The BBC has said that the religious slot 'Thought for the Day' (TFTD) is an 'important part' of Radio 4's 'Today' programme and reiterated that it will not be axed after the slot was heavily criticised by the programme's presenters.
The comments from a senior spokesperson to The Tablet came after John Humphrys launched an extraordinary attack on the 'inappropriate' and 'boring' slot in a joint interview with fellow presenters for the Radio Times which revealed a deep hostility to religion.
Earlier this year, Christian Today revealed an internal BBC row following remarks by the new 'Today' editor, Sarah Sands, who singled out TFTD for criticism. Back then, a BBC Radio 4 spokesperson pointed out that TFTD is part of BBC's religious programming and not part of the editorial remit of the Today programme, telling Christian Today: 'Thought for the Day is editorially looked after by the BBC's Religion and Ethics team... There are no plans to make changes to it.'
But in a roundtable discussion in the Radio Times to mark 60 years of the 'Today' programme, Humphrys was asked: 'How does it feel when at ten to eight every morning you suddenly have to stop for a sermon in Thought for the Day?'
He replied: 'Deeply, deeply boring, often. Sometimes not. Sometimes it's good and the guy or woman is delivering an interesting thought in a provocative way. Usually not. It seems to me inappropriate that Today should broadcast nearly three minutes of uninterrupted religion, given that rather more than half our population have no religion at all. Certainly very few of them are practising Christians... we have Hindus of course, and we have the occasional Muslim, the occasional Jew, but by and large it's Christian. Why?'
Another presenter, Justin Webb, chimed in: 'They're all roughly the same... "If everyone was nicer to everyone else, it would be fine." But from my cursory glance around the world, I think a lot of religious people don't want to be nice to each other...It really annoys me.'
Humphrys continued: '...But when you're presenting it, how many times have you said to yourself, "Dear God, we've got to cut a really fascinating programme short because we're now going to hear somebody tell us that Jesus was really nice, and the world could be a better place if we all..." You know... Oh God.'
However, a senior BBC spokesperson told The Tablet: 'Thought for the Day is a longstanding part of the Today schedule and an important part of Today's religious content – it will continue to be so. It features speakers from the world's major faith traditions and regularly provokes a range of different views.'
Asked whether it was appropriate for presenters to comment in this way on the content of the Today programme, the spokesperson said it was clear the presenters were offering personal reflections, and none actually suggested it should be removed from the schedule.
The BBC clarification in February came after Sands, the former editor of the London Evening Standard who was then taking over at the Today programme, wrote in the Financial Times (FT) that humanists should be included in the traditionally religious slot and implied that she would change its name. 'I admire religion and believe it is robust enough to have challengers,' she added.
Sands wrote in the FT: 'Given there are some who say I must change nothing, I was amused to chat to an old Today hand, Robert Fox, who pointed out how much the programme had developed over the years. In his day it was much more informal and had an engaging air of jeopardy about it. So I will try not to be overwhelmed by the institution. And if we are to start in deep waters, what about Thought For The Day? This slot, it seems to me, is about the meaning of life, so the title hardly does it justice. It is much, much more than platitudes about Jesus and Brexit, balanced now and then with a view from another faith. And if this is about profound faith, surely we should also include humanists? I admire religion and believe it is robust enough to have challengers. I wonder what the listeners think of this . . .'
Catherine Pepinster, a TFTD presenter and former editor of The Tablet, told the Catholic journal that the judgement that the slot was boring was 'ridiculously sweeping'. She said: 'Sometimes the Today programme is boring, but that doesn't mean it is all of the time. The same is true of Thought for The Day.
'I noted that the presenters suggested it should be more provocative, but if, say, there was a Thought for the Day that suggested the wealthy, such as BBC stars, will never get to heaven because of their wealth, or that homosexuality was completely wrong, or abortion an evil, there would be uproar. Because Thought for The Day presenters are in a privileged position, with no instant response from someone with an alternative view, we are expected to offer some balance, rather than provocation.'
