How did the future of news look like in 1939?
Alicante, Teresa Mondría Terol
April 19th, 2020
It was 11:15 am September 3rd, 1939. The Second World War started in the United Kingdom by a radio announcement. The beginning of World War II was by sound. And sound became the core pillar of this conflict. And The Radio Times knew it. But their goal as a media corporation was one very different from that of the government, and they wanted to continue like that. They wanted to continue being The Radio Times for their listeners, for their society. And since the very beginning, they made that clear. On September 8th, the first issue of The Radio Times after the Declaration of war was published, and a statement of intention could be sensed through the pages of the magazine.
It is extremely interesting how each article expresses the hope that each writer in The Radio Times felt about continuing broadcasting during the times of war. They did not stop believing in their promise of carrying on even on the toughest moments. It became their motto, and therefore everyone else’s, to keep going whatever happened. And I think that is a really good lesson to learn, and I am glad I discovered this particular issue on my birthday’s ephemerides. As this motto is the connecting line among all the articles in this magazine’s edition, I thought it would be best to make an overall commentary of several articles that represent this resilience feeling.
BBC Home Service Programmes for the week and all about them — The Second Week
Since September 1st was the actual first day of the German invasion, The Radio Times had already talked about the incipient war in an issue of the week before. The fact that struck me was not that they already had made the preparations to change from “peace-time broadcasting” to “broadcasting in time of war”, it is the fact that even the wavelengths had to be modified to continue, and it continued smoothly, internationally and nearly all day long. “Broadcasting remains one of the most normal things in an abnormal world”. I would have never guessed that. I do not think they did completely believe it at first, since they stated that “the promise seemed, at the time, even to ourselves to be a boast that it would be hard to make good”. And they kept it and accomplished it. For me, this article is one historical example of the love for radio above all things. .
Both sides of the microphone
Did things “quickly settled down to normal again, even behind the scenes”? It does not seem as they meant that things were exactly as they were before the war was declared, but that they succeeded in adapting their strategy to be on air the whole day, through the use of ready-made programs or gramophone records, those old but good contents that can be replayed at any time, during the dislocation of the first few days. But even then, they kept creating live-content with interviews, even they thought out a plan to organize the interviews in time of war.
We can see that The Radio Times tried to continue with its goal of entertaining the world, no matter the circumstances, and without losing value. The news was not put aside, but they did not monopolize the radio either. And they continue to call the audience and the listeners to participate, to intervene in the conversation, to show “What the Other Listener Thinks”. They want to feel that their audience is alive, is still listening and reading, as in the next section.
I Say Yesterday — Write to Me — says Irene Veal
This is the best representation of that statement of intention presented in the introduction. With a domestic section as a “letters to the editor” format, this section seemed like a parallel world where there was no war. And even in these pages, the feeling of war, but also the feeling of hope could be felt. If New media thinks they are the kings and queens of the p a r t i c i p a t o r y audiences, let me present them, Irene Veal, with her open questions. “I wonder how each one of you felt on Sunday, September 3, when war was declared? Will you write and tell me?”
As difficult as it may seem to connect with the listener or the reader, and even tougher in times of war, the media then tried to create that conversation. I found interesting the tips of the audience about how to economize expenses, and different tricks to make life easier during times of war and scarcity. The food recipes, the air raid tips, our suitable underwear show us how society was like there, in those extraordinary situations, and how they faced as normal people the changes in their daily lives, in the little details, in their routine. Because for them, life was not only about listening to the news of the conflict.
After the First Shock — Don’t restrict your listening to the News Bulletins
War…war… war… The Radio Times tried their best to escape the darkening that the word caused in the listeners’ homes. “We shall become less exclusively thirsty for news”. That makes us think that radio was well established as the main channel for news and information, and its development was not that much during World War II, but it had been before. The team of Radio Times encouraged people to “listen as listeners”, to “keep one’s mental balance, as one of the first national duties”. The words “Relax when you can, as soon as you can and let the BBC help you” is one of the best ads, truthful and thoughtful, that they could have added to this issue. All in all, they continued being an institution and they needed people to listen to them, but they showed that they cared about their listeners in these times of war. All in all, this issue has helped me not only to discover how media was presented in WWII times but also how society behaved during the conflict, and the importance of entertainment in times of war.
Bibliography:
Radio Times articles cited and references BBC (Sept 3rd, 1939). 1939: Britain and France declare war on Germany. BBC On this day. Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/3/ newsid_3493000/3493279.stm Gordon Stowell (Sept 8th, 1939) After the first Shock.
The Radio Times, volume 64 (Issue 832), p a g e 7 . R e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p s : / / g e n o m e . c h . b b c . c o . u k / p a g e / 351ab34d795a4c4ea88c70f6f6cef202?page=8
HOLMES, Jonathan. (June 14th, 1939) Read the Radio Times issue published on the outbreak of World War II. RadioTimes. Retrieved from: https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-06-14/ read-the-radio-times-issue-published-on-the-outbreak-of-world-war-ii/
Irene Veal (Sept 8th, 1939) I Saw Yesterday Write to me” Says Irene Veal. The Radio Times, volume 64 (Issue 832), page 7. Retrieved from https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/ 351ab34d795a4c4ea88c70f6f6cef202?page=7
The Broadcasters (Sept 8th, 1939) Both sides of the microphones. The Radio Times, volume 64 ( I s sue 832) , page 4. Re t r i e v e d f rom https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/ 351ab34d795a4c4ea88c70f6f6cef202?page=4
The Radio Times (Sept 8th, 1939) The Second Week. The Radio Times, volume 64 (Issue 832), p a g e 2 . R e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p s : / / g e n o m e . c h . b b c . c o . u k / p a g e / 351ab34d795a4c4ea88c70f6f6cef202?page=3
