Feedback

What risks should journalists take to report stories? In this week's Feedback, Roger Bolton visits BBC journalists on a training course which aims to prepare them to report from dangerous conflict zones and hostile environments. Listeners have been pondering whether the risks are worth it in order to report the story to them. Roger brings the BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet together with senior BBC producer Stuart Hughes and Vaughan Smith, founder of the Frontline Club, to discuss the issues.

Producer: Katherine Godfrey.

Radio 4's forum for listener comment.

Has the BBC's impartiality been compromised in the lead up to the General Election? With less than two weeks to polling day, political leaders are near ever-present on the airwaves as they try to secure votes. BBC networks - including Radio 1, 5Live and Radio 4 - have been connecting party leaders directly to the public in a series of live debates. Listeners flocked to social media to comment as the programmes were broadcast - and some of their comments complained about biased presenters and audiences. Ric Bailey, the BBC's Chief Political Adviser, discusses how impartiality should be achieved during the intensity of the campaign season.

Nearly 40 years ago, Radio 3 created the 'Pied Piper' programme to appeal to younger listeners and develop their love of classical music from an early age. Current Radio 3 Controller Alan Davey discusses the station's role in bringing culture to a younger generation.

An alien world, a landscape of frozen ice and characters with no gender are not perhaps the typical elements of a drama on Radio 4. But in celebration of cult science fiction writer Ursula Le Guin's 85th birthday, Radio 4 and 4Extra have dedicated this month to her fantasy literature. Judith Adams worked alongside director Allegra McIllroy to adapt the 300 page novel into a two hour radio play. But how did they voice characters that were neither male nor female?

And how has the Shipping Forecast impacted and inspired our lives over the years? Author Charlie Connelly recounts his fondest anecdotes - from his own life and the lives of listeners around the British Isles.

Producer: Karen Pirie

This week, our look at how the election is being covered across BBC radio takes us to 5Live for the launch of their #FridayTakeover. Each week, the station is selecting one key politician to face individual listener questions. Stephen Mawhinney, the station's Head of News, explains how the nature of a political interview changes when led by the public while presenter Nicky Campbell discusses the balance between handing the reins over to listeners and knowing when to regain control.

The recent Trust review of BBC music stations concluded that Radio 3 needs to make its identity and programming more distinctive in certain areas. Recently appointed Controller Alan Davey has begun to set out his vision for the station's future and, in this week's Feedback, he addresses listeners points about what they want.

The History of Ideas series hosted by Melvyn Bragg has provided listeners with much food for thought on subjects of freedom, morality and the origin of time. Yet, despite offering heavyweight discussions that demand the full attention of their audience, the use of sound effects and cartoon noises has led to complaints from some listeners.

Producer: Karen Pirie

The Easter weekend is a prime opportunity for regular radio presenters to take a step out of the spotlight and into the sun for some rest and relaxation. But their stand-in presenters can be left to face the disappointment of an audience devoted to their favourite host. What are the challenges facing stand-ins and how do they overcome them? Lewis Carnie, the head of Radio 2 programmes, discusses how Sara Cox and Zoe Ball have filled in for leading men Chris Evans and Ken Bruce.

The spring breaks also produced trials for users of the BBC Radio iPlayer. As listeners got heavily engrossed in hair-raising dramas and eye-opening documentaries - they were left hanging mid-sentence as iPlayer Radio failed to give them the last few minutes of the programme. The General Manager for Audience Facing Services at BBC Future Media, Andrew Scott, clarifies what happened and how he is working to prevent future failings.

And in the election campaign coverage, BBC local radio has launched a series of 170 debates taking place across the country. David Holdsworth, the controller of English Regions, explains why issues affecting smaller communities are still key to political coverage. Station Editor David Harvey outlines how Radio Cambridgeshire is reflecting its listeners' main concerns. And, behind the scenes at BBC Essex's first local debate, producer Mark Syred lets listeners shine a light on what they see as the biggest question in their community.

Producer: Karen Pirie

It's five weeks to Polling Day. As part of our investigation into how different BBC networks are covering the election, Roger Bolton talks to the political team of Radio 1's Newsbeat. Young listeners ask editor Louisa Compton how the coverage will be tailored to the age and interests of the Radio 1 audience.

And what effect did the sounds of a glacier, a football crowd and a dawn chorus have on our listeners? Sound recordist Chris Watson produced a series of audio postcards - each Exploring the sound of a spectacular natural event in compressed time. Chris Watson explains how he risked life and limb in the middle of the Kalahari Desert - but which of the sounds was the most challenging to record?

