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14/03/2014

John Humphrys says a 'broadly liberal' bias has existed in the past at the Ö÷²¥´óÐã. Some Feedback listeners are not surprised. Roger Bolton asks John whether anything has changed.

Is anyone at the Ö÷²¥´óÐã listening? This week we'll be talking to John Humphrys about whether liberal bias at the Ö÷²¥´óÐã has put it out of step with public opinion, and whether anything is changing. And there's a tale of sabotage and sacrilege in a Lincolnshire abbey.

In an interview with this week's Radio Times, John Humphrys admitted the Ö÷²¥´óÐã had, in the past, been wrong in its coverage of immigration and Europe. "We weren't sufficiently sceptical - that's the most accurate phrase - of the pro-European case. We bought into the European ideal". And he went on to say that the Ö÷²¥´óÐã has been "grotesquely over-managed". Roger Bolton asks John what has changed and whether Ö÷²¥´óÐã presenters should criticise their employer.

Roger's also been brushing up his Welsh this week to speak to the Editor of Programmes for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Cymru, Betsan Powys. Following a dispute with Welsh musicians and a fall in listener figures, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio Cymru, the only national Welsh language radio station, decided it needed to start listening to its audience. After months of conversations with listeners, Radio Cymru has re-launched with a dramatic shake-up to its schedules. Will it work? And will they still be listening now they've made the changes?

And our quest to find the very first bells broadcast on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã takes us to a small town in the Midlands to hear a listeners' fascinating tale of a nefarious plot to foil the broadcasters.

Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 4.

30 minutes

Last on

Sun 16 Mar 2014 20:00

Broadcasts

  • Fri 14 Mar 2014 16:30
  • Sun 16 Mar 2014 20:00

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