Hollywood actress and campaigner Angelina Jolie is set to guest edit the Today programme during the festive period.

The Hollywood star, 43, will take the reins of the flagship news and current affairs show on BBC Radio 4 for a one-day stint.

Outgoing Question Time host David Dimbleby, 80, will also guest edit, while the subject of “outer space” will be explored in a separate, theme-based instalment of the Radio 4 programme.

Mother-of-six Jolie has already begun work on the show and will explore some of the “pressing issues of our time”, according to her spokesperson.

“Angelina is grateful for this opportunity to draw on the BBC’s global expertise and network to explore practical solutions to a number of pressing issues of our time,” they said.

“She has already begun working with the Today programme team and is looking forward to engaging a broad and diverse range of voices in the programme.”

Last year, Prince Harry was among the guest editors of the programme, interviewing his own father, Prince Charles, and former US president Barack Obama.

Actress Carey Mulligan, comedian Sir Lenny Henry, House of Commons Speaker John Bercow and Professor Stephen Hawking have also previously steered the show for a Christmas special.

Sarah Sands is editor of the Today programme, leaving her role as editor of the Evening Standard last year to join the BBC.

Picture: Yui Mok/PA Wire

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Ofcom has rapped LBC after presenter Steve Allen mocked a blind BBC journalist who has been assigned a guide horse because he is afraid of dogs, saying: “I’ve never heard of anything so stupid”.

The talk radio host, who is on air between 4am and 7am on weekdays, made the comments as he discussed a Times story headlined: “Guide horse for blind man afraid of dogs” on 1 October.

BBC North West Tonight journalist Mohammed Salim Patel will be helped by a US miniature horse called Digby, which will give him the same assistance as a guide dog once his training is complete.

Patel (pictured) is afraid of dogs and hopes Digby will be able to help him on his commute and with everyday tasks.

Allen said: “Also, the guide horse for the blind man who’s afraid of dogs. Well if he’s blind, tell him it’s a rabbit or something. I’ve never heard of anything so stupid.

“This is the blind man scared of dogs hoping that a horse will guide him on his commute. Where are you going to take that for goodness sake? You can’t take it on the train, can you?”

Allen added that if Patel is afraid of dogs, “don’t give him anything at all then. Just give him a white stick”.

He then compared it to the BBC hiring a blind cameraman, saying: “I was sort of thinking to myself how does that work out? He’s blind – somebody’s going to have to say to him ‘little bit to the right, little bit to the left, little bit, oh, up, oh no missed it completely’. It just doesn’t work.

“I can understand people going ‘oh I want to be treated the same’, but I mean, you know, a joke’s a joke I think.”

Ofcom investigated after a listener complained Allen had made discriminatory comments about blind people.

LBC told the regulator the programme is centred around Allen’s “unique and acerbic take on the news of the day” and that his “very brief” commentary on this story had lasted under a minute.

The radio station added that Allen had been “expressing genuine surprise” at the Times story and had “rhetorically questioned the practicality of using a guide horse for assistance within an office space or on public transport”.

It also said Allen had put across the “valid point” that not all blind people use guide dogs, and added that the presenter was not aware a similar guide horse scheme already exists in the US.

LBC told Ofcom Allen was “aware that his comments may have had the capacity to offend” but that it was not his intention “to treat the blind community with insensitivity” and that he has a long history of working with the Royal National Institute of Blind People. It said he has agreed to treat similar discussions with “more consideration” in future.

LBC also improved some of its compliance procedures because of the investigation, including giving specialised training with an emphasis on sensitivity around material relating to minority communities to its presenters and producers.

It assigned an additional producer to Allen’s show “with specific responsibility for compliance and control of the ‘dump button’”, and said its compliance team would carry out more sampling and monitoring of the programme.

Ofcom said it took into account LBC’s improvements but that it did not consider that the inclusion of the offensive material was justified by its context, making it in breach of Rule 2.3 of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

The broadcast regulator said that Allen’s comment “if he’s blind, tell him it’s a rabbit or something” seemed to imply blind people cannot differentiate between dogs and rabbits and could be interpreted as “belittling blind people and offering a highly pejorative view of them”.

Ofcom added: “In our view the potential offence was exacerbated by Steve Allen mocking the idea that the BBC had employed a blind cameraman.

“We considered that this was likely to have been interpreted by listeners as a further example of the presenter using a pejorative and discriminatory attitude to blind people.”

Ofcom also said Allen’s “acerbic” presenting style did not excuse “belittling the abilities of blind people in general, or more specifically a blind person who had chosen to equip himself with a guide horse”.

The brevity of his comments did not lessen the potential offence, which would also have been increased by Allen’s “clearly limited” understanding of the topic, Ofcom said.

The regulator found that Allen’s remarks “could be construed as offering a pejorative view about a group protected under the Equality Act 2010 without sufficient context”.

Read the full Ofcom ruling here (from page six).

Picture: BBC

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BBC newsreader Moira Stuart is joining Classic FM to present the morning news from February next year.

Stuart will read the news from 6am to 10am – during the radio station’s breakfast show and its flagship morning programme with John Suchet.

The broadcaster will go on to present her own Saturday afternoon show – Moira Stuart’s Hall of Fame Concert – from July next year and a new weekend show in the autumn.

“I couldn’t be more excited and delighted to be joining the Classic FM family,” said Stuart. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to take a whole new journey, with people I really like and admire.”

Stuart has been at the BBC for more than 40 years, during which time she became a household name presenting evening news bulletins.

She left the corporation in 2007, prompting claims she was a victim of age discrimination, before returning to read the news on BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show in 2010. She joined alongside Chris Evans, who is moving to Virgin Radio’s Breakfast Show in the New Year.

Sam Jackson, managing editor of Classic FM, said: “Moira is a broadcasting legend and is known to millions of people on television and radio, so I am thrilled that she has chosen Classic FM as her new home.

“Her passion for classical music and decades of experience make her the perfect addition to our 2019 line-up.

“From her morning news bulletins to her new weekend show – and with another new series to follow – I know that our 5.2m weekly listeners will join me in welcoming her to Classic FM next year.”

Stuart was paid up to £170,000 at the BBC, according to top on-air talent salaries released earlier this year. This was down from the up to £200,000 salary revealed when the figures were first published last year.

Classic FM is part of Global, which also owns LBC and Capital FM.

Picture: Global

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Ofcom has rejected a call from commercial radio group Wireless, part of Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, for a competition review into how the BBC acquires sports rights for Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Radio 4.

The group, which owns radio stations Talksport and Talksport 2, claimed the BBC’s activities in this area “harmed competition” for commercial sports radio, including its own ability to procure rights.

Broadcast regulator Ofcom acknowledged that as a large public-funded organisation the BBC “may harm the ability of other companies to compete effectively” by potentially crowding-out UK investment.

But, in a response to Wireless’ request, published today, it said there was “limited evidence” to suggest Talksport’s “ability to compete is under threat”.

It said Talksport was profitable and had built a “sizeable portfolio” of sports rights, sometimes beating the BBC in auctions, such as last year winning the right to broadcast all English Football League matches.

Ofcom also claimed there was evidence to suggest that the BBC’s radio sports rights expenditure could be decreasing.

