Roger Bolton presents the programme that holds the BBC to account on behalf of the radio audience. This week - who should sit in the News Quiz chair now that Miles Jupp has decided to vacate it? Roger asks one of its regular panellists, Hugo Rifkind, if he is a candidate. The BBC’s head of newsgathering Jonathan Munro is also in the studio to answer audience questions about the coverage of recent elections. And the Reith Lectures have been running since 1948, have they now reached their sell-by ...
Jun 14, 2019•27 min
As Feedback turns 40 this month, Roger Bolton quizzes outgoing Radio 4's Controller Gwyneth Williams about the twists and turns of her tenure before she passes her baton on to the new boss. While BBC Sounds has come under criticism from some users, there has been high praise for one of its original podcasts. NB is a series about being non-binary - people who don't identify with traditional gender labels - and has struck a chord with many of its listeners. We hear their views on the series. With ...
Apr 12, 2019•28 min
Roger Bolton discusses changes at Radio 6 Music , the end of iPM and re-inventing local radio, and talks to Eric Robson about saying goodbye to GQT. Judging by audiences and awards at least, Radio 6 Music was on a roll. So it surprised many when a major shake up of the schedule was announced for 2019, including giving Lauren Laverne the coveted breakfast show and moving the much loved Radcliffe and Maconie from weekdays to weekends. Roger puts listener views to the Head of Radio 6 Music, Paul Ro...
Apr 09, 2019•28 min
Roger Bolton hears listener views on a documentary investigating the role of women on the far-right, and discusses the BBC's annual plan. Radio 4 documentary In The Right caused controversy this week, stirring debate from listeners over whether figures considered to be on the far-right should be given airtime. The programme, presented by journalist Lara Whyte, investigated young women in hardline right wing social media. Roger speaks with the producer of the programme Max O'Brien, and Radio 4's ...
Mar 29, 2019•28 min
Roger Bolton asks the BBC News Editorial Director if the BBC should have termed events in Christchurch "terrorism", PM editor Owenna Griffiths discusses coverage of Brexit, and listeners give their views on cuts to Radio 3's Late Junction. Recent BBC coverage of the Christchurch attack in New Zealand has sparked criticism from some listeners who take issue with the language used to describe the events. Others were frustrated by what they saw as disproportionate coverage and still more were annoy...
Mar 22, 2019•28 min
Roger Bolton on the future for radio listening using smart speakers and the reinvention of BBC local radio, and audience comment on whether or not Michael Jackson's music should be played on the BBC. The BBC has recently launched plans to find a new generation of local radio presenters in an effort to turn around declining audiences. Feedback reporter Rob Crossan has travelled to BBC Radio Leeds to see how the plans are working out in practice. The conversation over whether Michael Jackson's mus...
Mar 15, 2019•28 min
Roger Bolton talks to BBC's Seoul Correspondent Laura Bicker about the challenges of covering US-Korean relations, goes behind the scenes at the news podcast Beyond Today, and chats to writer and director John Dryden about the inspiration for the world of Tumanbay. Since 2017, BBC Correspondent Laura Bicker has been based in Seoul, after two years in her Washington posting. She speaks to Roger about the challenges of covering relations from Seoul, and why she jumped at the opportunity to move aw...
Mar 08, 2019•27 min
Roger Bolton talks to the Editorial Director for BBC News, Kamal Ahmed, about his approach to Brexit coverage, producers Jonquil Panting and Beth Eastwood reflect on the making of Test Case about Debby Purdy, and there's the second part of an interview with Radio 4's Commissioning Editor for the Arts, James Runcie. How is the BBC responding to listener's thoughts on the way Brexit is covered in the news? The new Editorial Director for BBC News, Kamal Ahmed, explains how he wants to put the publi...
Mar 01, 2019•28 min
Roger Bolton talks to former Radio 4 Controller Mark Damazer about the challenges and joys facing whoever takes the job next, James Runcie reflects on his role as commissioning editor for arts on Radio 4, and we hear your responses to a slate of new breakfast shows. Zoe Ball and Lauren Laverne are the new voices of Radio 2 and Radio 6music's breakfast shows, and John Humphrys has announced his departure from the Today Programme. Listeners give their reactions to changing sounds of early morning ...
Feb 22, 2019•28 min
Roger Bolton catches up with Evan Davis to share listener views on his new role as PM’s presenter. How has Evan found the transition from Today and Newsnight, and where does he want to take the programme now that he’s at the helm? Also, listeners respond to this week’s Archive on 4 about Apollo 8 and reporter Karen Pirie travels to Perivale where the vast BBC audio archives are stored. She meets with the archive’s collections manager, Elliot Gibson, and talks to some of the radio producers who p...
