Description
This volume on print and broadcast media in the 19th and 20th centuries highlights the pivotal role that the media played in the establishment and maintenance of imperial power. The media bolstered both the ideological and financial objectives of the empire in a myriad of overt, covert, and downright scandalous ways.
From jeopardising the introduction of wireless telegraphy in order to maximise the financial gains of the investors of under-sea cabling, to newspaper proprietors cashing in on the thrilling, wonderful (and sometimes fabricated) adventures of war correspondents in exotic lands, the media has had a constant background influence in the public’s perception of empire.
By covering diverse topics from Anthony Lejeune’s radio talk-show ‘London Letters’ – which supported the Allies by boosting morale and providing a link between soldiers fighting abroad and their families during both World Wars, to the complete subversion of imperial influence – as in the case of the proliferation of diverse media platforms being used by migrant communities in Britain as a means to promote ‘colonization in reverse’, the book hints at the politics, suspense, and intrigue of both the print and broadcast sectors. This book was originally published as a special issue of Critical Arts.
Table of Contents
Introduction Part I: Broadcasting 1. In service of Empire: the South African Broadcasting Corporation during World War II 2. Broadcasting to the ‘last outpost of the British Empire’: Anthony Lejeune, the man behind the SABC’s English Service London Letter (1965-1995) 3. Broadcasting to the Portuguese Empire in Africa: Salazar’s singular broadcasting policy 4. Imperial foundations of 20th-century media systems in the Caribbean 5. In service of two masters: a political history of radio in pre-independence Botswana 6. Empire and broadcasting in the interwar years: towards a consideration of public broadcasting in the British dominions Part II: Newspapers 7. The imperial British newspaper, with special reference to South Africa, India and the ‘Irish model’ 8. English newspapers in British colonial Hong Kong: the case of the South China Morning Post (1903-1941) 9. Reuters and the South African press at the end of Empire 10. Friends or foes? A critique of the development of the media and the evolving relationship between press and politics in Kenya
