Editing Woman's Hour (section)

==History==
The first BBC programme for women was the programme called ''Women's Hour'', which was first broadcast on 2 May 1923. The BBC was then a brand new organisation, just a few months old, grappling with the sorts of programmes that might appeal to its small but growing audience. With married women firmly based in the home, either through convention or because of marriage bars, the BBC would have been aware of this [[Captive market|captive daytime audience]]. The person brought in to oversee ''Women's Hour'' was Mrs [[Ella Fitzgerald (journalist)|Ella Fitzgerald]], a former [[Fleet Street]] journalist, and the inaugural programme included two talks, one on "The Adoption of Babies" given by [[Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone]], the other on "Fashions" by the couturier, [[Lady Duff Gordon]].

Broadcast six days a week, initially at 5pm, ''Women's Hour'' encompassed topics such as cookery, infant welfare, poultry keeping, tennis, beauty culture, electricity in the home, society gossip and gardening. In many ways, it replicated the sorts of items that were then found in the women's pages of newspapers and Ella Fitzgerald often drew on her journalist friends to write and present talks. So, for example, regular "Kitchen Conversations" were given by the famous cookery writer [[Constance Peel]] while [[Edith Shackleton Heald]] spoke about journalism as a potential career for women. There was also space for political talks: the former [[suffragist]], [[Mary Emmott]], who sat on a number of local government committees, spoke on "How Local Government affects the Home", Alderman Miss Smee, who chaired [[Municipal Borough of Acton|Acton Council]]'s Public Health Committee gave a talk on "Women and Public Health" and [[Lettice Fisher]], the founder of the [[National Council for the Unmarried Mother and her Child]], talked about "Education".

The talks were broadcast from the BBC's first purpose-built studio at [[Savoy Hill]], just off [[Strand, London|The Strand]] in London, where the organisation was based for its first ten years. It would have been quite a daunting process. Speakers would have waited outside the large curtain-draped space, clutching their scripts. When the time came to deliver their talk, they would then have stood before a large box-like structure – the microphone – where they would have been given a cue to start. It was then just a matter of continuing on until finished, hopeful that they hadn't spoken too slowly or too fast or made too many mistakes. In the absence of any recordings, it's not possible to know what these talks would have sounded like, but reception on rudimentary wireless sets would have been very poor. It's also impossible to know who would have been tuning-in to the programme in these very early days, but most probably they were the wives and mothers of radio enthusiasts who, evidence suggests, were overwhelmingly male.

Things would change for ''Women's Hour'' in December 1923, with the establishment of a Women's Advisory Committee to oversee the running of the programme. Amongst the prestigious membership were the Chairman of the [[National Federation of Women's Institutes,]] Lady Denman; the actress [[Dorothea Baird]]; the physician Dr [[Elizabeth Chesser|Elizabeth Sloan Chesser]] and [[Violet Cambridge]], the Secretary of the [[Women's Amateur Athletics Association]]. The first full meeting, in January 1924, raised questions about the sorts of talks that should be included in ''Women's Hour'' and also the time of day that it was broadcast. It was decided that two members of the Committee, Mrs Hardman Earle (who had worked for the [[Minister of Food|Ministry of Food and Public Kitchens]] during the [[First World War]]) and [[Evelyn Gates]] (who was Editor-in-Chief of ''The Women's Yearbook'') should appear on the following Saturday's programme to canvas listener views. The case for practical domestic talks was put forward by  Hardman Earle while Evelyn Gates championed the case for lighter, escapist talks and listeners were also asked about when they could best tune-in.

