The Place of Broadcasting in International Relations
| Author | Ian Jacob |
| Published date | 01 March 1950 |
| Date | 01 March 1950 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/002070205000500104 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The
Place of
Broadcasting
in
International
Relations
Sir
Ian
Jacob
veryone
in
Canada knows
that
broadcasting
has
become
a
part
of
daily
life,
but
few
think
of
it
as
more
than
a
cheap
means
of
being
amused
or
of
hearing
the
main
outlines
of
what
is
going
on.
It
supplements
the
newspapers,
the
magazines,
the
cinemas,
and
the
theatres.
It
is
convenient,
because
it
can
be
switched
on
and
off
in
the
home.
Reception
is
usually
easy,
and
most people
are
quite
content
to
ring the
changes
on
three
or
four
stations
all
of
which
are
probably
situated
within
a
radius
of
a
hundred
miles
from
the listener's
home,
either
in
Canada
or
just
over
the
border
in
the
United
States.
Some
enthusiastic
knob-twiddlers
may
go
further
afield,
and may
even
search
the
shortwave
bands,
but
few
among
them listen
consistently
to
any
of
the
far-away
stations they
pick
up.
It
follows
that
the great
volume
of
highly
purposeful broadcasting
directed
across
frontiers
is
quite
unheeded, and
the
majority
of
people
are
ignorant
of
what
is
being
said,
some of
it
on
their
behalf,
on
the
international air.
The
picture
is
quite
different
in
Europe.
The
existence
of
international
broadcasting,
and
its
significance,
are
only
too
well
known
in
countries
which
either
during
the war
or
since
have
been
under
foreign domination
or
subject
to
totalitarian
regimes.
The
foreign broadcast
can
make
for
people
in
those
countries
the
difference
between
mental
life and
death.
In
many
other
countries
of
the
world
the
foreign
broadcast
is
not
of
such
vital
importance
but
can
still
be
a
valuable
source
of
information
and
of
comfort
in
difficult
times.
In
Britain
we
are
in
an
intermediate
position.
Few
people
here
listen
to
foreign
broadcasts,
but
many
realize
that
international
broad-
casting
is
going
on on
a
great
scale,
and
that
the
British
Broad-
casting
Corporation
is
playing
a
leading
part
in
the
business.
In
fact
they
pay
in
taxes
nearly
fourteen
million
dollars
each
year
to
support
the
B.B.C.'s
Overseas Services.
Nevertheless,
31
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