Today, sometimes referred to as the Today programme to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, which is now broadcast from 6am to 9am from Monday to Friday and from 7am to 9am on Saturdays. It is also the most popular programme on Radio 4, and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks.^[1] It consists of regular news bulletins, serious but often confrontational political interviews and in-depth reports. BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station which broadcasts a wide variety of chiefly spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. ...

History

Today was launched on the BBC's Home Service on 28 October 1957 as a programme of "topical talks" to give listeners a morning alternative to light music. It was initially broadcast as two 20-minute editions slotted in around the existing news bulletins and religious items. In 1963 it became part of the BBC's Current Affairs department, and it started to become more news-oriented. The two editions also became longer, and by the end of the 1960s it had become a single two-hour long programme that enveloped the news bulletins and the religious talk that had become Thought for the Day. It was cut back to two parts in 1976-1978, but was swiftly returned to its former position. The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion... The BBC Home Service was the original name for Radio 4 and was on the air from 1939 until 30 September 1967. ... October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 64 days remaining. ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Thought for the Day is a short religious radio programme, broadcast as part of the Today programme on the BBCs Radio 4 at around 7:45 am every weekday morning (BBC 2005). ...

Jack de Manio^[2] became its principal presenter in 1958. He became notorious for on-air gaffes. In 1970 the programme format was changed so that there were two presenters each day. De Manio left in 1971. In the late seventies the team of John Timpson and Brian Redhead became established. John Timpson (1928-November 19, 2005), was a British journalist, best known as a radio presenter. ... Brian Redhead (28 December 1929 _ 23 January 1994) was a British author, journalist and broadcaster. ...

This arrangement lasted until Timpson's retirement in 1986, when John Humphrys and Sue MacGregor joined the rotating list of presenters. After Redhead's untimely death on 23 January 1994, James Naughtie became a member of the team. Sarah Montague replaced MacGregor in 2002. Peter Hobday presented the programme regularly until 1996. Edward Stourton and Carolyn Quinn are also regular presenters of the show. Other more occasional presenters include the BBC's Stephen Sackur, Tim Franks^[3] and Justin Webb. John Humphrys John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a British radio and television presenter. ... Sue MacGregor CBE (born Susan Katriona MacGregor in Oxford on August 30, 1941) is a British writer and Broadcaster. ... January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... James Naughtie, normally known as Jim, (born August 9, 1952 in Milltown of Rothiemay, near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland) is a BBC journalist and radio news presenter, especially of Radio 4s Today programme. ... Sarah Montague is a British journalist best known for her work on BBC Radio 4 as a Political Correspondent and for presenting the Today Programme. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Edward Stourton presented BBC television news bulletins until moving to BBC Radio 4 in 1999. ... Carolyn Quinn is a British journalist best known for her work on BBC Radio 4 as a Political Correspondent and for presenting the Today Programme and PM. Quinn attended the University of Kent where she obtained a degree in French. ... Stephen Sackur appearing on the Nine OClock News in 1996. ... Justin Webb became BBCs chief radio and Washington correspondent in 2001. ...

The show reached a peak in terms of influence in the 1980s, when prime minister Margaret Thatcher was a noted listener. Ministers thus became keen to go on the programme and be heard by their leader; but the tough, confrontational interviewing style they encountered led to accusations that the BBC was biased. Criticism was particularly directed against Redhead, who was widely seen as being on the left. The style of the male interviewers was analysed and contrasted with that of MacGregor, who was alleged to be giving subjects an easier time. The 'Big 8.10' interview that follows the 8 o'clock news remains an important institution of British politics to this day. Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ...

Notable features

Today regularly holds an end-of-year poll. For many years this took the form of write-in votes for the Man and Woman of the Year. This was stopped after an episode of organised vote-rigging in 1990, but was soon revived as a telephone vote for a single Personality of the Year. A further episode of vote-rigging, in favour of Tony Blair in 1996, forced the programme-makers to consider more innovative polling questions. In 2004 listeners nominated candidates for a peerage, in 2005 the question was set of 'Who Runs Britain?'. Recent years have also included nominations for a 'Listener's Law' (which an MP agreed to sponsor as a parliamentary bill), and, in 2006, nominations were sought for the law that listeners would most like to see repealed. Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency... For other uses, see Peerage (disambiguation). ...