Dec 21, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton travels to Dane Court School in Broadstairs, Kent for a programme edited by listener and teacher Ben Forward. Under Ben’s guidance Roger explores young people’s listening habits and discusses what the BBC needs to do to attract a younger audience. Also, Roger meets the BBC’s Deputy Political Editor, John Pienaar, outside the Houses of Parliament to talk about another tumultuous week in Westminster. In the face of fierce debate about the BBC’s impartiality, John answers listener ques...
Dec 14, 2018•28 min
This week, Roger Bolton hears from listeners concerned that the BBC gives too much time to so-called Think Tanks - without disclosing their political leanings or how they're funded. Should Think Tanks be obliged to reveal their sources of funding before being allowed on air? Continuing our late night listening theme, Dotun Adebayo, presenter of BBC 5 Live’s ‘Up All Night’, shares some moving experiences he’s had on the show, and reveals a rather unlikely source of company in the wee small hours....
Dec 07, 2018•27 min
This week Roger Bolton explores the role of the BBC’s Reality Check correspondent following a series of heated Brexit debates on Today and PM. He turns to a professor of journalism, Justin Lewis, for some impartial guidance on this most incendiary of subjects. In part two of Roger’s interview with James Purnell, he asks the BBC’s Director of Radio and Education to respond to criticism from older listeners who feel shunned by the Corporation. BBC Radio Sheffield is on the hunt for new local talen...
Nov 30, 2018•28 min
How should licence fees for the over-75s be funded? Roger Bolton talks to James Purnell, one of the most powerful men in BBC radio, as the Corporation launches a public consultation. Roger also meets Baroness Warsi at the House of Lords. Frustrated by stereotypes of Muslim women, her recent BBC Radio 4 programme How to be a Muslim Woman has set out to change the conversation. As the BBC’s Grenfell Tower Inquiry podcast marks its 100th edition, we hear from listeners and its editor, Jasper Corbet...
Nov 23, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton talks to Katya Adler about covering Brexit, and hears listener views on BBC Sounds, University Unchallenged and the conclusion of Home Front. It’s been a busy news week for those keeping track of Brexit, with the news moving almost too fast to follow. But what's it like for the reporters tasked with explaining it? Roger Bolton speaks to the BBC’s Europe editor, Katya Adler about the past week at the coalface. The BBC Radio 4 documentary University Unchallenged asked if universities ...
Nov 16, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton with audience comment on BBC radio. The new BBC Sounds app launched last week. Designed to eventually replace iPlayer Radio, its primary aim is to get young people listening to BBC content. So what do listeners make of it? Roger hears their views and talks to media consultant and podcast expert Matt Deegan. Living with the Empire, a recent BBC Radio 4 series, examined the legacy of the British Empire, looking for its traces in the UKs monuments, people and contested memories. It was...
Nov 09, 2018•26 min
Roger Bolton takes up concerns over presenter changes at Radio 2 and he investigates the BBC’s new push for younger listeners with the launch of the BBC Sounds app aimed at the "headphone generation". How will it affect loyal live radio listeners? The BBC's Director of Radio and Music, Bob Shennan, answers the questions. He shares his regrets about Simon Mayo leaving Radio 2 and is frank about the effect of listener reaction to the stations new drivetime programme on co-presenter Jo Whiley. This...
Nov 02, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton goes behind the scenes at The World at One and hears listener reaction to Simon Mayo’s upcoming departure from BBC Radio 2. After only a few months on air, the BBC Radio 2 Drivetime show presented by Simon Mayo and Jo Whiley is set to end, following Simon Mayo's decision to leave the station altogether. Listeners give their views and radio critic Gillian Reynolds reflects on this latest high profile presenter departure. Earlier this year, Sarah Montague swapped jobs with fellow BBC ...
Oct 26, 2018•28 min
After a week that saw Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab hurry to Brussels for talks, the BBC’s Brussels reporter Adam Fleming talks to Roger Bolton. He shares his personal insights into the challenges of covering breaking news on Brexit. The BBC Radio 4 series ‘The Anatomy of Loneliness’ came to a close this week. It explored the results of the BBC’s Loneliness Experiment, an online survey conducted in collaboration with Wellcome Collection. Roger talks to series presenter Claudia Hammond and BBC Ra...
Oct 19, 2018•28 min
News editor for BBC News and Current Affairs James Stephenson joins Roger Bolton to discuss how BBC Radio should be covering man-made climate change. As new presenters are announced on Radios 2 and 4, listeners react to the choices. And podcast fans love Intrigue: The Ratline but can it work as well for a radio audience? Members of staff are being encouraged to enrol on a course detailing the BBC’s approach to climate change coverage and an editorial policy note distributed last month stated “yo...
