BBC Blogs - What does it mean to ‘broadcast British?’
▻http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/aboutthebbc/entries/052b89ee-5207-4abd-bfc4-30ec2767b6b5?ns_campaign=about_the_bbc
In the wake of the recent Windrush scandal, many people have been discussing what it means to be British in the post-Imperial era.
When that famous ship dropped anchor at Tilbury Docks in 1948 it heralded a new era for both the UK and the BBC, as the Corporation rose to the challenge of representing a new and unfamiliar audience.
Now, seven decades on, BBC History has launched the fourth release from its #Oral_History Collection, showing the way staff at the BBC created #programmes for a diverse and multi-cultural audience following World War II. The results are interesting and often surprising.
Created in partnership with the #University_of_Sussex, 100 Voices that Made the BBC: People, Nation, Empire looks to shed new light on what is a complex and sometimes highly contentious subject.
John Escolme, BBC History Manager, explains: “What we’re doing is bringing some of the BBC’s hidden treasures into the public realm, including some of the 600 interviews with former members of staff, few of which have been available until recently.”
There are a number of fascinating case studies looking at this concept of #dual-identity, including Una Marson. Una was the first black producer at the BBC, way back in 1941. The prejudices she faced at that time are examined in a number of her documents and interviews, as well as comments showing the high esteem she was held in by some of her superiors.
Reflecting the #LGBTQ+ audience
As well as the subject of #race, 100 Voices looks at the efforts made by the #BBC to engage with people from the LGBTQ+ community: from the initial, church-dominated discussions on #radio in the 1950s, to tentative efforts to document the lives of gay men on #TV in the 1960s, right up to the bold lifestyle programming of the 1990s.
Le site 100 Voices on the History of the BBC : ▻https://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/people-nation-empire