Tags: Thought for the Day
Scrap ‘discriminatory’ Thought for the Day, says former presenter
Posted: Wed, 02 Oct 2019
The National Secular Society has urged the BBC to reform its Thought for the Day slot on Radio 4 after the former presenter John Humphrys described it as "discriminatory".
Appearing on ITV's Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, Humphrys called Thought for the... Read More »
BBC dilutes protections for religious ideas after NSS lobbying
Posted: Mon, 08 Jul 2019
The BBC has watered down some protections for religious ideas but retained a clause placing a premium on depictions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in new editorial guidelines.
The corporation has removed a requirement that content "likely to cause offence"... Read More »
NSS: religious offence-taking must not curtail free speech at BBC
Posted: Tue, 13 Nov 2018
The National Secular Society has urged the BBC to treat free expression "as a positive value" as it raised concerns that new guidelines defer excessively to religious sensitivities.
In response to a consultation on the draft guidelines the NSS warned that the... Read More »
Public backs reform of Thought for the Day, poll finds
Posted: Tue, 31 Jul 2018
Fewer than one in five British people think BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day should always feature religious content, a new poll has found.
A survey undertaken by Censuswide, commissioned by the National Secular Society, suggests the British public backs reforming... Read More »
NSS challenges BBC Today’s “PR exercise for C of E”
Posted: Thu, 21 Dec 2017
The National Secular Society has written to the BBC over an episode of Radio 4's Today show which it said amounted to a "PR exercise for the Church of England".
The episode was broadcast on 14 December from Lambeth Palace, the C of E's headquarters. It featured... Read More »
BBC should portray religion in critically-informed way, says NSS
Posted: Wed, 20 Dec 2017
The National Secular Society has said the BBC should portray religion in "a fair and critically-informed manner" after the Corporation pledged to increase the religious content in its programming.
On Wednesday the BBC published its Religion and Ethics Review... Read More »
Thought for the Day “inappropriate”, says John Humphrys
Posted: Tue, 31 Oct 2017
The most senior presenter of Radio 4's Today programme has called Thought for the Day "inappropriate" and "deeply, deeply boring". Read More »
BBC allows Today programme to be used to promote Church’s evangelism campaign
Posted: Thu, 01 Jun 2017
The National Secular Society has criticised the BBC for allowing the first Thought for the Day slot of June to be used by the Church of England as a platform to promote its latest evangelism initiative.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby spoke on Radio... Read More »
Help turn Thought for the Day into a “philosophy slot”
Posted: Thu, 24 Sep 2015
The National Secular Society has backed calls for BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day slot to be converted into a "philosophy slot", open to non-believers and believers alike.
The proposal has been put forward on Open Democracy's Our Beeb website – an online... Read More »
New BBC consultation ‘an opportunity to challenge Thought For The Day’
Posted: Fri, 05 Dec 2014
The BBC has launched a new consultation asking listeners what they like and dislike about its speech radio output. The NSS is calling on its supporters to use the opportunity to again raise the contentious issue of Thought For The Day. The consultation can... Read More »
BBC Trust rejects Thought for the Day bias complaint
Posted: Wed, 02 Oct 2013
The BBC Trust has rejected a complaint of bias from the National Secular Society concerning a Thought for the Day slot broadcast immediately after its successful High Court challenge to prayers during council meetings.
The slot, broadcast on 14 February 2012... Read More »
BBC once more rejects non-religious voices on Thought for the Day
Posted: Wed, 03 Jul 2013
The BBC has announced today that it will not "revisit" the issue of non-religious voices on Thought for the Day.
The announcement came in an Executive Response to a review conducted by the BBC Trust into the breadth of opinion that is permitted to be heard... Read More »
Win £250 – just write an uplifting Secular Thought for the Day
Posted: Thu, 21 Feb 2013
The ongoing irritation at the BBC's exclusion of secular voices from The Thought for the Day slot has spurred one the NSS's previous presidents, David Tribe, to sponsor a prize of £250 for the best secular Thought for the Day.
To win the prize, we are... Read More »