It said: “Having reviewed Wireless’ submission, we consider it would not be appropriate to exercise our discretion to launch a BBC Competition Review at this time.

“This is principally because the way in which the BBC acquires radio sports rights does not appear to have changed materially since the BBC Charter came into effect in December 2016, and any consumer harm resulting from the way the BBC acquires radio sports rights seems unlikely to be material.”

BBC Radio 5 LIve and Radio 5 Live Sports Extra has the rights to broadcast 144 premier league matches, compared to 89 for Talksport and Talksport 2.

The BBC also has the rights to Ashes cricket, international rugby, tennis, Formula 1 and boxing, where Talksport has none.

A Wireless spokesperson said: “We believe in consumer choice and, as Ofcom points out, the BBC is the largest player in radio sports rights, with the deepest pockets.

“The playing field between commercial radio and the BBC has always been uneven and we believe the BBC’s approach to radio sports rights acquisitions should be analysed.

“We are reviewing Ofcom’s statement and considering our next steps.”

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The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio will be free of ad breaks thanks to a sponsorship deal with Sky.

The agreement will see Sky will put money into the programme in exchange for branded content, competitions and events.

Rupert Murdoch’s News UK, which owns Virgin Radio through the Wireless Group, suggested the ad-free format would be welcomed by listeners moving over from Evans’ show on BBC Radio 2.

Murdoch also owned part of Sky before rival Comcast won a bidding war for the UK broadcaster earlier this year.

In a statement, Evans said: “So much has changed in broadcasting since I was last at Virgin Radio that now, thanks to Sky, we can do the show without ad breaks.”

Sky UK and Ireland chief executive Stephen van Rooyen added: “The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Virgin Radio will bring audiences something completely new, bold and fresh – everything we love at Sky.

“We’re excited to create an innovative radio first with Chris and Virgin Radio, and bring Sky customers even more of the entertainment they love when Virgin Radio launches across Sky from 7 January.”

Virgin Radio will be added to Sky+ and Sky Q TV packages on 7 January next year.

The Chris Evans Breakfast Show will be available online, DAB digital radio and the Virgin Radio app. It will air from 6.30am-10am, starting from 21 January.

Evans made his last appearance on Radio 2 today. He will be replaced by Zoe Ball.

Speaking during his final show, Evans said: “Thank you to the BBC for supporting me, and trusting me with one of their precious microphones for the last years, for allowing me to grow every minute of every day that I have been on air.

“Live from Glastonbury, live from the beaches of northern France for the commemoration of the Normandy landings or having a blast in the middle of one of our regular Friday shows.

“The mayhem there of the usually attendant nonsense that they involve. And yes, all that incredible music. Right here in Terry’s old studio. Studio 6C at Wogan House in London.”

Picture: News UK

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The BBC has written to Russian authorities amid concerns about an apparent leak of personal information about its staff based in Moscow.

The Guardian reported last week that details of 44 journalists working for the broadcaster in Russia were posted on a social media network.

The information was then reprinted by a Russian news website with photographs from the journalists’ social media profiles.

BBC World Service director Jamie Angus (pictured) said: “The BBC has asked the Russian authorities to investigate this worrying development.

“The welfare and security of our staff in Moscow is our overriding concern.

“Our long-standing news operations in Moscow are of great value to our audiences in the UK and around the world.

“We have always operated in Russia in full compliance with the country’s laws and regulations.

“That is why it is particularly troubling to us that private staff information which we have shared with Russian authorities as part of our lawful operation in Russia has been disclosed in this way.”

The apparent leak came days after the Sunday Times published the names and photos of staff working at Kremlin-backed radio station Sputnik’s UK bureau based in Edinburgh.

The sharing of someone else’s private personal information online is known as “doxxing”.

Last month Russia’s media watchdog announced it was opening an investigation into the BBC, a day after UK broadcast regulator Ofcom ruled that RT (formerly Russia Today) had breached its broadcasting code.

RT is also owned and funded by the Russian state.

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Tributes have been paid to BBC journalist and weather presenter Dianne Oxberry following her death aged 51, just weeks after she was last on air.

The mother-of-two, who had been suffering from cancer, died at Manchester’s Christie Hospital yesterday.

The BBC said Oxberry died after a “short illness” and said the “very sad news has come as a huge shock to everyone at the BBC in the North West”.

Broadcasters Dan Walker, Simon Mayo and Jane Garvey were among those who paid tribute to the “amazing” Oxberry.

She worked alongside Mayo and Steve Wright on Radio 1 before moving to North West Tonight in 1994.

A clip of BBC North West’s “favourite moments” of the presenter shows Oxberry getting a hug from comic Peter Kay after he interrupts her broadcast and tells her: “You’ve made it sunshine, for everybody.”

Thank you all for your kind words about our wonderful colleague Dianne. Here's some of our favourite moments pic.twitter.com/fYGveghgFc

— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) January 11, 2019

She remained with North West Tonight until her death and was last on-air in mid-December.

Oxberry’s husband, Ian Hindle, said she was an “amazing wife and mother who embraced life to the full”.

“She was an inspiration to all who knew and loved her but also to the people who watched and welcomed her into their homes each night as if she were part of their family too.”

He said: “She will leave a massive void in our lives but, because of the remarkable person she was, she will forever live on in our hearts. The children and I will miss her more than anyone can imagine.”

BBC Breakfast host Walker wrote on Twitter: “This is incredibly sad. What an amazing woman Dianne was and such a professional broadcaster. Devastating news for her family. Heartbreaking.”

He added: “What a special person Dianne Oxberry was. I was privileged enough to work with her on BBC North West and she was as loved and admired in the office as she was by the viewers.

“Whenever you were on location everyone would tell you how much they enjoyed watching Dianne. Such sad news.”

Woman’s Hour host Garvey wrote: “Dianne was a formidable voice for women at the BBC, a fantastically supportive colleague. Thank you for speaking up #BBCWomen.”

Mayo wrote: “Devastated to hear this news. She was a wonderful, joyous part of our breakfast team at Radio 1. I loved working with her. My condolences to her family.”

Thanks everyone for your kind words this morning, it means a lot to all of us. pic.twitter.com/ERWpU8Ztgy

— BBC North West (@BBCNWT) January 11, 2019

Oxberry, who lived in Greater Manchester, also fronted regional current affairs show Inside Out North West.

The Sunderland-born broadcaster joined North West Tonight after studying at the Met Office College.

She also presented programmes on BBC Radio Manchester, including the Breakfast Show.

North West Tonight presenter Roger Johnson said: “We are heartbroken by Dianne’s death. It is almost impossible to comprehend. Dianne was North West Tonight. It’s hard to imagine the programme without her.

“Our thoughts are with Ian and all of Dianne’s family. We hope they will find some comfort in the knowledge so many people loved Dianne and will miss her terribly.”

Annabel Tiffin, another presenter of the programme, said: “This is an enormous shock for all of us. I can scarcely believe Dianne has died. She was loved by our viewers, by all of us at North West Tonight. My heart breaks for her family.

“Di was so talented, so beautiful, so funny and so full of life. On screen she was a star, radiating warmth and good humour. Off screen, she was a wonderful colleague, a loyal friend, and I will miss her terribly.”

Oxberry’s weather presenting colleague Simon King paid an emotional tribute on 5 Live this morning.

