Interaction Between BBC And British Government On Foreign Affairs And Policy Making During WWII

Stimulated by the wireless technology, radio was invented in the20th century, which later snowballed into a power communication form. As the forerunner and model in radio broadcasting, the BBC has always been associated with the features of objective reporting and independence of the governmental control from the UK parliament. Working as a national broadcasting organization, it differs from the American media system whose profits mainly come from advertisement sponsorship and also the media in former Soviet Union, which were largely dominated by the government and sustained as the government’s mouthpiece.According to the traditional academics, media organization is regarded as a static institution which once established would be categorized into four paradigms set in Four Theories of the Press:authoritarian theory, libertarian theory, social responsibility theory and Soviet Communist theory. However, under the influence of politic currents, international trend, economic situation, media are dynamic and even the same media organization would reflect different communication paradigms in particular periods.As a public broadcast corporation, BBC ought to serve the public interest, meanwhile, it is also a branch of British Culture, Media and Sports Bureau, which should be working with the royal charter and enjoy the subsidy from the government. So, it is inevitable for the BBC to promote and protect the British culture and values.Based on the four theories of the press and with the help of academic compositions, this thesis will speculate on the BBC’s interaction with the British government during the WWII from the historical perspective. It will analyze the essence of media organization and try to make it known that whether media can completely prevent from the governmental intervention.As a national media organization, BBC should primarily ensure the national interest and serve the public. How should the BBC balance to work as a watchdog and promote the British culture at the same time? In the Second World War, did the BBC propagandize the British values at the cost of objectivity in its journalistic practice?In practice, their interaction was quite subtle that BBC tried to maintain the balance between press freedom and governmental functioning, keeping miles away from the governmental control so as to get the win-win situation. If this interaction could be speculated on, it will be conducive to reveal the mysterious aurora of BBC and also to enlighten the Chinese broadcasting industry.The thesis consist of5parts. In Chapter1, the origin, purpose and significance of this thesis proposal are elaborated as well the literature review and methodology. In Chapter2, the theoretical frame combined with the notion "public broadcasting" is introduced and analyzed. It also speculates the interaction between public broadcasting with governments in WWII.Chapter3, Chapter4are the main part. In Chapter3, the overall information and its founding process of BBC are introduced. In Chapter4, the core elaboration about the interaction between the BBC and the British government in WWII and the Cold War is made.The thesis is concluded in Chapter5, which answers the hypotheses proposed. It is concluded that despite suffering the interference from the British government, the BBC managed to maintain its objectivity for the benefits of public interest in the two special periods. Moreover, the British government and the BBC got a win-win situation.However, it is quite challenging to acquire the first-hand and even second-hand material about the BBC’s programs of that time, so the research concerning this topic in China remains vacant. This thesis will fill the vacancy and offer a new perspective and thread thought in this field. Meanwhile, due to the limitation of time and space, the author was not able to exhibit all the historical details thoroughly, which is supposed to be fulfilled in the future.