Sound also infiltrated the Today Programme this week. Sarah Montague visited the café of the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle as part of their coverage of '100 constituencies in 100 days' - but did clattering background noise make it too difficult to listen.

Radio 4 Drama 'Far Side of the Moore' brought astronomer and former BBC presenter Patrick Moore's voice back to life. Listeners praise actor Tom Hollander for his authentic portrayal of the late astronomer's quirks and eccentricity.

And the results of the Feedback twitter challenge are revealed - did anyone correctly guess which animal inspired our alternative Tweet of the Day?

Producer: Karen Pirie

Roger Bolton goes behind the scenes at BBC Westminster to see how they're gearing up for the 2015 General Election. He talks to Katy Searle, the Editor of Political News about the pressures on journalists, while Deputy Political Editor James Landale reveals how he got a headline story from Prime Minister David Cameron.

And changes to the layout of the BBC news website have dismayed some Feedback listeners who feel they are being force fed certain stories. Robin Pembrooke, the General Manager for News Products, supervised the revamp and explains how the BBC is adapting to changes in the way people access information.

After nearly 50 years, a radio institution is coming to an end in July. The Radio 1 Chart Show has been a fixture on Sunday evenings since 1967 but Radio 1's controller Ben Cooper has announced the programme is moving to Friday afternoons and being shortened. He says he had little choice after the Official Charts Company announced they were going to release the chart on Fridays - making a Sunday show seem a little late. Music journalist Pete Paphides gives Feedback his personal memories of a childhood obsession with the Charts.

Producer: Will Yates

On this week's programme with Roger Bolton: the BBC's Moscow Correspondent Sarah Rainsford on reporting from Putin's Russia, the Trust's review of BBC music radio and Radio 4's Listeners' Elections.

It's less than 50 days to go until this year's General Election and BBC Newsrooms are delving into the big issues of the economy and immigration. But now, Radio 4 wants to break down the election issues that matter most to its audience. The station is launching 'The Listener's Election'. It calls for listeners to submit stories that put the election campaigns into a more personal context. The BBC's Political Correspondent Chris Mason, who's behind the project, tells Roger how he hopes to reflect the UK's key concerns.

Should Radio 1 and 1xtra be making moves towards including more speech in their output? Does Radio 2 need to vary its specialist music programming? And is Radio 3 starting to sound like Classic FM? These are some of the points raised in the BBC Trust's review of all six music stations. The findings of the review have now been published and Roger talks to BBC Trustee Nick Prettejohn about the review.

The journalists' lobby group Reporters Without Borders ranks Russia at 152nd out of 176 countries in its Press Freedom Index and the Russian authorities seldom if ever talk to foreign press reporters, so how hard is it for the BBC's Russian correspondent to report accurately? Sarah Rainsford talks about the challenges of her job.

And the BBC's School Report set a group of Sussex school children the challenge of turning a newspaper headline into a radio drama. We get a sneak preview of a Royal Pain in the Parkside which finds Prince Harry pursuing a new career - on a caravan site.

Producer: Will Yates

After a year and half in the driving seat for Radio 4's beloved radio soap opera The Archers, editor Sean O'Connor has created controversy amongst some dedicated listeners - with debate over a number of cast changes and the playing out of a Biblical flood over a week of programmes. This week, Sean O'Connor came into the Feedback studio to answer listeners' questions and comments.

C2C, the Country Music Festival, was held in London last weekend bringing the sounds of Nashville to a UK audience. This prompted BBC Radio 2 to launch a pop-up music station playing wall-to-wall Country music which was on-air for just four days. Radio 2 Controller Bob Shennan explains why they did it and whether they'll do it again.

And after last week's discussion on how the BBC should receive its funding in future, listeners respond to news from the National Audit Office that the corporation will face more spending cuts.

Producer: Will Yates

Is there a formula to successful comedy on Radio 4? Before leaving her post as Commissioning Editor of Comedy on Radio 4 and 4Extra, Caroline Raphael talks about her 17 years in the job and reveals which hugely successful comedy almost didn't make it to air because the Controller of Radio 4 at the time turned it down.

Also, the debate over the licence fee has been ignited by a report from the Commons Media Select Committee. It suggests replacing the licence fee with a universal levy for all households. Listeners are divided over the issue and Steven Barnett, Professor of Communications at the University of Westminster in London breaks down the pros and cons of the different ways the BBC might be funded in the future.

And on New Year's Day, a number of listeners were dismayed by their favourite Radio 4 programmes being moved to long wave to accommodate ten hours of War and Peace. Partly, they were concerned about the reception quality on long wave. This prompted vintage radio aficionado Sean Stevens to get in touch to set the record straight about what he sees as the joys of long wave.

Producer: Will Yates