scholarly journals The Case for Irish Modernism: Denis Devlin at the League of Nations and 1930s International Broadcasting

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-180
Author(s):  
Karl O'Hanlon
Author(s):  
Simon J. Potter

The mid 1930s were one of the most decisive periods in the development of international broadcasting, as the use of wireless for propaganda purposes intensified and states became intimately involved with cross-border radio services. Fascist Germany, Italy, and Japan set the pace: Germany’s short-wave station at Zeesen continued to be the main competitor for the BBC’s Daventry station, and following the invasion of Abyssinia Italy’s stations at Rome and Bari threatened to undermine British influence in the Middle East, and particularly in Egypt and Palestine. Attempts by the International Broadcasting Union and the League of Nations (with its Broadcasting in the Cause of Peace initiative) to halt the rising tide of broadcast propaganda failed. Wireless internationalism increasingly seemed a forlorn hope. Britain also used broadcasting for propaganda purposes. The BBC stepped up attempts to reach US audiences by providing improved relays for the American networks. More significantly, the Foreign Office turned to the BBC to begin broadcasting in Arabic for the Middle East and Spanish and Portuguese for Latin America. The chapter significantly revises our understanding of the relationship between the BBC and the British state in this period, demonstrating that in taking on the work of broadcasting in foreign languages, the BBC accepted significant restrictions on its independence.


Author(s):  
Simon J. Potter

During the early 1930s faith in a utopian form of wireless internationalism was shaken by the world economic crisis, the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, and the Nazi revolution in Germany. Radio still seemed a potential means to encourage international understanding and peace, but increasingly it also appeared to be a powerful tool of propaganda that might serve aggressive nationalist ends. As Europe’s broadcasting infrastructure became more formidable, broadcasters continued to work through the International Broadcasting Union to regulate the airwaves and combat interference and hostile propaganda. These measures were only partially effective and were ignored by a powerful new station broadcasting commercial programmes across Europe in several languages, Radio Luxembourg. The League of Nations also began to study the disruptive impact of radio on international affairs, and established its own broadcasting station, Radio Nations. Relay work continued, linking up the broadcasters of Europe and forging new connections across the Atlantic. The number of short-wave broadcasters increased significantly during this period, and the BBC established its own short-wave Empire Service, designed to reach out to white expatriate listeners in Britain’s colonies, and to English speakers in the ‘dominions’. Many in the US could also tune in, and British civil servants, notably at the Foreign Office, worried about the impact on Anglo-American relations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 (09) ◽  
pp. 108-113
Author(s):  
Alexander Begichev ◽  
Alexander Galushkin ◽  
Andrey Zvonaryev ◽  
Victor Shestak

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4(13)) ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
Ksenia Olegovna NEVMERZHITSKAYA ◽  

The media influence politics by providing intelligence and arena for political statements. Therefore, the danger of spreading false information and deliberate disinformation can have serious consequences. It is impossible to accuse specific media outlets of unfair coverage, but one cannot fail to note the existing resonance in media reports from different countries. Interpretations of the same events are radically different, while a journalist must rely on facts. The world is faced with the problem of global misunderstanding and information discord. Modern international broadcasting plays an important role in shaping the picture of the event for the world community. It is impossible to deny that the information agenda of many foreign broadcast media depends to some extent on a number of reasons: nationality, foreign policy of his state, profitability. Otherwise, the global media would not contradict each other. We want to track how modern foreign broadcasting builds its agenda and what principles it is guided by. Keywords: Broadcasting, media, Media agenda


Author(s):  
Patricia O'Brien

This is a biography of Ta’isi O. F. Nelson, the Sāmoan nationalist leader who fought New Zealand, the British Empire and the League of Nations between the world wars. It is a richly layered history that weaves a personal and Pacific history with one that illuminates the global crisis of empire after World War One. Ta’isi’s story weaves Sweden with deep histories of Sāmoa that in the late nineteenth century became deeply inflected with colonial machinations of Germany, Britain, New Zealand and the U. S.. After Sāmoa was made a mandate of the League of Nations in 1921, the workings and aspirations of that newly minted form of world government came to bear on the island nation and Ta’isi and his fellow Sāmoan tested the League’s powers through their relentless non-violent campaign for justice. Ta’isi was Sāmoa’s leading businessman who was blamed for the on-going agitation in Sāmoa; for his trouble he was subjected to two periods of exile, humiliation and a concerted campaign intent on his financial ruin. Using many new sources, this book tells Ta’isi’s untold story, providing fresh and intriguing new aspects to the global story of indigenous resistance in the twentieth century.


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