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''The World at One'' (or ''WATO'', pronounced "what-oh") is
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
's long-running lunchtime news and current affairs radio programme, broadcast weekdays from 13:00 to 13:45 and produced by
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
. The programme describes itself as "Britain's leading political programme. With a reputation for rigorous and original investigation, it is required listening in Westminster". From 7 November 2011, the programme was extended in length from 30 minutes to 45 minutes.


History

The programme began on 4 October 1965 on the
BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
and its launch is considered to have been key in making news programmes "appointment to listen" broadcasting. As the then head of BBC Radio, Jenny Abramsky, noted, the programme started at a time when the '' Today'' programme was still in a magazine format. ''The World at One'' "broke new ground in news broadcasting and was one of the reasons why radio is still important today", helping establish a form of current affairs programme that influenced the creation of ''
Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...
'' in 1980 and ''
Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...
'' in 1982. The launch of ''The World at One'' was part of a wider change in BBC news and current affairs coverage; more journalists were arriving from
Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...
and replacing a more sedate and collegiate culture. John Timpson said that by 1966 or 1967, " Oxbridge accent was no longer as important as a good contacts book, a shrewd eye for a new angle, and a skin like a rhinoceros" and that the news offices "no longer had the leisurely atmosphere of a club smoking room". The programme had attracted criticism as it seemed to blend together news and current affairs, and break down the distinction made between reporting and interpretation. David Hendy, in ''Life on Air: A History of Radio Four'', said that this change was more a change in aesthetic than it was in underlying organizational structure: "by allowing the programme presenter to write and deliver the headlines, it did appear to blur it he distinction between news and commenton air". In his history of radio news and current affairs, "Public Issue Radio", Hugh Chignell pointed out that ''The World at One'' was a highly successful but also a profoundly controversial innovation. It provided a successful approach to news and current affairs which would be cloned elsewhere but at the same time it horrified the more Reithian wing of the BBC, who reacted in the 1970s by creating single subject current affairs programmes (''Analysis'' and '' File on 4'') in reaction to ''The World at One's'' "vulgar" journalism. That vulgarity was personified by its first presenter, William Hardcastle, who was a former editor of the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' and had also been Washington Correspondent for
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
. The
Radio Academy The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chai ...
Hall of Fame says he "had a businesslike, but warm, broadcasting voice, and a style that emphasised fact rather than comment, bringing some Fleet Street urgency to the radio presentation of news". Hardcastle did not want to do the programme every day, so Andrew Boyle suggested he share the job with William Davis, another presenter whose career did not wholly depend on the BBC. The programme was a success from the start. Over two million people were tuning in by the end of 1965, and would eventually reach four million by 1975. In 1998, the then Controller of Radio 4, James Boyle, reduced the duration of the programme from 40 to 30 minutes as part of a series of schedule changes. ''The World at One'' is still known for its robust journalism. After a short introduction to the programme, there is a six-minute news bulletin, followed by serious political interviews and in-depth reports. Robin Day, James Naughtie and Nick Clarke are some previous presenters of the programme. From late 2005, Shaun Ley presented the show while Clarke recovered from an operation to amputate his left leg. Clarke returned part-time in August 2006. Other stand-in presenters have included Brian Hanrahan, Guto Harri, Laura Trevelyan, Stephen Sackur, Carolyn Quinn, James Robbins and Mark Mardell. The main presenter until March 2018 was
Martha Kearney Martha Catherine Kearney (born 8 October 1957) is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme '' The World at One'' for 11 years. In April 2018, Kearney joined the presenting ...
, who presented from Monday to Thursday, with Ley usually in the chair on Friday. In April 2018 Sarah Montague took over the lead presenting role from Kearney, who left to take over Montague's previous role as part of the '' Today'' team. In 2012 and 2014 the programme was nominated as one of the best news and current affairs programmes in the Radio Academy Awards. The previous week's programmes can be listened to again using
BBC Sounds BBC Sounds is an Over-the-top media service, over-the-top audio streaming media, streaming and download service from the BBC that includes live radio broadcasts, Streaming media, audio on demand, and podcasts. The service is available on a wide ...
or downloaded as a podcast. Many reporters and producers have spent some time working on the programme, including Sue MacGregor, Kirsty Wark, Jonathan Dimbleby, Roger Cook, George Alagiah, Jenny Abramsky, Roger Hearing, Sian Williams, Kirsty Lang, Martin Fewell, Shelagh Fogarty, David Jessel,
Nick Ross Nicholas David Ross (born 7 August 1947) is an English radio and television presenter. During the 1980s and 1990s he was one of the most ubiquitous of British broadcasters but is best known for hosting the BBC Television programme ''Crimewatc ...
, Ben Bradshaw, Juliet Bremner, Susannah Simons, Pallab Ghosh and
Martha Kearney Martha Catherine Kearney (born 8 October 1957) is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme '' The World at One'' for 11 years. In April 2018, Kearney joined the presenting ...
.


Presenters


Notable previous presenters

* William Hardcastle (1965–75) * William Davis (1965–?) * Peter Hobday * Alan Watson * Brian Widlake * David Jessel (1970–72) * Sir Robin Day (1979–87) * James Naughtie (1988–94) * Nick Clarke (1994–2006) *
Martha Kearney Martha Catherine Kearney (born 8 October 1957) is a British-Irish journalist and broadcaster. She was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's lunchtime news programme '' The World at One'' for 11 years. In April 2018, Kearney joined the presenting ...
(2007–2018) * Shaun Ley (2005–2018) * Mark Mardell (2014–2020)


The World This Weekend

''The World This Weekend'' is a weekly news and current affairs programme broadcast from 13:00 to 13:30 on
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
every Sunday. It was launched on 17 September 1967. Since the departure of Mark Mardell as the programme's main presenter in 2020, it has frequently been presented by either Jonny Dymond or Edward Stourton.


Presenters

Past presenters include: * James Cox (1994–2005) * Nick Clarke (1989–1994) * Gordon Clough * Shaun Ley (2007–2014) * Mark Mardell (2014–2020)


See also

* '' Today'' – Radio 4's early morning stablemate to ''The World at One''. * '' PM'' – Radio 4's early evening stablemate to ''The World at One''. * ''
The World Tonight ''The World Tonight'' is a British current affairs radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4, every weekday evening, which started out as an extension of the 10 pm news. It is produced by BBC News and features news, analysis and comment on dome ...
'' – Radio 4's late evening stablemate to ''The World at One''.


References

Chignell, Hugh ''Public Issue Radio'' (2011) Palgrave MacMillan pp 85–87


External links

*
The Radio Academy Hall of Fame - William Hardcastle
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