Mark Damazer

In the print media, it’s long been acknowledged that some reporters find it hard to let the facts get in the way of a good story. To what extent might this be true in the broadcast media? Who really decides what goes out on air? How far can Radio 4’s flagship programme Today be trusted? And what about all those You & Yours, Law in Action, and Money Box programmes? If fiction is where truth lies, are we best listening to the Afternoon Play, the Classic Serial, or Book at Bedtime? Is Radio 4 all it’s cracked up to be?

Fellow of the Radio Academy, former Controller of Radio 4, erstwhile current affairs producer for the BBC World Service, editor for Newsnight, and now Master of St Peter’s College, Oxford, Mark Damazer CBE, knows a thing or two about words that are broadcast on our airwaves. It’s reckoned that radio is ‘in his blood’.