BBC Today Programme is Half A Century Old
This was written for Dagen in October 2007
It is striking that this month we celebrate a key British broadcasting institution. For since it began, not only has there been change in proliferation and extent of media access, but also in social context. In the Britain of the 1950s, broadcasting symbolised postwar optimism; strong national consensus was reflected in the way families across the country tuned in at the same time each day to enjoy the same BBC programmes together. And despite the growth of television, BBC radio stayed firmly at the heart of popular culture offering a particularly British outlook on news, plays, music, sport and entertainment.
It was into this climate that the BBC Today Programme was born. Launched in October 1957, it reflected the leisurely, rather ponderous radio broadcasting mode of its day. Broadcasters with immaculate British accents disseminated the news for us; a keep-fit slot aimed to improve the nation’s health and fitness. Yet quite quickly it became the flagship programme for radio news, setting the nation’s agenda and providing coverage which no politician could ignore. Now, in our very media-diverse, individualised world, Today still holds its audience of millions. For three hours every morning from 6 to 9am, it opens up world affairs through fast-moving reports, interviews and analyses. The day’s news first breaks on this programme, updated each half hour for its listeners. Prime Ministers, Archbishops, Princes, prize-winning novelists, military commanders, University Vice-Chancellors and many world leaders have all broadcast on it. The standard is high, the timing impeccable, the coverage broad.
The programme has its own internal traditions – weather forecast, time announcements, sports report, the ‘big interview’ after 8am. Yet one of these traditions is much older than all the others. In fact it predates the Today Programme itself. A regular item before the 8 o’clock news first began life on the radio in 1939. Nearly seventy years later, and now called ‘Thought for the Day, it continues to offer a three minute reflection on the news from the perspective of religious faith. The fact that this has survived the huge cultural changes is surely itself quite remarkable. For it has been attacked by atheists, resented by cabinet ministers, parodied by comedians and scorned by the erudite. There is probably no other three minutes anywhere on the radio which has been subject to so much attention from its critics. In fact, even many of the editors over the years have set about trying to remove this religious slot from their programme, only to find that it has somehow withstood all their attempts and outlived the demise of their own careers.
For the last twenty years I have enjoyed being one of the ‘Thought for the Day’ presenters. My first broadcast, in 1987, was a Christian reflection on Budget Day – an annual British tradition featuring the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Since then: football, rail disasters, invasions, war, buildings, film awards, foot-and-mouth-diseases, earthquakes have all required scripts from me. It can be nerve-racking when news alters on the way to the studio, and a carefully crafted script has to be changed minutes before going on air. But it is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the insights the Christian faith brings to our understanding of the world.
Why has this slot survived 50 years of changes in Today? Probably because people recognize that journalists can report news but explanations lie much deeper. And if there is a even a possibility that a God who made us has something to say to everyday life, many listeners are glad of the chance to hear what it could be.
October 2007