In Thought for the Day, featured since 1970, a speaker reflects on topical issues from a theological viewpoint; the editorial responsibility lying with BBC's Religion and Ethics Department^[4]. Notable contributors to the slot include Rabbi Lionel Blue and Richard Harries, the Bishop of Oxford. Over the years the slot has featured an increasing number of speakers from religions other than Christianity, though Christian speakers remain in a substantial majority. In August 2002 University of Oxford professor Richard Dawkins gave a non-religious humanist thought for the day, however this did not replace the regular thought and was broadcast an hour later as an alternative thought. Lionel Blue (born 6 February 1930) is a British Reform rabbi and broadcaster. ... The Rt Revd Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford, giving a speech in 2004. ... The Bishop of Oxford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. ... This article discusses Humanism as a non-theistic life stance. ...

The programme has a regular slot for sports news and items between 26 and 30 minutes past each hour. It is an established in-joke that that the presenters will pour scorn on the reliability of the programme's racing tipster.

Journalist and historian Peter Hennessy has made an assertion, in one of his books,^[5] that a test that the commander of a British nuclear-missile submarine must use to determine whether the UK has been the target of a nuclear attack (in which case he has 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 pass without the programme being broadcast, that is to be taken as evidence that the envelope may be opened. The true conditions are of course secret, and Hennessy has never revealed his sources for this story, leading Paul Donovan^[6], author of a book^[7] about Today, to express some scepticism about it. However, the longwave signal of Radio 4 is capable of penetrating to depths where submarines normally operate, although it does not have the range required to be heard at this depth far from the UK's coastal waters. Peter Hennessy is an English historian of government. ... French M45 SLBM and M51 SLBM Submarine-launched ballistic missiles or SLBMs are ballistic missiles delivering nuclear weapons that are launched from submarines. ... German UC-1 class World War I submarine A model of Günther Priens Unterseeboot 47 (U-47), German WWII Type VII diesel-electric hunter Typhoon class nuclear ballistic missile submarine USS Virginia, a Virginia-class nuclear attack (SSN) submarine A submarine is a watercraft that can operate underwater... For the 1989 computer game, see Nuclear War (computer game). ... Longwave can also refer to the economics concept of Kondratiev waves, or to the rock band Longwave The Longwave radio broadcasting band is the range of frequencies between 148. ...

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 eventually resigned from his post on Today. Rod Liddle (born 1960) is a controversial British journalist best known for his term as editor of BBC Radio 4s Today programme. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... The Countryside Alliance strongly opposes House of Commons plans to ban fox hunting. ...

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 was deliberately exaggerated, and that the government had known this prior to publishing it. In his live 2-way (interview with presenter John Humphrys), just after 6.07 a.m., Gilligan asserted that the Government "probably knew" that one of the main claims in its dossier "was wrong". Gilligan's anonymous source for the claim was Dr 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. Andrew Gilligan Andrew Paul Gilligan (born 22 November 1968, Teddington, Middlesex, England) is a journalist best known for his report, while defence and diplomatic correspondent for BBC Radio 4s The Today Programme, about the British Governments dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. ... It has been suggested that Attribution (journalism) be merged into this article or section. ... For other persons named David Kelly, see David Kelly (disambiguation). ...

In the furore that followed Gilligan's report, David Kelly's name became public and he was forced to appear before the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Shortly afterwards he was found dead and the authorities claim that he committed suicide. In the ensuing public inquiry (the Hutton Inquiry), that reported in January 2004, the BBC was heavily criticised. This led to the resignation of the BBC's Chairman Gavyn Davies and Director-General (equivalent to Chief Executive), Greg Dyke; Andrew Gilligan also resigned. The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. ... Gavyn Davies Gavyn Davies (born 27 November 1950) was the chairman of the BBC from 2001 until 2004, a former Goldman Sachs banker and a former economic advisor to the British Government. ... Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a journalist and broadcaster. ...

Message boards

In 2001 the Today Programme created a system of message boards ^[8] 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 threads - sometimes with as many as 3,000 contributions per thread. However, on 16 Nov 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 appears to have been unattractive^[9] to past contributors and, it seems, many stopped dealing with Today in favour of other outlets^[10]. After the changes there were fewer contributions, but, on occasion, contributions made by the public are featured on-air in the Today programme. Complaints continue. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Presenters