“It’s devastating, absolutely devastating. It’s been such a quick process, this whole thing,” he told the station’s breakfast show.

“It’s hit us like a ton of bricks, it really has. ”

Presenter Rachel Burden asked him: “Are you OK to do the weather?”

“Yes,” he replied, his voice breaking, before saying: “So, excuse me,” and going on to regain his composure and present the forecast.

Co-host Nicky Campbell told him afterwards: “You did her proud Si.”

Burden said she got to know Oxberry in the last couple of years “as part of the BBC Women’s Network and she was an incredible support and a great champion for her female colleagues here at the BBC”.

“I can’t tell you the impact she made in talking to other people and supporting them in their own personal journeys,” she said.

“She was a really loyal and very generous colleague to people here.”

Campbell described Oxberry as a “wonderful person, sweet and warm woman”.

He added: “She kept it real. She was so genuine on the air. There was no affectation at all.”

Helen Thomas, director of BBC England, said Oxberry had a “remarkable career” and added: “She was a brilliant weather presenter, showed she could do serious journalism with Inside Out and could do the lighter end of broadcasting brilliantly whenever it was needed.

“Above all she was a lovely woman whose sudden and shocking death has robbed the BBC of one of our brightest stars. I’m thinking of all her family and friends at this awful time.”

A book of condolences for staff and visitors has been opened at the BBC’s Quay House reception at Media City in Salford.

Picture: BBC/PA Wire

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BBC journalist Tina Daheley has been announced as the newsreader for the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2 when it launches on Monday.

Ball will be the first female host on the UK’s most popular breakfast show, replacing Chris Evans who stepped down last month to move to Virgin Radio, part of Rupert Murdoch’s Wireless Group.

Daheley, who read news bulletins on the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw until last August, will be joined by travel news presenter Richie Anderson, sports presenter Mike Williams and existing weather presenter Carol Kirkwood.

Ball said: “I am thrilled to be joined by such a talented trio in the form of Richie, Tina and Mike. Now this top team are ready for Monday, we can’t wait for people to hear the show.”

Daheley made her debut on the BBC News at Six and BBC News at Ten last year and launched Today spin-off podcast Beyond Today with co-host Matthew Price, focusing on a single news story each day to offer younger listeners a “different take” on the headlines. She will continue on the podcast alongside the breakfast show.

Daheley has also filled-in for regular presenters on BBC Breakfast and the Victoria Derbyshire Show, and co-presented Crimewatch with Jeremy Vine.

Her new BBC Radio 2 role sees her replace newsreader Moira Stuart, who is joining Classic FM to read the morning news.

She said: “After ten years and three consecutive breakfast shows on Radio 1/1Xtra I swore I’d never do it again.

“But being asked to take over from my news idol and broadcasting legend Moira Stuart on the biggest breakfast show in the UK with the first female host in its history, it was an offer I couldn’t turn down. I can’t wait to start working with Zoe.”

Anderson is joining the breakfast show from BBC WM in the West Midlands and has previously reported for The One Show and on the red carpet for events such as the BBC Music Awards and Sports Personality of the Year.

He described it as an “absolute dream” to join the breakfast show and “work with Zoe and the rest of the amazingly talented team”.

Williams joined BBC Sport in 2011 and has since worked as a sports newsreader at 5 Live, the World Service, the Asian Network, and Newsbeat. He has already covered on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show.

He said: “In the late 90s, I used to get up early every Saturday morning to watch Zoe present Live and Kicking, so it’s now pretty mind-blowing to be joining her team on the brand new Zoe Ball Breakfast Show.

“This is a genuine dream job on the biggest show in the country and I can’t wait to bring the sports news to millions of listeners every morning.”

Helen Thomas, head of content commissioning at Radio 2, said: “It’s wonderful that Tina Daheley will be bringing her news presenting expertise to The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, joining Mike, Richie, Carol, and of course Zoe, to launch what I know will be an incredible show next week.”

Picture: BBC

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The BBC World Service is searching for new talent through an internship open to bilingual UK adults who have a passion for journalism.

The six-week Future Voices training scheme will give interns the chance to experience life as a BBC journalist, working in both English and one of the 40 languages covered by the World Service.

Interns will be given a mentor and trained across radio, TV and digital journalism with “lots of insight and knowledge into the world of international news,” the BBC said.

“This traineeship will give you the confidence and BBC contacts to apply for opportunities to continue developing your skills and experience.”

Osob Elmi, a former intern of BBC Somali Service, said: “For me, Future Voices gave me the opportunity to not only learn skills from professional journalists, it’s also allowed me to create and tell stories in my native language which is Somali, and it’s something that I love to do.”

Meanwhile the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford has opened applications for its annual, fully-funded journalist fellowships.

The fellowships are aimed at practising journalists from all over the world with at least five years’ experience who want to research a topic relating to their work and the broader media industry before going back into newsrooms.

Past topics have included mobile storytelling and issues of censorship and human rights abuses in the Middle East.

Reuters said: “The fellowships offer an opportunity to network with a global group of journalists, spend time away from the daily pressure of deadlines, and examine the key issues facing the industry, with input from leading experts and practitioners.”

Meera Selva, director of the programme, added: “We look for people who are enthusiastic and engaged to think about the industry, and are willing to talk with other people and make the best of their time here.”

Go here to find out more about the BBC’s Future Voices scheme. Information about the Reuters fellowship can be found here.

Picture: Reuters/Peter Nicholls

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The BBC will cut the number of senior managers working for local radio and TV in England and create six new senior editorial roles in the region’s biggest leadership restructure for 50 years.

The new roles comprise a head of news, head of TV commissioning and four regional heads for the north, midlands, east and south east, and west and south west – although they have yet to be filled.

They will work alongside head of audio and digital Chris Burns, who was appointed in September last year and leads on radio. Her title replaces that of head of local radio.

There are currently ten heads of regional and a head of digital for England, but all of these posts will be axed in the restructure, bringing the number of senior managers from 11 to eight.

Those whose jobs are affected will be able to apply for the new posts or other roles within the BBC.

BBC England director Helen Thomas, who took on the role in June last year, said: “These changes will ensure we have a clear management structure. We’ll also be saving money as the number of senior managers will be reduced.

“We want to have clear leaders for all our services and operate in terms of platforms rather than geographical locations. Ultimately, this is all about providing a better experience for our audiences.”

The plans, announced today, are part of a drive to “reinvent and refresh” the BBC’s offer to English audiences, by adapting to reflect their changing demographics and tastes and continuing to provide “trusted local news”.

The BBC has said it will expand its online platform The Social into England. It was created by BBC Scotland to develop ideas and commission content from young people to run across the BBC.

The Social is viewed by “millions of online users each week”, according to the BBC.

Other commitments include continuing work already underway to “reinvent local radio so it owns local conversations, fully reflects the diverse communities it serves and becomes the front-door for new talent into the BBC”.

The BBC said last year was the “biggest shake-up of BBC Local Radio in a generation” with each station launching 15 hours of new original content every week after local programming was reintroduced into weekday evening schedules.

Said Thomas: “BBC England is in a strong position. Our regional TV bulletins at 6.30pm are collectively the most watched news programme on UK TV. Six million people listen to our local radio stations each week. People value the services we offer.

