This next article was originally written in 2004, and then modified for a publication which was released in 2006, which means that some information that was correct when published, is now out of date. However, the main premise of the article remains valid:
John Reith and the feudal values of British Broadcasting in a modern age is about the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), which has self-promoted its reputation as the "standard" by which all other modern broadcasters should be judged. However, its "British-ness" owes its origins to feudal cultural norms once articulated by John Reith who both shaped and directed its broadcasting policy. Reith admired Mussolini and shared Hitler's dislike for modern jazz. He banned Churchill from the BBC airwaves before WWII and he regarded American
commercial broadcasting as "vulgar". It was Churchill who helped to end the BBC monopoly by introducing commercial television broadcasting which brought with it a commercial culture that both Reith and Hitler despised. Today, many Britons look back fondly to that quieter, more unified and dignified age of Reith and pose this question: "What price has Britain paid for its broadcasting freedoms?"
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