Responding to an article that asked whether the flagship Radio 4 news programme has lost its way, Francis Bown writes that it was ever thus

Since I went up to Cambridge in 1968, BBC’s Today programme has been the invariable way the wireless has kickstarted my brain for the coming day ( Has Today had its day? BBC’s flagship Radio 4 show grapples with podcast age, 13 March ).

Complaints about content, structure and presenters have always accompanied its broadcasts, being simply signs of the programme’s importance – just as was the telephone call to the studio from Margaret Thatcher, when the prime minister wanted to make a point live on air. Yet even its old fans must admit that Today has recently lost its way in two important respects. (Assessing the personalities I will leave to others: I am still mourning the departure of Jack de Manio.)