“But there are significant groups who don’t engage enough with what we do. England is changing and audience behaviour is changing too. This presents us with a challenge and an exciting opportunity.

“We’re going to reinvent and refresh what we do in England to ensure we reflect all of the country’s diverse communities while providing services in ways people want them.

“We will be about more than news – we will own local conversations and reflect life in modern England, recognising the different audience demands in different parts of the country and what that means for our output.

“And we will become the BBC’s front-door for new talent, the place where the broadcasting stars of tomorrow are uncovered and nurtured.”

The changes to BBC England will be introduced throughout 2019.

Picture: Reuters/Neil Hall 

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Radio revenues are set to rise modestly this year while smart speaker adoption leaps, according to predictions by Deloitte which claims radio could hold fast against digital disruption.

Global radio revenue is forecast to grow by 1 per cent to £31.6bn in 2019 with smart speakers predicted to see a 63 per cent year-on-year growth in sales, the professional services firm has forecast.

Deloitte also predicts that 3bn people worldwide will listen to the radio on a weekly basis in 2019. 

It counts the UK as the fifth largest market for radio revenues, netting £1.3bn in 2017 compared to the £17.2bn bagged by US radio stations.

The BBC dominates local radio in the UK, but faces growing competition from commercial radio stations such as LBC, part of Global, and Talkradio, part of the News UK-owned Wireless Group.

Deloitte also predicts that around 47m people in the UK will listen to radio weekly – reaching 90 per cent of adults, including 83 per cent of 15-24 year olds and 88 per cent of 25-34 year olds.

Deloitte global head of research for technology, media and telecoms Paul Lee said: “Radio advertising is underestimated, with many unaware of the influence it holds for brands.

“As traditional media and television viewing figures continue to struggle, listening figures for radio are holding steady.

“Radio will continue to play an integral role in advertising campaigns for years to come. In a world where digital changes everything, radio may be the exception.”

The success of radio was partly put down to people’s ability to listen to it while doing other activities.

In its 2019 predictions for smart speakers, devices that have caught the ear of several news outlets, Deloitte forecast it would be the “fastest-growing connected device”.

In a statement on Deloitte’s smart speaker predictions, Lee said: “Smart speaker adoption has seen phenomenal growth in recent years.

“With improvements continuing to be made, demand for smart speakers could be in the many billions of units, possibly even higher than for smartphones.

“In the future, smart speakers have the potential to be installed in every room in a house, hotel, office, school and even beside every hospital bed.”

Deloitte expects the 63 per cent year-on-year growth of the smart speaker market to generate £5.6bn of global revenues and sell 164m units this year, up from 98m last year.

It said approximately 6.2m UK adults had access to a smart speaker by the middle of 2018.

The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism Digital News Report published last year found that 43 per cent of smart-speaker users got news through smart speakers.

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A victim of sexual exploitation in Rotherham panicked and felt sick after she heard her identity revealed in a live BBC radio broadcast, a court has heard.

BBC Asian Network head of news Arif Ansari is on trial accused of breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 which entitles all complainants of sexual offences to lifelong anonymity.

Ansari (pictured), of BBC Portland Place, London, denies breaching the act.

Sheffield Magistrates’ Court heard today how BBC Asian Network reporter Rickin Majithia revealed the real name of the complainant in a rape trial during a live report on the case in February 2018.

Prosecutor Neil Usher told the court how Majithia made the mistake as he wrongly believed the name he used was a pseudonym.

Usher said the woman was listening to the broadcast as it went out live.

In a statement read to the court, the complainant said: “I immediately panicked but carried on listening.”

She added: “I cannot believe this has happened to me.”

In her statement, the woman said it had been hard enough to give evidence at the Sheffield Crown Court trial and added: “To then have my name given out as a victim of rape on a BBC radio station was unbelievable.”

She said it has made her “feel sick”.

She also said in her statement: “At this point I went into full meltdown – panicking and crying – and I didn’t hear anything else that was said.”

Usher said that Ansari, 43, was the producer who checked the script used by his reporter ahead of the live report on 6 February.

Giving evidence, Majithia said he had not covered a trial before.

Majithia told the court he found out about his mistake about ten minutes after the broadcast when he had a call from Jayne Senior, a community worker in Rotherham.

He said: “I was horrified and I am horrified. I’m deeply, deeply sorry to the victim and her family. It’s something I will regret until the day I die.”

The reporter drafted an email to the woman apologising for the “genuine mistake” but it was not sent due to advice from his superiors.

In the email he said: “I had a number of different things going on in my head that afternoon and I made a human error. It was a moment of confusion I will regret forever.”

He told the court he had been suffering from stress at work which he said Ansari was aware of.

Majithia told the court how he had begun to report the case on the second day of the trial after travelling up from London the night before.

The case involved a taxi driver who raped the woman when she was a teenager in Rotherham.

Majithia explained how the woman gave evidence in court from behind a screen and he wrongly assumed that when her forename was used in court it was a pseudonym.

The reporter said that he had a number of previous dealings with the woman as he investigated the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal and had become confused, thinking that the name he had always called her was her real one, when it was not.

Majithia said that he returned to London very upset and met Ansari in a pub near their office that night.

He said he had been at the BBC for nine years but only been a reporter for a year.

After Majithia finished giving evidence, District Judge Naomi Redhouse said to him: “This is not a trial in which you’ve been charged with anything. I hope you understand that.”

She also said that Majithia was a “diligent journalist who’s made a mistake” and asked that his emailed apology should be read to the complainant.

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A senior BBC executive has been cleared of breaking the law over by naming a victim of the Rotherham sex abuse scandal in a live radio broadcast.

BBC Asian Network head of news Arif Ansari, 44, was found not guilty of breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, which entitles all complainants of sexual offences to lifelong anonymity.

He was cleared today following a two-day trial at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court.

BBC reporter Rickin Majithia used the rape victim’s real name in a broadcast from outside Sheffield Crown Court in February last year. Ansari was producing the programme at the time and had checked the script.

Majithia told the court yesterday that he had wrongly believed the woman had been using her real name when speaking to him out of court and that the name read out in court had been a pseudonym.

Ansari (pictured) told the court today: “I trusted his journalism. He was a good journalist. This was not a complex legal issue. This is as basic as it gets. This is what journalists are taught at journalism school.”

He said: “It just struck me as 100 per cent accurate. Rickin was a senior journalist, one of my senior reporters.

“He had a background, professional relationship with the victim in question. I didn’t. I had never met her. I was in London.

“Furthermore, I knew that he knew that he could not name her, use her real name. Put all these factors together, it did not occur to me that this could be wrong.”

The editor added: “I trusted my reporter and the reason I sent him to Sheffield was to make sure he got it right.”

Ansari told the district judge about conversations he had with Majithia about legal aspects of the case before he travelled to Sheffield.

He said his main legal concerns were over the reporter’s plan to interview the woman and whether any report would prejudice a future, linked trial.

Ansari said: “The fact we couldn’t name the victim is just straightforward and very obvious. That wasn’t my concern.”

Majithia told the court that the trial in Sheffield was the first court case he had ever covered as a journalist.

Ansari said he did not know this until his reporter returned to London “very badly shaken” and “in a really bad way” after the mistake became clear.

