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Press Releases
Radio 4: Today announces this year's guest editors
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91Èȱ¬ Radio 4's Today announces this year's guest editors who will take over the programme between Christmas and the New Year.
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They are:
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- Dame Stella Rimington – former Director-General of MI5;
- Damon Albarn – from the bands The Good, The Bad And The Queen, Gorillaz and Blur;
- Professor Peter Hennessy – historian and author of The Secret State;
- Sir Martin Evans – winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in medicine for his work in stem cell research.
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Dame Stella Rimington said: "I couldn't resist the opportunity to take the agenda out of the hands of those who usually set it – namely the politicians – and instead have some of the issues that I think are important aired and debated."
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Among many other ideas:
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Damon Albarn finds lessons for Britain in Mali's approach to recycling; Professor Hennessy will track the evolution of political satire; Sir Martin Evans will investigate the consequences of Chernobyl; and Dame Stella Rimington will report on declining trust in politics.
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Today Editor, Ceri Thomas said: "Guest editors never fail to surprise us with the breadth of their interests and the quality of their ideas and we've got a fantastic line-up this year."
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Like last year, one edition of the programme will be edited by a group chosen from the audience. Today listeners were invited to form teams and apply and the successful entrants are a group from Dyfed Powys Police.
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Guest editors are responsible for between a third and a half of their programme's output.
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However Today's duty editors, producers and reporters are on hand to help to turn their ideas into high-quality radio journalism and make sure that material chosen is newsworthy and meets the 91Èȱ¬'s Editorial Guidelines.
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Previous Today programme guest editors include Bono, Professor Stephen Hawking, Anthony Minghella, Yoko Ono and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
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Notes to Editors
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Today is Radio 4's flagship news and current affairs programme – over the last 12 months it has reached an average of just over six million listeners every week.
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Today recently celebrated 50 years on air, on 28 October 2007.
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At this year's Sony Awards Today won several awards including Gold in the Breakfast Show category and a Gold for presenter John Humphrys in the News Journalist of the Year category.
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Presented by five of the most respected journalists in broadcasting – John Humphrys, James Naughtie, Sarah Montague, Edward Stourton and Carolyn Quinn – it is generally considered to be one of the most influential news programmes in Britain.
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91Èȱ¬ Economics Editor Evan Davis joins the programme as a presenter, for 12 months, in Spring 2008 when Carolyn Quinn leaves to concentrate on her other 91Èȱ¬ work including Radio 4's The Westminster Hour.
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