref> that a test that the commander of a British [[Submarine-launched ballistic missile|nuclear-missile]] [[submarine]] must use to determine whether the UK has been the target of a [[nuclear attack]] (in which case he has [[Letters of last resort|sealed orders which may authorise him to fire his nuclear missiles in retaliation]]), is to listen for the presence of ''Today'' on Radio 4's frequencies. If a certain number of days (said to be three) pass without the programme being broadcast, that is to be taken as evidence that the orders must be executed. The true conditions are of course secret, and Hennessy has never revealed his sources for this story, leading Paul Donovan, author of a book about ''Today'', to express some scepticism about it.<ref>Paul Donovan: ''All Our Todays: Forty Years of Radio 4's "Today" Programme''.London, Jonathan Cape, 1997. {{ISBN|0-224-04358-7}} (revised paperback edition is {{ISBN|0-09-928037-X}})</ref> However, the [[longwave]] signal of Radio 4 is capable of penetrating to surface depths where submarines can rise, although it does not have the range required to be heard at this depth far from the UK's coastal waters.

==Message boards==
In 2001, the ''Today'' programme created a system of message boards<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbtoday/ Today Programme Message Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205132235/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbtoday/ |date=5 December 2010 }}. BBC.</ref> allowing the users of its web site to challenge thinking on current affairs with all those contributing. Available statistics indicate the amassing, over five years, of up to 18,000 separate discussions – [[topic thread]]s – sometimes with as many as 3,000 contributions per thread. However, on 16 November 2006 the programme changed its board policy so that only the producers of ''Today'' could start a thread, but all contributors could still join in with them. This action appeared to have been unpopular<ref>Haines, Lester. (10 November 2006) [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/10/bbc_messageboard_rumpus/ BBC in Radio 4 messageboard punch-up]. ''The Register''.</ref> with past contributors and, it seems, many stopped dealing with ''Today'' in favour of other outlets.<ref>[http://jamesstgeorge.proboards32.com/ James St George] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070115073842/http://jamesstgeorge.proboards32.com/ |date=15 January 2007}}. Jamesstgeorge.proboards32.com.</ref> After the changes there were fewer contributions, but, on occasion, contributions made by the public were featured on-air in the ''Today'' programme. Message boards dedicated to the ''Today'' programme were discontinued around mid-2008 and listeners were invited to use the general BBC 'Have Your Say' board.<ref name="HYS">[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/default.stm Have Your Say]. BBC News (1 January 1970).</ref>

==Podcast==
A podcast, ''Beyond Today'', was launched on 29 October 2018. Presented alternately by [[Tina Daheley]] and [[Matthew Price]] and aimed at a younger audience, the production team contains the same number of women from black and ethnic minority backgrounds as it does men.<ref>{{cite web |last=Tobitt |first=Charlotte |title=BBC launches Today spin-off podcast with 'conversational and punchy' tone to reach younger on-demand audience |date=29 October 2018 |url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/bbc-launches-today-spin-off-podcast-with-conversational-and-punchy-tone-to-reach-younger-on-demand-audience/ |access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref>

Another podcast, ''The Today Podcast'', was launched on 5 October 2023 and is presented by [[Amol Rajan]] and [[Nick Robinson (journalist)|Nick Robinson]]. They discuss the news stories as featured on ''The Today Programme''.

==Controversy==
''Today'' found itself in the midst of controversy again in 2002, when its editor [[Rod Liddle]] wrote a column in ''[[The Guardian]]'' that was extremely critical of the [[Countryside Alliance]] and which raised questions about his own impartiality. In the article, he wrote that catching "a glimpse of the forces supporting the Countryside Alliance: the public schools that laid on coaches; the fusty, belch-filled dining rooms of the London clubs that opened their doors, for the first time, to the protesters; the Prince of Wales and, of course, Camilla ... and suddenly, rather gloriously, it might be that you remember [why you voted Labour] once again." He resigned from his post on ''Today''.

In the summer of 2003, ''Today'' once again found itself at the centre of allegations of political bias, this time against a Labour government. The controversy arose after ''Today'' broadcast a report by its correspondent [[Andrew Gilligan]]. The report alleged that a dossier the British Government had produced to convince the British public of the need to invade [[Iraq]] had been "sexed up" (deliberately exaggerated), and that the government had known this prior to publishing it. In his live interview with presenter John Humphrys, just after 6.07 a.m., Gilligan asserted that the dossier and the Government "probably knew" that one of the main claims in the dossier "was wrong". Gilligan's [[Journalism sourcing|anonymous source]] for the claim was Dr [[David Kelly (weapons expert)|David Kelly]], a key adviser on biological weapons who had worked in Iraq – though it was never established whether Dr Kelly had actually used the words Gilligan attributed to him. In the furore that followed Gilligan's report, Kelly's name became public and he was forced to appear before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Shortly afterward he was found dead following presumed suicide. In the ensuing public inquiry (the [[Hutton Inquiry]]), which reported in January 2004, the BBC was heavily criticised. This led to the resignation of the BBC's chairman, [[Gavyn Davies]], the Director-General, [[Greg Dyke]], and Andrew Gilligan.

On Friday 5 November 2010, the programme was not broadcast due to 48-hour strike action at the BBC. Transmission continued the next day, in spite of ongoing industrial action, as [[Evan Davis]] and [[Sarah Montague]] decided to break the strike.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

==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>

==See also==
{{portal|BBC|Radio}}
* [[Greatest Painting in Britain Vote]], a ''Today'' listener poll in 2005
* ''[[PM (Radio 4)|PM]]'', Radio 4's early evening stablemate to the ''Today'' programme
* ''[[The World at One]]'', Radio 4's afternoon stablemate to the ''Today'' programme
* ''[[The World Tonight]]'', Radio 4's late evening stablemate to the ''Today'' programme
* ''[[Roundabout East Anglia]]'', [[BBC East]]'s [[regional variation|regional opt-out]] from the ''Today'' programme in the 1970s
* ''[[Morning Sou'West]]'', [[BBC South West]]'s regional opt-out from the ''Today'' programme in the 1970s and early 1980s

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Today programme}}
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/ Official website]
*{{BBC programme}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050404204117/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_n1585_v272/ai_20608684 ''All Our Todays: Forty Years of Radio 4's "Today" Programme''. Book review]
*[https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/thought/ ''Thought for the Day'' official site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328065536/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/thought/ |date=28 March 2012 }}
*{{cite news |last=Luckhurst |first=Tim |title=''Today... 50 today!'' |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3101942.ece |url-status=dead |work=[[The Independent]] |date=27 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027162611/http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article3101942.ece |archive-date=27 October 2007}}
* [http://www.winchesterjournalism.co.uk/joomla_1.5_winol/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=195:the-today-programme-on-bbc-radio-4-journalism-now&catid=61:radio&Itemid=95 The Today Programme] – Review and analysis at the Journalism Now! project

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