“I remember being somewhat shocked that he hadn’t previously told me that,” he told the court.

He agreed that he had described Majithia as a “bit of a loose cannon” but said this referred to him not always communicating about stories he was researching.

Ansari – who was BBC North West political editor for seven years – said the first he knew about the mistake was when Majithia rang him ten minutes after his live broadcast.

He said: “He was in a state of panic – ‘I’ve got the name wrong’. He just said ‘it wasn’t a pseudonym, that was her real name’.”

The woman who was named in the report sat through the journalist’s trial and left at the end with a man, believed to be her father, who shouted: “You were lucky she wasn’t found dead, mate.”

Majithia said in a statement after the verdict that he was relieved of his reporting duties within days of the mistake and has since suffered health issues.

“I am truly sorry for happened and will remain so for the rest of my life,” he said, adding: “I want to repeat my deepest regret for this mistake to the victim and her family.

“I had previously reported on how much they had suffered at the hands of a grooming gang. It pains me to know that this mistake has caused further hurt.

“I travelled from London to Sheffield at the invitation of the victim with the sole intention of helping her to tell her story.

“Unfortunately I was unable to attend the first day of the trial and I arrived in Sheffield late at night after a fifteen hour work day on 5 February 2018.

“The mistake occurred the following day while I was in a state of extreme exhaustion and confusion.

“I had never covered a criminal trial before and wrongly believed that the victim was being addressed by a pseudonym in court because she was speaking from behind a screen to protect her identity and because she had previously communicated with me by a different name.

“I didn’t know that pseudonyms are not usually used in such trials.

“I had my script checked by my manager, but unfortunately the error wasn’t picked up and the script was approved.

“The mistake happened without malice or intent. Nevertheless, it should not have happened at all.”

Picture: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

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The BBC has repeated its belief that it should have been faced charges after a reporter named a rape victim during a live news bulletin last year, rather than the programme’s editor who has been cleared in court.

BBC Asian Network head of news Arif Ansari was charged with breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992, which gives lifetime anonymity to victims of sexual offences.

Ansari, who denied the charge, was found not guilty by a judge after a two-day trial at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court last week.

BBC reporter Rickin Majithia believed he was using a pseudonym when he broadcast the name of a woman who had been raped by a taxi driver in Rotherham, in fact it had been her real name.

The mistake was aired in a radio report of the trial on 6 February last year.

Majithia told the court on Thursday he had never covered a trial before, and thought the name used in court for the victim was a pseudonym as the woman was giving evidence from behind a screen to protect her identity and because he had previously spoken with her under a different name.

Ansari was the producer who checked the script before broadcast and told the court he “trusted” Majithia, who he described as a “good journalist”.

He said his main legal concerns were over the reporter’s plan to interview the woman and whether any report would prejudice a future, linked trial.

Ansari said: “The fact we couldn’t name the victim is just straightforward and very obvious. That wasn’t my concern.”

The BBC said in a statement on Friday night it was “relieved” by the verdict and that it had been an “incredibly difficult” time for Ansari.

“He is a highly-regarded and diligent editor who has had the threat of a criminal record hanging over him for many months,” a spokesperson said.

The corporation added: “From the start we have accepted that mistakenly naming a victim of sexual abuse during a live broadcast last February was a serious mistake.

“We apologised directly to the individual concerned and to the court, and we reiterate that again today.”

Since Ansari first appeared in court in September, the BBC has maintained that the corporation itself should have been charged over the error.

“We firmly believe that it should have been the BBC itself answering in court for this mistake, rather than the individual editor,” it said.

By choosing to charge Ansari, the BBC said the Crown Prosecution Service risked “creating a climate of fear for editors seeking to cover the courts in the public interest”.

“Both our editor and our reporter continue to have our full support,” the BBC said on Friday.

District Judge Naomi Redhouse described the error as an “honest mistake” on the part of Majithia.

Delivering her verdict, she said that on balance she could not conclude Ansari had “reasonable suspicion” to believe that the report would breach the victim’s anonymity when he reviewed the script for the broadcast 20 minutes before it was delivered live on air.

But she said: “There may be lessons in this case for the training of court reporters. That’s not going to be a matter for me.”

Following the verdict, Majithia released a statement in which he said he was “truly sorry for happened and will remain so for the rest of my life”.

He said he was relieved of his reporting duties within days of the mistake and has since suffered health issues.

Picture: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

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Buzzfeed UK and the BBC have won prizes for stories shining a spotlight on the problems caused by cuts to legal aid and exposing the scale of the issue around the disclosure of criminal evidence to defence counsels.

Buzzfeed News UK senior reporter Emily Dugan won the print/online category at the 2018 Bar Council Legal Reporting Awards, while the broadcast category was won by BBC Radio 4’s File On 4 team.

The awards recognise the “media’s role in promoting a greater understanding of the law to the public”. The Bar Council represents barristers in England and Wales and also acts as a watchdog.

Dugan (pictured) won for her story, headlined: “A Record Number Of People Are Representing Themselves In Court – This Is What It’s Like”.

She told Press Gazette she spent three days in Birmingham’s civil and family courts to tell the stories of those who have been forced to represent themselves in court due to major legal aid reforms.

Dugan, formerly of the Independent, said legal aid has not had the scrutiny it deserves “given that the cuts to legal aid have been undermining our justice system on a scale that a lot of people don’t realise”.

She added: “The challenge in reporting it is perhaps that people felt they knew in the abstract that legal aid was something that was being cut back but didn’t necessarily know how that translated to ordinary life.

“So I wanted to find a way of telling it in a human way but also have a bigger news revelation.”

Dugan said it is often still challenging for journalists to be accepted by clerks and judges but that “on the whole” she was welcomed in.

“Once they realised what I was writing about a lot of people seemed relieved,” she said.

“The judiciary is pretty critical of these cuts, although they’re not allowed to say publicly a lot of the time. They can see what it’s doing to justice.”

Since 2017, Dugan has been reporting on reforms to the justice system under Buzzfeed’s Access to Justice series and said she intends to continue work which scrutinises the Ministry of Justice and legal aid cuts.

Earlier this month Buzzfeed UK revealed that MoJ staff had called Dugan a “bitch” and “crazy” in internal communications after she obtained the messages through a subject data access request.

Dugan said: “The emails were disappointing to see but I never really wanted them to overshadow the reporting.

“For the last year-and-a-half I’ve just been going back over all the different areas where the department has really undermined justice for people and so I really wanted the focus to stay on that.”

The broadcast category of the Bar Council awards was won by BBC Radio 4’s File on 4 for its programme Disclosing the Truth, which reported on the failure of police and prosecutors in disclosing criminal evidence to the defence even in magistrates’ courts.

Not disclosing material obtained during criminal investigations can lead to evidence that may support the defence being missed.

Producer Alys Harte, reporter Allan Urry and editor Gail Champion were recognised for the programme alongside BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman who brought the findings to a wider audience on the News at Six and News at Ten bulletins.

Harte told Press Gazette: “What the investigation did is probably for the first time gave an indication of the true scale of the disclosure problems in the courts.

“Prior to that the line was that there was a problem that was confined to a very small number of very complex cases in the crown court, but we’d been hearing anecdotally from lawyers that that wasn’t the case.”

