Has Radio 4 lost their way?

Can you give an example of the R4 programmes that do this?

How do we know people are switching off in droves?

I'm not going to list every programme, but this link just about sums it up.

www.conservativewoman.co.uk/bbcs-100m-fund-for-yet-more-virtue-signalling-sorry-yet-more-diversity/

What's wrong with diversity and inclusivity?

I wouldn't want to return to presenters, programmes, plays, news etc., being made and presented by mainly white middle-class, Oxbridge men.

I remember there was a furore when the late Patti Caldwell who spoke with a Lancashire accent was first on Radio 4.

In an interview she said she was told she sounded uneducated and there was pressure to drop her!

OK thanks for the link. It sums up the author's view very well.

And people are switching off in droves.

?

Not exactly the most impartial publication. Anti trans, anti vax and a not-quite COVID denying article listed on the first few pages.

As Riverwalk says, why would we oppose diversity? It's a good thing.

Anybody who reads conservative woman needs to temper the rhetoric with a bit of fact.

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/28/latest-figures-reveal-how-pandemic-shaped-uk-radio-listening-habits
media.info/radio/stations/bbc-radio-4/listening-figures

snowberryZ

I'm not going to list every programme, but this link just about sums it up.

www.conservativewoman.co.uk/bbcs-100m-fund-for-yet-more-virtue-signalling-sorry-yet-more-diversity/

This article is a one-sided, prejudiced view that just happens to appeal to the bias of your thinking.

Can you show some actual unbiased research that backs your statement?

So far, all we have is what you want to believe produced by "Conservative Women". I would think it a tough ask to find a group more biased against the BBC.

SnowberryZ that article is from 2 years ago.
What is the situation now?

Peter White the blind presenter of 'In Touch' for many years also presents 'You and Yours' the consumer programme - I'm sure at the start it took a bit of ingenuity and effort to accommodate his specific needs, but worth it as he's an excellent presenter with a lovely voice.

We shouldn't just stick to the status quo.

Well it’s one political viewpoint, but I prefer opinions backed up by accurate facts, and snowberryZ, yours doesn’t appear to be because people do not appear to be switching off in droves.

My friend has stopped listening to Woman's Hour because she finds the 'wokeness' unbearable.

And here we have it. One view about one, presumably older person, not liking one programme that would probably say about itself that it has updated to appeal to a younger audience.

And this proves what exactly?

I used to listen avidly to Radio 4; now I hardly ever switch it on. I miss the balanced approach of John Humphries; find Nick Robinson's relentless sneering tiring (so different from his excellent reports from Ukraine) and Emma Barnett has over-politicised Woman's Hour, so it seems like an extension of Today.
Certainly my contemporaries are not listening as they used to, but older listeners are not regarded as relevant as I believe the BBC is targeting younger listeners. Whether this is working or not I have no idea.
[I remember listening to Patti Caldwell, but I did find her flat, monotonous delivery deadening.]

I have R4 on most days, and like that Emma Barnett has shaken up the stale format of Women’s Hour. It seems to me to be more in keeping with modern women.
I also think there are some excellent science programmes.

Despite some of its failings I think the BBC does remarkably well on a reduced budget, and under threat from a government with a clear political ambition to get rid of a public broadcasting service, because it doesn’t fit their agenda.

Older listeners should take more interest in the issues of the day instead of switching off. Who wants to be an old fuddy duddy who yearns for the days when radio presenters spoke terribly, terribly proper and never broadcast anything that would cause a maiden aunt to tut.
I will continue to listen and recommend R4’s excellent range of podcasts.

snowberryZ says I'm not going to list every programme but links to a biased piece of writing from two years ago. Audience numbers are not falling as the graphic posted by volver clearly shows.

I am not going to list every programme either. I have left out the News and Weather, You and Yours, World at One - all of which will depend on what is current, the Archers and chat, quiz and comedy panel shows.

This is today’s schedule showing the diverse range of topics and interests.

5:45 Farming Today: About local food networks in Scotland.
9:00 Start the Week: A discussion about the diversity of modern African.
9:45 Preventable: Professor Devi Sridhar discussing the pandemic.
10:00 Woman’s Hour: about female con artists.
11:00 The Untold: about rescuing orphans from Ukraine.
13:45 Museums That Make Us: Neil McGregor visits the National Museum of Scotland to discuss the Saltire and the Battle of Culloden.
14:15 The Tenderness of Boys: Oliver Emanuel’s play about the bond between mothers and sons.
15:30 The Food Programme: about Easter food traditions in Palermo, Marseille and Kyiv.
16:00 Invisible Man: A discussion of Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man.
16:30 Beyong Belief: discusses the Resurrection.
17:15 Front Row: Big Jubilee Read discussion about 70 books published across the Commonwealth during the Queen’s reign.
20:00 Missing Mother: how the lives of young girls are affected by the loss of their mother in childhood.
20:30 Crossing Continents: about Russian’s fleeing to Georgia.
21:00 Three Pounds in my Pocket: about British South Asians and their experience in Britain.
22:45 Three Days: about the 1941 Belfast Blitz
23:00 Word of Mouth: about how we alter the way we speak depending on who we are talking to.
23:30 Women in Stitches: The Making of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Please explain how this is being obsessed with diversity and inclusiveness at the expense of talent and content and why diversity and inclusiveness are bad things? Which of these programmes would you omit and why?

I listen to lots of very interesting programmes on BBC Sounds, mostly from Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra.

Now that I've seen OakDryad's list I'm off to listen to Radio 4.

I decided that like some other areas in life I am now not the target audience, why should I be when I am —getting— am old! Life moves on and sadly that means we must too.

Sorry that was my attempt at strike through getting!

Thanks for helping to promote interest in some of the wonderfully diverse programmes the BBC has to offer snowberryZ.