The Today programme on Radio 4 – my perfect start to the working day. (Today (Radio 4))

Member Name: libertybell

Product:	Today (Radio 4)
Date:	11/02/01 (171 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to listen to, concentrated news, its not GMTV or Radio 1

Disadvantages: Not everyone’s cup of tea, no pictures

I have to confess that I enjoy keeping up with the news. So much so that by the end of the day, I will have read 3 newspapers (Independent, ‘freebie’ Metro and London Evening Standard), listened to the radio, watched TV and selected a number of pages on teletext. Okay – I admit it – if I am surfing then I will visit the www.bbc.co.uk web site. I can read all these newspapers because I travel from near Reading to east London each working day and you have to kill the time somehow!

Call me boring (or odd) – but I find the best way to get my first news fix of the day is to listen to the radio as I am leaving the land of nod. My preference is for the Today Programme on Radio 4. The alarm goes off at 6.15am and I come too listening to the business news. The show starts at 6am and goes onto 9am. The format is the same Monday to Friday. It changes for Saturday when the target audience presumably get up later.

For someone rushing between bedroom, bathroom and shower; listening to the radio is ideal. You can just about catch all the news, you don’t have to watch anything and being the BBC – they have interviewed all the important people before they get on TV. It is a known fact that when a big story breaks, all the movers and shakers will beg the BBC to get onto the Today programme.

Whilst getting dressed, there is the business news between about 6.15 and 6.27am, the sports news between 6.27 and 6.30, a summary of the headlines at 6.30, followed by analysis of the main stories until when I charge downstairs to consume my Cornflakes at 7am. Other than the features, there are 2 presenters such as Sue McGregor and James Docherty who take it in turns to conduct the interviews, provide the links etc.

The headlines are often read by Peter Donaldson, a chap with a slightly ‘plummy’ – but very BBC accent. Those on the hours are preceded by the famous GMT ‘pips’ and when there
is a significant Royal birthday (such as the Queen or her Mum) – they play the National Anthem.

Even the sports headlines are very traditional. If there is cricket on (as there currently is in Sri Lanka), you’ll get a live update.

After the news headlines at 6.30 is the Review of the newspaper headlines followed by Yesterday in Parliament. This is an opportunity for a load of elected MP’s to make farmyard noises and score cheap political points!

For those of a more religious/philosophical leaning, there is the ‘Thought for the day’ slot at 7.45am.

At about 6.55am, the radio goes off and downstairs I go where I often have to contend with Playhouse Disney or GMTV on the telly depending on whether my son or wife got down there first.

I’ve tried watching the TV whilst getting dressed, but you have to watch the screen to get the full effect. The Today programme relies on the spoken word and it always gives time checks at the same time. The presenters sometimes give me heart failure when they mistakenly get the time wrong and mention the time as being quarter past seven rather than quarter past six !!

The Presenters on the programme speak to very interesting people and because of the deadlines, they get to the point very quickly and don’t put up with any waffle.

And being the BBC Today programme, there are no adverts, no music, no phone-ins and no smart-arsed DJ’s making banal comments. Plus it’s not GMTV, which has to be a blessing! Sorry I don’t like GMTV – but I won’t elaborate here!

Other than the Today programme, I hardly listen to anything else on the Radio. And for those about to ask the question – no I don’t listen to the Archers!

I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Many people want to listen to music first thing in the morning or they want to laugh at a DJ cracking jokes or humiliat
ing members of the public. I’ve tried it. I’ve listened to Radio 1 (I’m too old for it). I’ve listened to local commercial radio. Great for traffic jam news – but little else. I’ve even listened to BBC Radio Berkshire – and it’s awful. Radio2? I’m at that age when I ought to be settling down with Terry Wogan – but it simply doesn’t appeal.

I’ve tried them all and returned to my favourite – the Today Programme. Give it a try sometime.

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