The place and role of BBC Radio 4’s Thought for the Day has been questioned again following comments from a prominent BBC presenter and an editorial in a national newspaper.
John Humphrys, a presenter of the Today programme, which is interrupted by transmission of the three minute Thought for Day slot, stated it was ‘frankly bizarre’ to interrupt the BBC’s news programme with ‘what is in essence a sermon’.
Mr Humphrys has previously expressed his view that non-religious contributors should be allowed to participate in the programme, which explicitly excludes individuals without a religious belief.
A recent editorial in the Guardian newspaper questioned the timing of the slot, believing Thought for the Day’s positioning within one of the BBC’s premier news and current affairs programmes as inappropriate and out of context.
Naomi Phillips, BHA Head of Public Affairs, commented: ‘The deliberate exclusion of any non-religious voices from participating in one of the most prominent media forums for debating contemporary moral and ethical issues is a substantial failure on behalf of the BBC. Not only does the BBC fail to provide an opportunity for a balanced discussion – as a public service broadcaster, it also fails in its duty to provide programming representative of the audience it serves, which must clearly include the very large number of non-religious people in the UK.’
Ms Phillips continued ‘The appropriateness of a slot reflecting on ethical issues, and its positioning within a news programme is a separate issue, on which there will be divergent views. However, while Thought for the Day continues to be broadcast, it is only reasonable that non-religious views are accorded equal value and recognition to religious ones.’
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Read about our Thought for the Day campaign
For further comment or information, please contact Naomi Phillips on 07540 257101.
The British Humanist Association is the national charity working on behalf of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state