Could an MP present the Today programme?
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 917 Ratings
🗓️ 25 April 2024
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a week where broadcasters with shows hosted by politicians were warned they could face fines if they break impartiality rules during the next general election campaign, Nick looks at the issues it raises about which programmes MPs should be allowed to present.
Former ITN chief executive Stewart Purvis tells us why he believes we will “see and hear things on the air we’ve never seen before” in general election coverage. And GB News presenter Albie Amankona joins the conversation to explain why he thinks the station challenges traditional news media.
And Steven Knight, the screenwriter behind Peaky Blinders and This Town shares his moment of the week.
Episodes of The Today Podcast land every Thursday and watch out for bonus episodes. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to get Amol and Nick's take on the biggest stories of the week, with insights from behind the scenes at the UK's most influential radio news programme. If you would like a question answering, get in touch by sending us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 330 123 4346 or email us Today@bbc.co.uk
The Today Podcast is hosted by Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson, both presenters of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the UK’s most influential radio news programme. Amol was the BBC’s media editor for six years and is the former editor of the Independent, he’s also the current presenter of University Challenge. Nick has presented the Today programme since 2015, he was the BBC’s political editor for ten years before that and also previously worked as ITV’s political editor.
The senior producer is Tom Smithard, the producers are Hazel Morgan and Joe Wilkinson. The editor is Louisa Lewis. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths. Technical production from Matthew Hewitt and digital production from Elliot Ryder.
Note: This podcast has been re-edited.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | I've been thinking, would it be better if the Today Programme, the Today Podcast, perhaps, |
| 0:10.7 | was presented by, say, Jacob Rees-Mogg, or David Lamey or George Galloway? |
| 0:18.2 | In case you think I've gone a bit mad, that was the thought that occurred to me |
| 0:22.0 | as I was listening to a crucial question on the Today programme this week, after a crucial |
| 0:28.7 | judgment about what we're allowed to watch and listen to. And it reminded me of something I |
| 0:36.0 | once wrote. Should television and radio allow people to choose |
| 0:40.4 | from a range of channels with views that suit them best, or will that allow people to occupy an |
| 0:45.9 | alternative reality, which fosters narrow, sectarian, intolerant attitudes? I wrote that 12 years ago in a book. This argument about what we |
| 0:59.8 | can trust in what we watch, what we listen to, what we read isn't new, but it has just exploded |
| 1:08.9 | into public consciousness in this a year that it matters more than ever a year we choose the people who run our lives, the year of a general election. Hello, it's Nick in the podcast studio, and just for one more week, |
| 1:39.1 | a mole is at home looking after the little ones. |
| 1:43.1 | But we will hear from him, because of course for years he was |
| 1:45.8 | the BBC's media editor and before that editor of a major national newspaper so his views on whether |
| 1:53.1 | we can trust the news we consume matter a whole lot. But why now you might be wondering, |
| 1:59.5 | are we talking about this? We're talking about it |
| 2:02.2 | because Ofcom, the regulator, produced a report asking a pretty simple question. Should politicians |
| 2:09.2 | be able to appear on TV and radio interviewing each other? One MP, interviewing another MP. One party leader interviewing someone |
| 2:20.5 | from their own party. One man who founded a political party interviewing people who agrees with him. |
| 2:28.4 | And it produced this exchange between my colleague, Justin Webb, and Dame Melanie Dawes, the chief executive of Ofcom. |
| 2:37.7 | Could a politician, do you think, present this programme, the Today programme? |
| 2:42.1 | Well, that's a question for the BBC. |
... |
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