The BBC A century on air

Broadcasting scholar Hendy (Radio in the Global Age) delivers an entertaining if uneven history of the British Broadcasting Corporation. He tracks the ups and downs of the BBC from its start as a "grand, emancipatory project" in 1920s London to its rise as an influencer of global affairs via its "Overseas Service" during WWII and its recent controversies, including allegations that longtime presenter Martin Bashir used deception to gain a 1995 interview with Princess Diana. Hendy also analyzes the BBC's reporting on key historical events including the 1926 general strike and the Iraq War, and recounts criticism that the broadcaster, which was "founded on the belief that its job was to hold the ring in the middle of a national debate," was caught flat-footed by the deceptions of the "Leave" side in the Brexit campaign. Though Hendy covers a lot of ground, the individuals responsible for shaping the BBC get a bit lost in the shuffle; director-general John Reith and other executives get their due, but only a handful of lesser-known employees are profiled, including Una Marson, the first Black female producer on staff, whose nervous breakdown in the 1940s Hendy attributes to the "constant hum of prejudice" at the BBC. Still, this fast-paced and accessible history provides genuine insight into one of the world's most influential broadcasters. (Mar.)

A comprehensive biography of the British Broadcasting Corporation, "the embodiment of public service broadcasting, a template to emulate." Hendy, a professor of media and communication and former BBC producer, offers both a history of the institution and its key personnel and an assessment of its difficulties and successes living up to its self-professed mission "to inform, educate and entertain." The author offers his personal "version of the BBC story, not an officially approved one"--but one bolstered by "several years of invaluable help from the BBC accessing and navigating my way through its archival treasures." Hendy begins with the founders--Cecil Lewis, John Reith, and Arthur Burrows--and its initial incarnation as a radio company in 1922. Early on, the author points out that although the BBC is not a government-run entity, it exists only by Royal Charter, funded by a license fee set by Parliament. Its history is inextricably woven into the fabric of 20th-century Britain: the 1926 General Strike, when the BBC averted a real threat of government takeover; the close collaboration with the World War II--era government, which included the sending of coded messages during broadcasts; an eyewitness account of the direct hit on its home in Broadcasting House during the Blitz; the robust patronage of the new medium, TV; and its ever increasing role as a truly global institution. Hendy ably dissects the BBC's approach to popular entertainment and the arts without sparing due criticism. In 1975, for example, reporter Mike Phillips argued that the BBC "failed accurately to reflect the lives, problems and aspirations of immigrant minorities." Throughout, the author offers brief profiles of numerous outsize personalities across the media, politics, and the arts. He also meticulously lays out the many attempts, by both Conservative and Labour governments and by rival media, to derail the BBC's editorial independence--e.g., during the Suez Crisis and the Falklands War. Much of this history has been told before but never in such well-researched depth and sparkling detail. An appropriately large-scale account of the media giant at the very heart of British life. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.