27/06/2014
Why did the BBC devote so little news coverage to a 50,000-strong anti-austerity protest? Should the 'N-word' be used on air? And did Jack Dee really threaten to quit Clue?
Lots of emails this week from listeners angered by BBC radio's lack of coverage of what was claimed to be a 50,000-strong demonstration against the coalition's cuts - even though it started just outside Broadcasting House. Was it, you wondered, evidence that the corporation's news coverage isn't as impartial as it claims?
Also under discussion - the "N word". Is it ever acceptable to use it on the air? Roger talks to the producer of Radio 4's Archive on 4 documentary A History of the N Word and Radio 4's Editor of editorial standards, Roger Mahony.
Elsewhere in the programme, the truth behind the story that Jack Dee threatened to resign from Radio 4's I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue; the release of a report on the quality and impartiality of BBC coverage of rural affairs; and the shipping forecast - beloved of Radio 4 listeners, but is it still used by those in peril on the sea?
Producer: Will Yates
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4.
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The Shipping Forecast
Denis Nowlan from Radio 4 talks about the enduring importance of The Shipping Forecast.
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Anti-austerity protests and A History of the N-Word
Duration: 11:09
Broadcasts
- Fri 27 Jun 201416:30BBC Radio 4
- Sun 29 Jun 201420:00BBC Radio 4
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