The team sent out a survey to lawyers across the UK and received more than 1,000 responses revealing their experiences with disclosure problems happening weekly or even daily.

“It was at every level of the courts and in the magistrates’ courts, and they’re the kind of courts that you or I could end up in quite easily,” Harte said.

“So it was very relevant to our audience because the people who were featured in the programme were just ordinary people who had been accused of things that the courts couldn’t prove that they did.”

Harte said it was “an interesting story from a legal reporting point of view” which became “really relevant to so many people’s lives” following the case of Liam Allan who was wrongly accused of rape and put under police investigation for two years before his trial collapsed in December 2017.

The disclosure problems in the 22-year-old student’s case stemmed from “a combination of error, lack of challenge, and lack of knowledge”, according to a joint review by the Met and Crown Prosecution Service, as reported by the BBC.

Harte said: “After our programme went out it seemed to break the spell.

“By the end of last year the Attorney General’s office was acknowledging that the failing spread across all kinds of criminal cases, so I think among other things it has helped to bring to the fore just how big a challenge that is in our criminal justice system.”

BBC correspondent Sanchia Berg and BBC digital current affairs assistant editor Stephen Mulvey were highly commended in the print/online category for their story headlined: The ‘completely childish’ man hanged for murder.

It examined how one of the last two men hanged in Britain was a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

The awards were judged by outgoing Chair of the Bar 2018 Andrew Walker QC, current Chair of the Bar Richard Atkins QC and Athena Markides, the current Chair of the Bar Council’s Young Barristers’ Committee.

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MPs have expressed their disappointment at what they say is the BBC’s failure to acknowledge that a “pay discrimination problem” exists at the corporation in its response to an earlier report on equal pay.

The BBC has only now issued a formal and detailed reply to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s report which examined Equal Pay at the BBC and was published in October last year.

It followed concerns raised by then BBC China editor Carrie Gracie about a “secretive and illegal pay culture” at the corporation after on-air talent salaries were published for the first time in 2017.

The BBC later apologised to Gracie and admitted she had been underpaid.

The report demanded an end to the BBC’s “culture of invidious, opaque decision-making” over pay which MPs said has led to a “crisis of trust” among staff.

It also said the BBC should “publicly acknowledge that it has a pay discrimination problem, and set out a series of steps to resolve it”.

In its response to that report, only made public by the DCMS Committee today, the BBC has hit back, saying it “does not agree with the committee’s suggestion that it operates a discriminatory pay practice”.

It said: “We recognise that there were specific cases that needed investigation and rectification, and we are in the process of achieving this as quickly as possible, with appropriate rigour.”

The corporation said it accepted that “there are some individual issues of equal pay arising from the past, as well as fair pay issues”, but said it had “put in place new systems and processes to ensure that these risks are mitigated going forward, through robust transparent pay structures”.

The committee has said it is aware of ongoing concerns among female staff at the BBC and claimed that, had it not undertaken its pay inquiry, internal BBC action may not have been taken in the same way.

“It should not take a select committee inquiry for action to be precipitated,” MPs said.

The BBC said that following its annual on-air talent salary disclosures a number of staff, predominantly on-air employees, raised pay concerns.

When BBC directory general Lord Tony Hall appeared before the DCMS inquiry on 11 September last year, there remained 70 unresolved employee grievances, MPs had said.

The BBC said the outcomes of 85 per cent of pay grievances brought by employees since July 2017 had been fed back to them with no further concerns raised, but said it could not give a deadline for when all outstanding grievances would be resolved.

“We understand that the committee is concerned that certain issues are taking a significant time to resolve,” the BBC said.

“We hope the committee will understand that resolution of informal and formal grievances can take some time, especially in complex cases going back several years.

“It is therefore not possible to set an arbitrary deadline for resolving all outstanding queries and grievances.”

It said a “small number” of informal cases remain outstanding “for specific reasons such as staff sickness”. Grievances at the BBC are first dealt with informally where possible.

The committee, led by chairman Damian Collins MP, said this answer was “no substitute for setting out a plan to resolve all outstanding cases, a commitment that the BBC singularly failed to make…”.

MPs said they intended to monitor progress on cases and would take further evidence from the BBC within six months.

In their report on equal pay at the BBC, MPs said it had also failed to set out specific targets for tackling discrimination.

In response, the BBC said it was finalising a Career Path Framework that will “apply to the vast majority of on-air talent” which it intended to publish following the end of consultations and “independent assurance work” which is still underway.

The BBC has also set itself the target of eliminating the gender pay gap by 2020 and having a 50:50 representation of men and women on air.

The corporation rejected the committee’s call for it to publish the salaries of top-earning talent at BBC Studios, its new commercial production arm.

It said: “The BBC does not have information about payments made to talent by independent production companies, who are commercial companies.

“When we commission a programme from an independent production company, we negotiate a price for the programme – individual contractual arrangements with talent are a matter for them.

“If the BBC were to be the only broadcaster in the UK placing this requirement on independent production companies working for us, it would act as a major disincentive for companies to work in partnership with us, and this would inevitably lead to a fall in the  range of high-quality content available to the licence fee payer.”

MPs said that, as a publicly funded body, the BBC has a “responsibility to lead on issues of pay and transparency” and that applying a transparent policy would “help, not hinder, the BBC”.

They said: “The BBC’s “reputational strength is such that we do not believe that independent production companies would stop working with the corporation for this reason.”

On the BBC’s use of personal service companies to pay staff, the committee said it was concerned that the corporation “should work with the presenters affected to find a satisfactory solution”.

The BBC said it was in an “ongoing dialogue” with HM Revenue and Customs to resolve “oustanding issues and clarify employment status to minimise the uncertainty felt by those affected.”

It added: “…we are working with the rest of the media industry and with HMRC to develop a set of updated guidance that works for those engaged in the media.”

In a statement following the BBC’s response to the equal pay report, Collins said: “We’re aware of ongoing concerns among female staff at the BBC and will continue to monitor the situation on pay discrimination.

“We stand by the conclusion of our inquiry – that our evidence suggests that some women at the BBC who work in comparable jobs to men are earning far less.

“BBC Studios, as a commercial arm of the BBC, is not currently covered by transparency rules. This means that staff employed by BBC Studios do not appear on the high-earners list, effectively creating a loophole that means the BBC need not disclose the salaries of its top-earning talent.

“We do not accept the argument that, in particular, long-running BBC programmes, like Question Time or Songs of Praise, which are made by independent production companies, should not have to disclose the salaries of highly paid on-screen presenters.

“Ultimately it is all licence-fee payers’ money, whether salaries are paid directly from the BBC, by BBC Studios or any other production company.

“We do not agree that publishing data from independent production companies would put the BBC at a competitive disadvantage, as there is no shortage of companies that are willing to work with the corporation.

“We recommend that the BBC re-think this decision ahead of its forthcoming annual report.”

Picture: Reuters/Peter Nicholls

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Journalism academics have defended research claiming BBC Radio 5 Live did not meet Ofcom targets for news and current affairs output last year after the BBC branded it “shameless paid-for lobbying”.

Rupert Murdoch’s News UK paid £25,000 towards the research, carried out by the University of Kent. The news group owns BBC rival Wireless Group, which oversees Talkradio, Talksport and Virgin radio stations.

