Issues and Singularity in the British Media Volume 2 Broadcasting: culture and identity

This book offers a historical, cultural, political and socio-economic analysis of the British media. It examines how facts and events are reported and interpreted, but also how ideas and opinions circulate and are recycled, with attention being paid to British traits and tropes in these domains. This in-depth study of “issues” and “singularity” aims at understanding how the British media have helped shape the country’s culture and representations, thereby providing its people with a sense of togetherness.

Volume 2 focuses on radio and (mostly) television broadcasting, from the interwar period to the early 21st century. In order to apprehend what is deeply engrained in British culture and thus contributes to shaping national identity, it analyses the ideas disseminated and reflected not only in programmes but also within media institutions in the face of changing political contexts, as well as providing a historiographical overview.

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Part I: Radio and Television Public Service Broadcasting: serving the people?.- Chapter 2: Sketching the British Broadcasting Landscape: from Experimentation to the Blooming and Shaping of a Self-perpetuating BBC Culture.- Chapter 3: Reithianism and Modern(ist) Broadcasting between the Wars: To Inform, Educate, or Project?.- Chapter 4: The Absence of Television: Broadcasting and War in Britain, 1939-45.- Chapter 5: Public Service Broadcasting in Britain.- Chapter 6: .- Government Intervention in the 21st-Century UK Broadcasting Ecology.- Part II: TV Productions: a tradition of innovation for each and for all.- Chapter 7: Experimenting with Programmes on British Television, 1945-1975.- Chapter 8: British TV Party Political Broadcasts: Persuasive, Performative Broadcasting.- Chapter 9: The Sum of the Parts: Orkney (BBC TV, 1971) – A Case Study.- Chapter 10: Teliesyn: A Singular Welsh Media Company’s History through the Lenses of Cottle, Bourdieu and Berne.

David Haigron is a Senior Lecturer in British Studies at the University of Rennes, France. He is the author and (co-)editor of numerous publications on political communication, popular culture and social representations in the media.

Renée Dickason is Professor of British and Commonwealth studies at the University of Rennes, France. She has been a keen observer of British media for some thirty years. She is the author and (co-)editor of numerous publications on British social and cultural history, on war memories and on war representations in the media