The BBC has announced 550 job cuts as part of a plan to save £500 million. Coming in the middle of the process of renewing its royal charter, this adds to uncertainly over the BBC’s future in terms of its purpose, funding and place in an increasingly divided UK.

Audiences will, inevitably, see changes. Some high-profile casualties have already been announced. These are most notable on BBC Radio 4, including ending The World Tonight, Money Box Live and Crossing Continents over the next year.

Radio 4 is still the UK’s leading speech station, with an average weekly audience of around 9 million listeners. The demise of such long-running and popular programmes will hit them hard.

The station’s listener demographic leans older, and towards those who are looking for in-depth analysis of news and world events. Studies have shown that Radio 4 listeners are among the most civically engaged, so rousing their ire by slashing cherished programmes is a risky move.

At the same time, a recent report from the Reuters Institute found that interest in engaging with the news has fallen. Around the world, 16% more people said they had little or no interest in news than in 2021. More crucially, trust in the news and news organisations is at an all-time low. In 2015, 51% of us trusted the news. In 2026, this has dropped to 30%.

One of the main reasons for this is the rise of misinformation........

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