• Alan Skempton (1956 - 1958)^[11]
• Jack de Manio (1958 - 1971)
• Robert Hudson (1964 - 1968)
• John Timpson (1970 - 1986)
• Robert Robinson (1971 - 1974)
• Barry Norman (1974 - ?)
• Desmond Lynam (1974 - 1976)
• Brian Redhead (1975 - 1993)
• Nigel Rees (1976 - 1978)
• Libby Purves (1978 - 1981)
• Jenni Murray (1982 - 1986)
• Sue MacGregor (1984 - 2002)
• Peter Hobday (1984 - 1996)
• John Humphrys (1987 - )
• Anna Ford (1986? - 1997?)
• James Naughtie (1994 - )
• Edward Stourton (1999 - )
• Sarah Montague (2002 - )
• Carolyn Quinn (2004 - )

Robert Hudson (born 30 January 1920) is a former broadcaster for the BBC, primarily on radio but also on television, between 1947 and 1981. ... John Timpson (1928-November 19, 2005), was a British journalist, best known as a radio presenter. ... Robert Robinson (born December 17, 1927) is a British radio presenter and television presenter. ... Barry Norman (b. ... Desmond Lynam (born September 17, 1942 in Ennis, Ireland) is a sports presenter on British television and radio. ... Brian Redhead (28 December 1929 _ 23 January 1994) was a British author, journalist and broadcaster. ... Nigel Rees (born June 5, 1944, near Liverpool) is a British author and presenter, best known for devising and hosting the Radio 4 panel game Quote Unquote and for his keen interest in the use and misuse of the English language. ... Libby Purves (born February 2, 1950 in London, England) is a radio presenter, journalist and author. ... Jenni Murray OBE (born Jennifer Susan Bailey on May 12, 1950 in Barnsley, Yorkshire) is a British journalist and broadcaster. ... Sue MacGregor CBE (born Susan Katriona MacGregor in Oxford on August 30, 1941) is a British writer and Broadcaster. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... John Humphrys John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a British radio and television presenter. ... Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire) is a retired British television presenter. ... James Naughtie, normally known as Jim, (born August 9, 1952 in Milltown of Rothiemay, near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland) is a BBC journalist and radio news presenter, especially of Radio 4s Today programme. ... Edward Stourton presented BBC television news bulletins until moving to BBC Radio 4 in 1999. ... Sarah Montague is a British journalist best known for her work on BBC Radio 4 as a Political Correspondent and for presenting the Today Programme. ... Carolyn Quinn is a British journalist best known for her work on BBC Radio 4 as a Political Correspondent and for presenting the Today Programme and PM. Quinn attended the University of Kent where she obtained a degree in French. ...

Editors

• Isa Benzie (Senior Producer)(1957)^[11]
• Elizabeth Rowley (Producer in Charge)(1957))^[11]
• Janet Quigley (Chief Assistant, Talks)(1957))^[11]
• Stephen Bonarjee (1960s)^[12]
• Peter Redhouse (1960s?) ^[13]
• Alistair Osborne (1960s/1970s?)
• Mike Chaney (1976 - 1978)?)
• Ken Goudie(1978 - 1981?)
• Julian Holland(1981 - 1986?)
• Jenny Abramsky (1986 - 1987)
• Phil Harding (1987 - 1993)
• Roger Mosey (1993 - 1997)
• Jon Barton (1997 - 1998)^[14]
• Rod Liddle (1998 - 2002)
• Kevin Marsh (2002 - 2006)
• Ceri Thomas (2006 - )^[15]

Jenny Abramsky is Director of BBC Radio and Music External link BBC Website Categories: Substubs | People stubs ... Phil Harding is a broadcasting executive in the UK, who holds the post of Director English Networks & News at the BBC World Service. ... Roger Mosey is the Head of Television News at BBC News. ... Rod Liddle (born 1960) is a controversial British journalist best known for his term as editor of BBC Radio 4s Today programme. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

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.

2003 Guest Editors

• Monica Ali
• Norman Tebbit - frequent critic of the programme
• Thom Yorke
• Gillian Reynolds^[16]
• Stephen Hawking

2004 Guest Editors Monica Ali (born October 20, 1967) is the author of Brick Lane, her debut novel, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2003. ... Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, CH, PC (born 29 March 1931) is a British Conservative politician and former MP for Chingford, who was born in Southgate in Enfield. ... Thomas Edward Yorke (born October 7, 1968 in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England) is best known as the lead singer of the English alternative rock band Radiohead. ... Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA, (born 8 January 1942) is a British theoretical physicist. ...