Oct 12, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton is joined by A Point of View editor Richard Vadon to discuss the programme's Brexit editions. Also, PM listeners bid a fond farewell to Eddie Mair and review his temporary replacement, and we go behind the scenes at BBC Research and Development to see how the department is reinventing radio for a younger audience. Author Michael Morpurgo's recent episode of A Point of View divided listeners. He took a heavily critical stance of Brexit, titling the edition Think Again and making a pa...
Aug 17, 2018•28 min
Three of the BBC's leading foreign correspondents discuss reporting foreign news in extraordinary times - with Roger Bolton. Jon Sopel is the BBC's North America Editor, Lyse Doucet is Chief International Correspondent and Steve Rosenberg is the Moscow correspondent. They answer listeners' questions and talk about the unique challenges of their roles - from reporting amid the Syrian Civil War to being called an "enemy of the people" by the President of the United States. Producer: Will Yates A W...
Aug 10, 2018•27 min
Roger Bolton asks why Today is losing listeners and hears views on the Radio 1 interview that never aired. Natalie Haynes talks about finding hilarity in antiquity. The latest set of RAJAR radio listening figures were released this week. There was a big fall in the number of people tuning in to Radio 4's Today. We hear from disgruntled listeners about why they've stopped listening and former Editor of Today and Controller of 5Live, Roger Mosey, discusses whether the corporation should be worried...
Aug 03, 2018•27 min
Roger Bolton shares listener reaction with Michael Howard and Ed Miliband, Evan Davis discusses Sweet Reason and there's audience comment on Where's the F in News? Are debates on the radio too angry? Has everyone stopped listening and just become determined to get their own view across? Evan Davis's new programme Sweet Reason is designed to be an alternative to adversarialism. But, when it made its debut, it still had some Feedback listeners shouting at the radio. Evan joins Roger to talk about ...
Jul 27, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton hears listener views on the Sir Cliff Richard verdict and finds out about the new wave of World Service podcasts. BBC News executive James Stephenson discusses the corporation's Brexit coverage and Chris Mason talks about accents in politics. This week, a legal ruling awarded Sir Cliff Richard £210,000 in damages against the BBC with the judge saying some of the news coverage of a police raid on Sir Cliff's home infringed his privacy rights in a "serious" and "somewhat sensationalis...
Jul 20, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton talks to Brian Cox as The Infinite Monkey Cage reaches its century, discusses the Proms with director David Pickard and airs controversy over the music played on 1Xtra. The documentary Spitting Blades aired on BBC Radio 4, but the complaints in the Feedback inbox were about BBC Radio 1Xtra. During the programme, presenter Simeon Moore, also known as the rapper Zimbo, considered whether some rap music could be helping to glamorise gang violence and raised questions about music played...
Jul 13, 2018•28 min
Editor Sarah Sands joins Roger Bolton to discuss online criticism of the Today programme, PM listeners bid goodbye to Eddie Mair and Radio 2 explains why Ed "Death Metal" Miliband is returning to the network, this time alongside Michael Howard. Today has been coming under fire on social media, in the press and in the Feedback inbox. Some listeners and outside critics are decrying what they see as unbalanced news coverage, a lack of hard facts on big issues and overly aggressive interviews from p...
Jul 06, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton with first reactions to the new BBC Sounds app. Also, Reith lecturer Margaret MacMillan reflects on her task and Mary Ann Sieghart discusses her documentary Gove in Government. Michael Gove is not just a favourite target for satirists, he has also long been one of the most controversial ministers in government. A new documentary, presented by his former Times colleague Mary Ann Sieghart, examined him not in terms of what his policies have accomplished, but by considering his excepti...
Jun 29, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton hears listener views and asks if the BBC is biased against Jeremy Corbyn. The Labour leader is the subject of a new series on Radio 4, The Long March of Corbyn's Labour. Political journalist Steve Richards, who presented the first episode, discusses how to report on a polarising figure fairly. The BBC's Head of News, Fran Unsworth, has stressed the need for the BBC to attract - and keep - a younger audience for its news programmes. Radio 1 and 1Xtra's Newsbeat is at the forefront of...
Jun 22, 2018•28 min
Roger Bolton returns with a new series, answering your comments, complaints and queries about BBC radio. BBC Radio 2 is the most popular radio station in the UK with around 15.6 million listeners a week and the Simon Mayo Drivetime show was one of its success stories with a weekly audience of nearly 6 million. But last month the programme was relaunched, with Jo Whiley joining Simon as co-presenter. Many listeners were outraged at the decision and have been bombarding social media and the Feedba...
Jun 15, 2018•28 min
