The long-running newspaper roundup, What The Papers Say, is being silenced 60 years after it first aired.
The weekly programme analysing press coverage of the week’s major stories is to come to an end next month due to cost-cutting, said Radio 4.
What the Papers Say has been running on BBC radio since 2010 after being dropped from television a couple of years earlier. The programme had run as a TV series for 52 years on various channels including ITV and Channel 4 before it was given the chop by BBC2 in 2008.
But it was given a new lease of life on radio two years later when the then Radio 4 controller, Mark Damazer, decided to bring it back for that year’s general election.
For many journalists and political commentators, its demise will mark the end of an era. Its simple format – actors reading out some of the best quotations and coverage from the papers, framed with comments from a different journalist presenting the show each week – was required listening for years.
There has been speculation about how relevant the programme is in an era of declining print circulation, with more and more listeners consuming news online. Radio 4 also now has The Media Show, which often covers the press.
In its heyday, What the Papers Say was a tour de force in the newspaper industry, even spawning its own lively awards ceremony until 2008.
But the show has had a peripatetic life. It began on ITV and was made by Granada Television before moving to Channel 4 when the channel launched in 1982. It was dropped by the commercial station seven years later but immediately rescued by BBC2.
A Radio 4 spokesman said: “Across the BBC we have to make significant savings, and whilst we’re doing everything we can to protect the range and breadth of Radio 4’s output, some on-air changes are unfortunately inevitable.
“From April 2016, Westminster Hour will be extended to finish at 11pm and we’ll broadcast special What the Papers Say episodes around selected editorial moments. We’ll continue to review the papers on Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme on Sunday mornings and look at the headlines on Today throughout the week.”
There was sadness among many journalists at the news: Evening Standard columnist, Economist senior editor and radio presenter Anne McElvoy said its late time slot had “guaranteed” its demise.
Sad that "What the Papers Say" is ending on R4. Was put on at mad time on Sunday night after a lengthy political show. Guaranteed euthansia.
— anne mcelvoy (@annemcelvoy) February 26, 2016
McElvoy, who has appeared on the show, also said she enjoyed working with the actors who read out the stories.
2) The best bit of What the Papers Say was of course working w the actors. Including one whose other work featured doing porno audio books.
— anne mcelvoy (@annemcelvoy) February 26, 2016
Iain Dale also lamented its demise:
As an occasional presenter of the programme, I'm very sorry to see that Radio 4 are axing 'What the Papers Say'. Nothing is sacred anymore
— Iain Dale (@IainDale) February 26, 2016
