''I Guess That's Why They Call It The News'' is a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

panel game A panel show or panel game is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participate. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on '' The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity contestants, such as on ' ...

hosted by Fred MacAulay and created by

James Sherwood James Blair Sherwood (August 8, 1933 – May 18, 2020) was an American-born, British-based businessman, and the founder of Belmond Limited and Sea Containers. Early life James Blair Sherwood was born in Newcastle, Pennsylvania, the son of Willia ...

. The only series began broadcasting on 21 August 2009 and continued for five episodes.

Format

A typical episode consists of 5 or 6 rounds.

What's the Story?

In What's The Story?, the host reads actual headlines from the week's newspapers, and the panelists ring in and try to establish a story for the headline. The twist is that the panelists are not trying to guess the actual story (according to the host, points are deducted for this) but trying to construct a plausible story that did not actually happen. Up to three responses are accepted for each headline. For example, the first headline from the 21 August 2009 transmission, "We Deserve To Know About Prince's Meddling, Say Critics", evoked the response, "Is this

Princess Beatrice Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is a member of the British royal family. She is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is a niece of King Ch ...

and

Princess Eugenie Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank ( ; Eugenie Victoria Helena; born 23 March 1990) is a member of the British royal family. She is the younger daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is a niece of King Cha ...

demand to know who 'Princess Meddling' is?" The actual story was

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

attempting to veto a new National Trust building.

Good News, Bad News

Each panelist is given a current topic, and must argue whether the topic is good news or bad news. Usually, the panelist must argue the opposite; for example, "Why is it good news that British students' test scores are going down?" The panelist is given one "MacAulay minute" to make the argument; the actual length of a MacAulay minute is at the discretion of host Fred MacAulay.

Focus Group

The panelists pretend that they are a focus group, brainstorming solutions to a current topic. For example, the 21 August 2009 transmission discussed how to convince Americans that they should reform their health-care system to be like the NHS. This round is a free-for-all, and suggestions are generally comedic and occasionally

tongue in cheek Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walte ...

. For example, from the 21 August 2009 transmission, one of Milton Jones's suggestions was to point out that the Queen must be a fan of American medicine because "she's got ''ER'' on everything." This confuses the Latin phrase ''Elizabeth Regina'' with The American television series ''ER.'' At the start of Focus Group, a plate of biscuits is given to the panelists, and a point is awarded for eating a biscuit.

Who's the New Who?

Panelists try to come up with as many examples of who is the new who, in the sense of some trend being the new black. For example,

Chris Neill Chris Neill (born 1968) is a British comedian, producer, and writer who features regularly on BBC Radio 4Big Brother ''the new pot plant (sic) that my mother gave me last year? Because, like that gift, it's nearly dead and won't be on my telly this time next year.''

Apathy Attack

The audience is canvassed on a certain issue (for example, should Earthlings welcome aliens from other planets?) and an audience member who declares himself or herself undecided is selected. The audience member must listen to the panelists' arguments on the issue (one pair arguing "for" and the other arguing "against"). The audience member must then make up his or her mind; two points are awarded to the team that argued for the audience member's decision.

Episode list

References

External links

* *{{British Comedy Guide, radio, i_guess_thats_why_call_it_news 2009 radio programme debuts 2009 radio programme endings BBC Radio 4 programmes BBC Radio comedy programmes British panel games British radio game shows 2000s British game shows British satirical radio programmes