• Bono
• Richard Branson
• Anthony Minghella
• The Duchess of York
• Onora O'Neill

2005 Guest Editors Paul David Hewson, KBE (born 10 May 1960), known as Bono, is the lead singer and principal lyricist of the Irish rock band U2. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the lead section of this article may need to be expanded. ... Anthony Minghella (born January 6, 1954) is a British film director, playwright and screenwriter. ... Sarah, Duchess of York (born 15 October 1959) is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York. ... Onora Sylvia ONeill, Baroness ONeill of Bengarve (born 23 August 1941) is a cross-bench member of the House of Lords. ...

• David Blunkett - used the programme as an opportunity to 'turn the tables' on John Humphrys
• Anna Ford - discussed ageism in the media
• Queen Noor of Jordan
• Steve 'Chandrasonic' Savale ^[17] - member of Asian Dub Foundation
• Sir John Bond - Chairman of HSBC

2006 Guest Editors David Blunkett (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician and has been Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside since 1987. ... John Humphrys John Humphrys (born 17 August 1943) is a British radio and television presenter. ... Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire) is a retired British television presenter. ... Her Majesty Queen Noor with her late husband, King Hussein. ... Asian Dub Foundation is a British alternative electronica band, that play a mix of breakbeat, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence. ... Sir John Reginald Hartnell Bond (龐約翰; born 24th July 1940) is chairman of HSBC Holdings plc, by market capitalisation the third largest financial services company in the world. ... HSBC Holdings plc (LSE: HSBA, SEHK: 005, NYSE: HBC, Euronext: HSBC, BSX: 1077223879) is one of the largest banking groups in the world, ranked the fifth-largest company and third-largest banking company in the world in Forbes Global 2000. ...

• Yoko Ono (26 December)
• Sir Clive Woodward (27 December)
• Zac Goldsmith (28 December)
• Rowan Williams(29 December)

- Archbishop of Canterbury - used the programme to express, among other things, his growing concerns about the 'justification' for the invasion of Iraq, Britain's role in the affair, the consquences for British armed forces together with wrestling with thoughts that, perhaps, he should have been more a part of the leadership of those who opposed the action. Yoko Ono Lennon (born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese musician and artist best known as the widow of John Lennon of The Beatles. ... Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956 at Ely in Cambridgeshire) is a former English rugby union international who was the coach of the England rugby union team from 1997 to 2004. ... Zac Goldsmith on BBC Breakfast in 2002 Frank Zacharias Zac Robin Goldsmith (born January 20, 1975), son of billionaire Sir James Goldsmith, is the editor of The Ecologist magazine and an adviser to the Conservative Party. ... For the English boxer, see Rowan Anthony Williams. ... The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader and senior clergyman of the Church of England, recognized by convention as the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...

• Allan Leighton^[18](30 December)

See also

• Greatest Painting in Britain Vote, a Today listener poll in 2005.
• 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.

The Fighting Temeraire by Turner, first place The Hay Wain by Constable, second place A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Manet, third place The Greatest Painting in Britain Vote was a survey made by BBC Radio 4s Today programme in Summer 2005 with the aim of discovering... PM is an early evening (PM at five PM) news magazine programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. ... The World at One, or WATO for short, is BBC Radio 4s long-running lunchtime news and current affairs programme, which is broadcast from 1pm to 1:30pm from Monday to Friday. ... The World Tonight is a current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening at 2200. ...

References

1. ^ BBC News (Online), Thursday, 2 February 2006
2. ^ Jack de Manio
3. ^ Tim Franks
4. ^ BBC Religion and Ethics
5. ^ Peter Hennessy. The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War, 1945-1970. Allen Lane, The Penguin Press. 256 pages. ISBN 0-713-99626-9
6. ^ Paul Donovan
7. ^ 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)
8. ^ Today Programme Message Board
9. ^ BBC in Radio 4 messageboard punch-up
10. ^ [http://jamesstgeorge.proboards32.com/
11. ^ ^{a b c d} Today Programme Key Facts page
12. ^ Stephen Bonarjee
13. ^ further information, at the time of this contribution, appears to be unavailable for this entry and the next four in this list
14. ^ Jon Barton
15. ^ Ceri Thomas
16. ^ Gillian Reynolds
17. ^ Steve 'Chandrasonic' Savale
18. ^ Allan Leighton

External links

• All Our Todays: Forty Years of Radio 4's "Today" Programme. Book review
• Brian Redhead : obituary
• The Secret State: Whitehall and the Cold War, 1945-1970. Book review
• Thought for the Day
• Today programme