Editing What the Papers Say (section)

== History ==
Throughout its history, the television series was editorially based in Manchester by [[Granada Television]]. For the first 26 years of its run, the series was broadcast on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] in London and the north-west, and carried at different times in its history by certain other regional ITV stations; it was never networked nationally.

The first programme, on 5 November 1956, was presented by [[Brian Inglis]], then deputy editor of ''[[The Spectator]]''; the following week [[Kingsley Martin]], [[editor]] of the ''[[New Statesman]]'', presented the show. Martin presented the show on six occasions; Inglis became the most frequent presenter with about 170 programmes. Originally the programme ran for 25 minutes, which was later reduced to 20.

In 1969, the programme was briefly relaunched as ''The Papers'', with sociologist [[Stuart Hall (cultural theorist)|Stuart Hall]] as the first presenter. This version of the programme lasted for only 10 weeks, after which it reverted to its original title, and took on the format it retained, with a different presenter (almost always a [[journalist]]) each week.

The show moved from ITV to [[Channel 4]] when the latter was launched in 1982, but dropped the series on 2 September 1988. It returned to ITV, although during the night-time slot, less than a week later until December 1989. In March 1990 [[BBC2]] commissioned the series from Granada in May 1990, broadcasting it on Friday evening before switching to Saturday afternoons. The programme's running time was cut to 15 minutes, and later to 10. (''What the Papers Say'' was the first ever Granada TV commission for the BBC, and had been the only surviving programme from the Manchester-based broadcaster's inception in 1956).

The BBC decided in 2008 not to recommission the series, also dropping coverage of the annual ''What the Papers Say'' Awards.<ref name="Guardian"/> ITV Productions stated it hoped to find a "new home" for the show.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7425548.stm|title=BBC cancels What the Papers Say |date=29 May 2008 |work=BBC News Online |access-date=<!---29 May 2008--->}}</ref> In October 2008, the same format made a partial return to screens during Granada's own regional political programme ''Party People'', where it was usually introduced as "a look at what the papers say". The programme was revived by BBC Radio 4 in April 2010.

On 17 February 2010, the BBC announced ''What the Papers Say'' would be revived on [[BBC Radio 4]], with 12 editions being broadcast under the working title "What the Election Papers Say" in the run-up to the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]].<ref name="2010 revival"/> The 12-part revival was regarded a success by former Radio 4 controller [[Mark Damazer]], who commissioned the programme as a permanent addition to the station's schedule at 22.45 on Sundays<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/may/17/what-papers-say-radio-4 |title=What the Papers Say to become Radio 4 fixture |work=The Guardian|date=17 May 2010|location=London |first=John |last=Plunkett}}</ref> as the last segment of ''[[The Westminster Hour]]''.

The radio programmes were recorded at the [[Westminster]] BBC's [[Broadcasting House|New Broadcasting House]] studios. Presenters of the BBC Radio 4 programme included ''The Spectator''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s editor [[Fraser Nelson]], the ''[[Daily Mirror]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Kevin Maguire (journalist)|Kevin Maguire]], ''[[The Guardian]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Michael White (journalist)|Michael White]], ''[[The Observer]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s [[Andrew Rawnsley]] and [[John Kampfner]].