Dame Jenni Murray, the veteran broadcaster who hosted BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour for over three decades, has died at the age of 75. Murray joined the programme in 1987 and became its longest-serving presenter before departing in 2020. She was awarded a damehood in 2011 for her services to broadcasting.
During her tenure, Murray interviewed numerous influential women, including former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, author Margaret Atwood, and actress Bette Davis. In 2006, she announced on air that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, returning to the programme after treatment. She won two Sony Awards and was inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame.
Tim Davie, the BBC's outgoing director general, described Murray as 'a broadcasting icon'. He said: 'Throughout her three groundbreaking decades on Woman's Hour, Jenni created a safe space for her audience thanks to her warmth, intelligence and courage.' Mohit Bakaya, controller of BBC Radio 4, called her a 'formidable voice in British broadcasting who was warm, fearless and beloved by listeners'.
Murray began her BBC career at age 23, joining a local radio newsroom in Bristol in 1973. She later presented BBC's South Today, worked on Newsnight and the Today programme, before replacing Sue MacGregor on Woman's Hour. She signed off her final programme with Helen Reddy's feminist anthem, 'I Am Woman'.
In her later years, Murray became a campaigner for tighter laws on pornography and was critical of the BBC's handling of transgender issues. She wrote in her Daily Mail column that her views on 'the trans question' had led to her departure from Woman's Hour, stating she would never be allowed to discuss it on the programme.
