Britain’s national broadcasting organization has served as the propaganda arm of the British government overseas—and occasionally at home as well. The BBC was chartered in 1926 as a public body to succeed the radio manufacturers’ own creation, the British Broadcasting Company, which was founded in 1922. John Reith (1889-1971), its first director general, believed that the BBC had a duty to educate. The corporation’s bias was socially conservative, which was hardly surprising when one realizes its controlling board was top-heavy with establishment figures. During the General Strike of 1926 its airwaves were commandeered to powerful effect by the government.
In 1932 the corporation branched out and became an external arm of the British government’s cultural propaganda, inaugurating an English-language Empire Service to promote imperial cohesion. An Arabic service followed in 1938 to counter the dictatorial powers ruling the Middle East. Broadcasts were funded and guided by the Foreign Office. During the buildup leading up to and throughout World War II BBC external services multiplied to include a plethora of languages, broadcasting to Allied, enemy, and neutral territories alike. The BBC sought to gain a reputation for credibility as a news service. This contrasted with the totalitarian approach to propaganda and ensured that when the British really needed to lie, it was likely to be believed. At home the BBC was an essential instrument of domestic wartime propaganda and helped maintain both morale and political cohesion. Successful broadcasters included Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and writer J. B. Priestley (1894-1984), who used the BBC to advance ideas of the war as an opportunity for social reform.
After the war, the BBC’s foreign-language services were regrouped into the World Service and played a major role in Cold War propaganda aimed at the Communist network. It is a testament to its potency that broadcasts were frequently jammed in the Eastern bloc. At home the BBC was slow to become a prime forum for political debate. Since 1944 the BBC had been forced to wait two weeks before carrying political comment on an issue being debated in Parliament. This rule withered following the Suez Crisis of 1956. Subsequently BBC programming became an essential forum for the propaganda duels of British politics.
British governments have occasionally sought to control the output of the BBC for propaganda reasons. Coverage of the “troubles” in Northern Ireland proved particularly controversial. In 1985 Margaret Thatcher (1925- ) attempted to quash the documentary At the Edge of Union; broadcast journalists protested with a one-day strike. Self-censorship has proved more effective, as in the suppression of the 1965 film The War Game. BBC programs have played a part in raising public consciousness on particular issues, the best known example being the 1966 docudrama Cathy Come Home dealing with homelessness.
During the 1990s the BBC became a major player in international satellite news. The export of BBC news and feature programs remains a major element in British cultural projection overseas.
