This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

The editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme is to leave later this year, it has been announced a day after the BBC revealed substantial cuts to its news output that are likely to affect the flagship current affairs show.

Sarah Sands will leave in September after three years with the programme. Although no specific cuts to Today were announced on Wednesday, its staff are likely to be affected as managers decide which journalists will move to a centralised news production system.

Although the editorship remains one of the top jobs in British broadcasting, with the programme attracting a weekly audience of seven million listeners, it will lose some of its autonomy under the new system. This could make it a less attractive prospect for Sands’ successor. Reporters will be placed in centralised pools serving multiple programmes with fewer stories – which staff fear will mean broadcast shows become less distinctive.

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The BBC is dealing with ongoing cuts, political attacks from all sides, and a struggle to reach younger audiences. The government has also boycotted the Today programme, previously known for high-profile political interviews, since the general election.

Timeline The Today programme Show Hide The first edition of Today is broadcast as two 20-minute programmes slotted around existing news and religious programming on the BBC's Home Service. Over the years the programme gradually develops into a more familiar format - a couple of hours long, with a co-presenting team. The BBC launches a new Radio 4 morning show Up To The Hour. Today is reduced to two 25 minute slots during the morning. It lasts just over a year before Today sees off the up-start and is restored to its former length. A Saturday edition is added to the show. A notoriously tense exchange takes place between presenter Brian Redhead and then Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson. Lawson accuses Redhead on air of being "a supporter of the Labour Party all your life, Brian". Redhead responds with “Do you think we should have a one-minute silence now in this interview, one for you to apologise for daring to suggest that you know how I vote, and secondly perhaps in memory of monetarism which you have now discarded.” Redhead leaves the show due to ill-health, having been a regular part of the team since 1975, forming an enduring presenting partnership with John Timpson. James Naughtie joins the line-up of presenters. He continues on the show until 2015. Andrew Gilligan's claims on the show that the government "sexed up" a dossier about Iraq's weapons capability ultimately leads to the Hutton Inquiry, and the resignation of the BBC's chairman Gavyn Davies and director-general Greg Dyke. Pope Benedict XVI records a 'Christmas message especially for the UK', broadcast as Thought for the Day. Former London Evening Standard editor Sarah Sands is named as the replacement for Jamie Angus at the helm of the flagship news and current affairs programme. Prince Harry guest edits, including interviews with Barack Obama and his father, Prince Charles. John Humprhys hosts his final show after 32 years. Sarah Sands resigns as Today programme editor. She will leave in September after three years in the role. Martin Belam

In an email to staff, Sands said: “I have decided that September is a good time to move on and pass this job to someone else. I loved Radio 4 as a listener, I loved it even more as a member of the team. But I come from a different world and I was never going to be a lifer. I am so proud of what we have achieved, championing intelligent broadcasting and political independence, under constant pressure.

“I have witnessed not only extraordinary professionalism and quick-witted determination here but also a heart-warming consideration towards one another. The Today programme is a beacon of news journalism. It was, is, will always be, the most precious programme at the BBC.”