The BBC rejected the headline findings in the report by the Centre for Journalism, saying: “Given this report was paid for by the parent company of Talksport, people can judge its credibility for themselves.”

The report, which was published today, was written by University of Kent professor of journalism Tim Luckhurst, former Press Gazette editor Ian Reeves, Ben Cocking and former journalist Rob Bailey.

Luckhurst told Press Gazette that Ofcom had already been in touch about the research, adding: “We are enormously proud of this detailed and meticulous piece of pure academic research.”

The report found that 48 per cent of 5 Live’s output was news and current affairs on weekdays, while its weekend output stood at just 36.6 per cent news.

Its authors listened to the BBC station between 26 February and 14 October 2018, calculating that during this eight-month period less than half (45 per cent) of 5 Live’s overall output was news and current affairs.

The BBC operating licence published by Ofcom – part of the BBC’s Royal Charter obligations – requires at least 75 per cent of its output in a financial year to be news and current affairs.

In the report’s conclusion, they wrote: “Our analysis confirms what common sense alone suggests to listeners: 5 Live has ceased to be a news and sport station. 

“It is a sport and talk station with a fierce commitment to sport and a lesser, legacy commitment to news.

“Its news coverage reveals an appetite for entertainment, celebrity and music stories in preference to public affairs.”

The report added: “Although it fulfils its obligation to cover politics, its listeners do not regard it as a hard news station and it has largely abandoned its historic commitment to react first to breaking news.”

A BBC Radio 5 Live spokesperson said: “We reject its headline findings entirely as 5 Live consistently meets all of its regulatory targets – a fact recorded in the BBC’s annual report each year.

“Even a casual listener would fail to recognise the description this report presents of the station’s output.”

Press Gazette understands the broadcaster’s own figures show 76 per cent of all 5 Live output was news and current affairs over the 2017/18 financial year, which runs from April to March.

The University of Kent report claimed that the BBC appeared to define content such as promotional material, repeats of pre-recorded material and “infotainment” as part of its news and current affairs output.

It also alleged that the broadcaster had “freedom to miscategorise material” thanks to an absence of an agreed formal definition of what constitutes news.

Speaking to Press Gazette, Luckhurst said: “We set out to answer one question: does Radio 5 Live meet its key commitments to Ofcom?

“We set out to do that for three principled reason. One because in order to answer it you have to actually come up with a measurable definition of what constitutes news and what constitutes current affairs.

“Academics have been looking at that for nearly 50 years. We are delighted to have made a practical, real-world definition and we think it could be immensely useful to all broadcasters and their regulators.

“We’re absolutely delighted that Ofcom have already been in touch to say they’re interested in talking to us about our methodology.”

Luckhurst, a former 5 Live assistant editor, added: “It does not surprise us that the BBC would rather shoot the messenger than deal with the findings of a piece of meticulous and detailed research into its output.

“There will be nobody in 5 Live’s audience who is remotely surprised by our findings.”

Luckhurst went on to say: “If the BBC will reveals its methodology for defining its claims 76 per cent of BBC Radio 5 Live’s output is news and current affairs, we’d be delighted to see it.”

In a statement on the research, Scott Taunton, chief executive of Wireless Group, said: “Wireless is invested in offering additional choice in the speech radio market through our Talkradio, Talksport and Talksport2 channels.

“We believe commercial radio’s sustainability is hampered by the BBC’s 80 per cent share of speech radio listening and significant funding, spectrum and cross-promotional advantages.

“Distinctiveness is important in ensuring the public service delivery of BBC output and providing room for independent services to develop.”

Ofcom rejected a call from Wireless Group for a competition review into BBC acquisition of sports rights for Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Radio 4 last year.

Picture: Reuters/Neil Hall

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Ofcom is considering imposing statutory sanctions against Talkradio after presenter George Galloway shared “biased and unbalanced” views about the UK Government’s response to the Salisbury spy poisoning last year.

The former MP, who is on air from 7pm to 10pm on Fridays on the News UK-owned station, spent the majority of his 16 March 2018 show talking about the aftermath of the incident.

Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were hospitalised after coming into contact with chemical agent Novichok in an attack which the UK Government has said was ordered by Russia.

Ofcom investigated the show after receiving a complaint that it contained “biased and unbalanced views” and that Galloway “mocked and ridiculed” any listeners who challenged his stance.

Introducing the programme, the ex-Celebrity Big Brother contestant said the Government’s response to the incident had demonstrated the “pitiful inadequacy of the people in charge of our national, and now, international affairs…” and described them as “blithering idiots”.

Galloway shared his belief that Russia was not responsible for the poisoning, acknowledging it was capable but saying “the Russian state is just about the least likely suspect of them all”.

In conversation with a listener, Galloway later said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn “speaks the truth” and “does his duty”, adding that the Conservatives were “lying” about what had happened in Salisbury.

Many of the on-air callers and messages read out by Galloway were from listeners who agreed with his views, but he was dismissive of those who disagreed with him, referencing high-security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor three times.

On one occasion, alongside a reference to the tyrannical psychiatric nurse from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Galloway said: “That’s in Broadmoor, ward five.

“They’ve got the radio on and all the patients are gathered round and Nurse Ratched is keeping hold of them. None of them seems to have been able to get their hands on a phone yet”.

Ofcom said that the programme raised potential issues under the sections of the Broadcasting Code calling for due impartiality and an appropriately wide range of views to be given due weight, as it dealt with a “matter of major political controversy”.

Talksport, the licensee for Talkradio, told Ofcom Galloway was a “national figure known for his controversial views which would not come as a surprise to listeners”, and that due to his reputation and the format of his show listeners would “be comfortable with adjusting their expectations of due impartiality”.

The station acknowledged that Galloway’s “introduction against the Government’s position on the Skripal-Novichok affair went unchallenged” but claimed it was “reasonable to assume that Galloway’s colourful critique would be regarded by listeners as a highly opinionated personal-view attack by Galloway that did not require a formal rebuttal”.

Talksport claimed that a producer on Galloway’s show had tried to book a number of guests to challenge his views but that they all declined, and pointed out that the breakfast show hosted by Julia Hartley-Brewer that day included four guests who expressed support for the Government’s response to the incident.

However the station accepted that “on this occasion, there was not enough lively debate provided by either listeners or guests to challenge [Galloway’s] views within the programme itself”, and said a number of steps have since been taken to ensure “differing views” are heard.

These include the production of a pre-recorded jingle to “let the debate begin”, inviting listeners to “challenge Galloway on air” which is now played at least once an hour.

Galloway’s producer has spoken to him about “the need for dissenting voices to be heard” and to invite contrary opinions from listeners, Talksport said. It added the producer had “been instructed to provide a well-informed guest whose views conflict with Galloway’s to provide due weight to the opposing view”.

If a guest cannot be booked, another Talkradio presenter must be added to the line-up to challenge Galloway and provide an alternative viewpoint, the new guidelines state.

In his own response to Ofcom, Galloway described the investigation as a “transparently politically motivated attempt at censorship” which had “already received its intended result, namely the partial stifling of [my] lone voice… on the airwaves”.

He claimed it would be “perverse” for Ofcom to “punish” him for his support for Corbyn as this is so rare within the media.

