Holding the Middle Ground: The BBC,the Public and the Professional Broadcaster

Unlike most other broadcasting organizations, the BBC has managed to fend off identification both with the state and with commerce. The sources of this unusual degree of autonomy are traced back to the era of Lord Reith. But the balance is a precarious one, entailing various `strategies of survival' on the part of the BBC. One such strategy is seen in the careful selection and promotion of a small group of professional broadcasters-announcers, news-readers, presenters. The functional importance of this group has increased dramatically in the last decade as a result of the break-up of the political consensus and the politicization of issues previously regarded as safe.