The results of the 'plebiscite', as it was termed, were discussed at the February meeting of the Women's Advisory Committee. With the majority of the letters received (326 in all) voting for leisure rather than domestic talks, it was agreed that these should feature more prominently in the programme, which would be moved to a new time of 4pm. Writing about the change in the BBC listings periodical ''[[Radio Times]]'', Ella Fitzgerald explained how "a tour of [[Constantinople]]" was substituted for "the cure of constipation" while "talks on the English countryside" replaced those about "stocking the kitchen cupboard". The decision was also taken at the meeting to abolish the name ''Women's Hour''; in future ''Radio Times'' would simply state that "talks of general interest but with particular appeal to women" would be placed either side of the afternoon concert.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Lyndsey |date=2023-05-02 |title=Early radio broadcasting for women in the BBC's Women's Hour 1923-4 – Kate Murphy |url=https://womenshistorynetwork.org/early-radio-broadcasting-for-women-in-the-bbcs-womens-hour-1923-4-kate-murphy/ |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=Women's History Network |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Created by [[Norman Collins]]<ref name=hist>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0165mfd |title=October 1946 - Woman's Hour - The first dedicated radio programme for women |date=11 March 2013 |website=History of the BBC |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=15 February 2020 |quote=Norman Collins, the creator of Woman's Hour, spoke about the programme in 1967.}}</ref> and originally presented by [[Alan Ivimey]], ''Woman's Hour'' was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the [[BBC Light Programme]]. [[Janet Quigley]], who was also involved with the birth of the UK radio programme ''[[Today (BBC Radio 4)|Today]]'', has been credited with "virtually creating" the programme.<ref name=obit>{{cite news |last=Cox |first=David |title=Obituary: Kevin FitzGerald |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-kevin-fitzgerald-1504964.html |date=18 November 1993 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |publisher=Newspaper Publishing |location=London |issn=0951-9467 |access-date=15 February 2020 |quote=Another more personal link with the BBC was his marriage to Janet Quigley, who virtually created the radio programme Woman's Hour which is still running today.}}</ref>

The programme was transferred to its current home in 1973. Over the years it has been presented by Mary Hill (1946{{ndash}}1963), [[Joan Griffiths]] (1947{{ndash}}1949), [[Olive Shapley]] (1949{{ndash}}1953), [[Jean Metcalfe]] (1950{{ndash}}1968), [[Violet Carson]] (1952{{ndash}}1956), [[Marjorie Anderson]] (1958{{ndash}}1972), [[Teresa McGonagle]] (1958{{ndash}}1976), [[Judith Chalmers]] (1966{{ndash}}1970), [[Sue MacGregor]] (1972{{ndash}}1987), [[Jenni Murray]] (1987–2020), [[Martha Kearney]] (1998 to March 2007), and [[Jane Garvey (broadcaster)|Jane Garvey]] (8 October 2007 to December 2020). Fill-in presenters have included [[Andrea Catherwood]], [[Sangita Myska]], [[Sheila McClennon]], [[Carolyn Quinn]], [[Jane Little]], [[Ritula Shah]], [[Oona King]], and [[Amanda Platell]]. In September 2020 it was announced that [[Emma Barnett]] would become the lead presenter of ''Woman's Hour'' after the retirement of Jenni Murray, who presented her final edition on 1 October 2020.<ref>''Radio Times''; 26 September–2 October 2020, pp. 124–25.</ref> Barnett, who had been a fill-in presenter a number of times previously, became the youngest woman to regularly present the programme in January 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/entertainment-arts-54058275 |title=Emma Barnett tells 5 Live listeners about departure|publisher= BBC News|date=7 September 2020}}</ref> [[Anita Rani]] became the successor to Garvey as the second presenter in the same month.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55629938|title=Anita Rani to join Emma Barnett on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour|work=BBC News|date=12 January 2021|access-date=22 January 2021}}</ref>

In the early years the topics for the programme were arranged well in advance and printed in the ''[[Radio Times]]'' but by the 1980s there was a change to greater topicality. [[Clare Selerie-Gray]] became the producer in 1987 and steered the programme away from its tendency to include merely whimsical topics and ensured that the books read in the last section were more relevant to women's lives rather than ordinary novels. She responded to criticism that the programme was too feminist by asserting that it avoided "''[[Spare Rib]]'' didactics" but that a [[Feminism|feminist]] influence on the people who made it had occurred.<ref>Donovan, Paul (1991). ''The Radio Companion''. London: Harper Collins; pp. 286–288 {{ISBN|0-246-13648-0}}</ref>