He also described Talkradio as a “balanced” radio station, saying his programme acted as the “counter narrative” on that day to Hartley-Brewer and Mike Graham whose shows were “in support of the state narrative”.

Ofcom said that although a “small number” of text messages and tweets challenging Galloway’s views were read out on air, these were not sufficient to present an alternative view in the overall context of the programme and meet the need for due impartiality.

“We took into account that, on three occasions when the audience contributions differed to Mr Galloway’s position, he joked that the listeners who had sent in their messages were housed in Broadmoor psychiatric hospital,” the regulator said.

“We understood this to mean that Mr Galloway was suggesting that these listeners were in need of psychiatric care for holding the positions they held.

“While we took account of Mr Galloway’s argument that such comments are entertaining and consistent with his style as a presenter, we considered they nevertheless had the effect of dismissing and denigrating listeners who held views which differed from his own, and constituted a clear difference in the treatment of views which do and do not align with Mr Galloway’s own.”

Ofcom acknowledged that the broadcaster had tried to persuade guests with differing views to appear on the programme, but said if this is not possible it must then find other methods of maintaining due impartiality.

The regulator added that broadcasters cannot preserve due impartiality by relying on what is broadcast across their channels as a whole.

Ofcom ruled there had been two “serious” breaches of the Broadcasting Code and said it was minded to consider imposing a statutory sanction.

Talksport now has the opportunity to make further representations to the regulator before a final decision is made.

Following the publication of the ruling, Galloway tweeted: “I’m a dissident. I have a radio show. Some folks are trying to get it off the air. What do you think about that?”

Read the full Ofcom ruling here.

Picture: Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett

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The Economist has launched a new daily podcast that draws on its “transatlantic DNA” to deliver current affairs to both morning commuters in the US and late-morning listeners in the UK.

The Intelligence promises a deeper dive on the big news stories, but away from the “hamster wheel” of daily news, according to head of Economist Radio Anne McElvoy.

It is free to download – sitting outside the Economist’s paywall – and goes out at 11am in the UK and 6am (ET) in the US.

The show, which launched on Tuesday, runs for about 20 minutes and is hosted by ex-BBC journalist and former physicist Jason Palmer (pictured front right), himself an American.

Although based in London with a team of eight editors and producers, the podcast is “completely global”, McElvoy (pictured front left) told Press Gazette.

“We are going to have a really good transatlantic bridge on the show. We are going to cover the US really well, but also get around and see how things look from other perspectives, such as China.”

She said the majority of Economist subscribers are US-based and that the newsbrand hoped to “deepen engagement” with news consumers Stateside and bring them “into the Economist world”.

The Economist claims 8m downloads a month across its seven podcast shows and hopes to double its reach with the launch of The Intelligence.

The US makes up less than 50 per cent of Economist radio listeners, while the UK and Europe represent a “good chunk”, with the group seeking growth both here and across the pond.

While The Intelligence runs some ads, McElvoy said podcasts were more broadly useful as a “window” into the rest of its output and as a means of inviting listeners to become subscribers.

“People aren’t reading print products how they used to and podcasts are a great recruiting medium for that,” she said.

“It’s useful to us as part of a marketing tool for the Economist. We do very well commercially in broadcasting – we don’t feel [launching The Intelligence] is a terrible risk.”

Audio is a “decent source of revenue” for the Economist and the group has a “strategic commitment” to it, said McElvoy, who would not go into further commercial details.

“We think it really is a way to open up the Economist world,” said McElvoy, adding it was undertaken “in that spirit” rather than as a purely commercial venture.

In the few days it has aired, topics on The Intelligence have ranged from the usual – read Brexit – to the unusual, such as Cubans’ use of condoms for fishing. “We don’t want to just do another news 24 or chat around the table about Mrs May,” said McElvoy.

“We all know what is happening, but we don’t really know what to make of it,” she added. “I think that goes whether you are listening as a Brexit-interested listener in the UK or listening to it in Denver, USA.”

She said the podcast aims to cover the news that “matters” in an Economist style, adding: “We won’t always follow the agenda of the networks. We do have a team with a lot of news and broadcast experience, but it distinguishes from the offer which is led out of a print newsroom.

“I do think there is an appetite for more considered current affairs and getting off the hamster wheel… it’s great to be news aware, but I think it’s great to be able to say today we are just going to do a big deep dive on Facebook, its business model and questions around it.

“I would be surprised in the next few days if we didn’t lead on a really big business story or leading technology story.”

What The Intelligence claims to offer above other podcast-producing news organisations is its global network of journalists.

“We have got an amazing network of correspondents, which regretfully a lot of organisations have had to scale back on, and we do have people around the world doing fascinating things,” said McElvoy.

“We are determined to have some fun, which is possibly not the word usually associated with the Economist, but when you get out there and meet our editors you see a lot of things.

“This is the best chance we’ve had to open these doors a bit.”

Picture: The Economist

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BBC Radio 4 Today programme presenter John Humphrys is looking to leave the show by the end of the year.

Today editor Sarah Sands tweeted this year would be Humphrys’ “lap of honour” and his former Today colleague, now World at One presenter, Sarah Montague, also confirmed his departure.

Humphrys, who has been with Today for more than 30 years, first told the Daily Mail about his plans to leave the show after speaking with BBC bosses.

He told the paper he had not handed in his resignation and did not have a fixed date for his departure, but said he was “assuming it’ll be this year”.

“It’s not like I’m an ambitious youngster with many, many more challenges ahead of me or something like that,” he said.

“I still enjoy it enormously. I know that sounds ridiculous. There are mornings in mid-February when you don’t want to get up at half past three. But, equally, there are other things I want to do with my life, and one has to make the decision sooner or later.”

Following the story, Sands tweeted: “Enjoy John’s lap of honour this year. Totally uninterested in his own publicity. A king of broadcasting. And long live Mishal.”

Sarah Montague also tweeted: “He couldn’t cope without me! John Humphrys is leaving BBC Radio 4 Today. I spoke to him when he came off air this morning. You can hear the full interview on BBC World at One.

Later, speaking to Montague on World at One, Humphrys confirmed he was looking to leave this year and said: “I love doing the programme. I have always enjoyed it, always loved it and obviously I should have gone years ago but I love doing the programme.”

He added: “I worry about missing the programme. I genuinely worry about what it is going to be like not doing the Today programme – 32 years is a very long time.”

The BBC did not comment on the claims when approached by Press Gazette.

Humphrys is working on a book about the show due later this year, titled The Today Files, and told the Mail that it would be “a factor” in his going.

The veteran broadcaster joined the BBC as a Liverpool-based reporter in 1966 and worked as a foreign correspondent and its first full-time TV correspondent based in the USA before moving onto Today in 1987.

Humphrys has also presented the Nine o’clock news, flagship investigations show Panorama and BBC Two quiz show Mastermind during his time at the BBC.

After it was revealed in 2017 that Humphrys was one of the broadcaster’s highest-earning on-air talents – making up to £650,000 a year – he agreed to take a pay cut along with five other male journalists.

An off-air conversation between Humphrys and North American editor Jon Sopel was leaked to the press early last year in which they exchanged what he described as “silly banter” about the gender pay gap.

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