On 31 December 2004, the show became ''Man's Hour'' for one day only, on which it was presented by [[Channel 4 News]] anchor [[Jon Snow (journalist)|Jon Snow]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/b3cda5378e7c4b6c9f36003aacfe2ad4|title=Man's Hour – BBC Radio 4 FM – 31 December 2004 – BBC Genome|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk|access-date=2017-05-30}}</ref> On 18 July 2010, after 64 years of ''Woman's Hour'', the BBC began broadcasting a full series called ''[[Men's Hour]]'' on [[BBC Radio 5 Live]], presented by [[Tim Samuels]].<ref>{{cite news| first= Damian | last= Whitworth| title= Men's Hour? What's there to talk about?| url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/mens-hour-whats-there-to-talk-about-8dzvz63jvjb| work=[[The Times]]| date=12 July 2010| access-date= 19 February 2021| location=London }}</ref>

In 2006, Woman's Hour had 2.7 million listeners.<ref name=independent-20060203>{{cite news |last=Byrne |first=Ciar |title='Woman's Hour' discovers a new audience: men |date=3 February 2006 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/womans-hour-discovers-a-new-audience-men-6109975.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |publisher=[[Independent News & Media]] |location=London |issn=0951-9467 |access-date=7 May 2014}}</ref>

For one week in April 2014, the programme was guest edited by [[J. K. Rowling]], [[Kelly Holmes]], [[Naomi Alderman]], [[Doreen Lawrence]] and [[Lauren Laverne]]. It was the first time the programme had a guest editor since its initial decade of broadcast.<ref name=guardian-20140410>{{cite news |last= Flood |first=Alison |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/10/jk-rowling-guest-editor-womans-hour |title=JK Rowling to become Woman's Hour first guest editor for 60 years |date=10 April 2014 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |eissn=1756-3224 |access-date=7 May 2014}}</ref> In September 2015, the programme hosted "Woman's Hour Takeover" with a week of guest editors, including [[Kim Cattrall]], [[Nimko Ali]], [[Rachel Treweek]], [[Michelle Mone, Baroness Mone|Michelle Mone]] and [[Jacqueline Wilson]].<ref name=bbc-20150930>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p031y7r9 |title= Woman's Hour Takeover |publisher=BBC Radio 4|access-date=30 September 2015}}</ref>

''[[Late Night Woman's Hour]]'', a spinoff series, was launched in 2015, presented by [[Lauren Laverne]]. The series is broadcast in an 11{{nbsp}}pm timeslot and each episode takes a single topic for discussion.<ref>{{cite web |last=Glenni |first=Alasdair |date=21 August 2015 |title=Lauren Laverne raises eyebrows with Radio 4's Late Night Woman's Hour |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/aug/21/lauren-laverne-radio-4-late-night-womans-hour-bbc |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |eissn=1756-3224 |access-date=3 July 2016}}</ref>
The lateness of the broadcast allows for more freedom to handle topics considered unsuitable for the morning broadcast.

The programme has an annual "power list" of highly achieving women.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3J92brPmK0hskzhpTV3CrZ0/the-power-list-2013 The Power List 2013]; British Broadcasting Corporation</ref> The annual power list is determined by a panel of judges.<ref>{{cite web|title=Woman's Hour Power List 2014&nbsp;– the panel|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb/features/power-list-panel-2014|publisher=[[BBC Radio 4]]}}</ref>

On 18 March 2011, ''Woman's Hour'' was the first live broadcast from the new [[Dock10 (television facility)|dock10 studios]] at [[MediaCityUK|Media City]] in [[Salford]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In 2013, the programme had 3.9 million listeners, 14% of whom were men.<ref name=guardian-20130811>{{cite news |last=Sawyer |first=Miranda |author-link=Miranda Sawyer |title=The Woman's Hour mix – does it work? |date=11 August 2013 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/aug/11/womans-hour-jenni-murray-radio |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |eissn=1756-3224 |access-date=7 May 2014}}</ref> In October 2016, it was recorded that the programme had 3.7 million listeners weekly and was the second most popular daily podcast across BBC Radio. A quarter of its audience were reported to be under 35 and 40% male.<ref>{{cite news |last= Topping |first=Alexandra |date=10 October 2016 |title= Woman's Hour reaches 70th birthday – and no need for 'light dusting of powder' |url= https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/oct/10/womans-hour-celebrates-70th-anniversary |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |eissn=1756-3224 |access-date= 24 May 2019}}</ref>