[Commlist] Selling Britain: The BBC German Service in the Post-War Period | AHRC Funded Collaborative Doctoral Award (DTP SWW)

Selling Britain: The BBC German Service in the Post-War Period
Arts and Humanities Research Council Funded Collaborative Doctoral Award 
(DTP SWW)
 Supervisors:
Professor Vike Martina Plock, University of Exeter, (v.plock /at/ exeter.ac.uk)
Professor Simon Potter, University of Bristol, (simon.potter /at/ bristol.ac.uk)
Robert Seatter, BBC, (robert.seatter /at/ bbc.co.uk)
 Using an extensive amount of previously unexamined archival holdings 
in the BBC Written Archives Centre, the British Library’s Radio 
Broadcast Recording Collection and the BBC’s Monitoring Archive, the CDA 
will investigate how BBC German-language programmes were used to project 
positive images of Britain in post-war Germany. When the war in Europe 
ended in 1945, the BBC German Service already had a dedicated following 
among listeners who had turned to the British broadcaster for accurate 
information about current events that had been deliberately distorted by 
Nazi media outlets. As new political alliances were forged on the 
European continent and Britain entered a period of imperial decline, the 
BBC became an important instrument through which the country wielded 
soft power abroad. Examining surviving recordings, programme scripts, 
staff files, newspaper articles, governmental directives and other 
historical documents, the CDA will be the first study to analyse how the 
BBC’s German-language programmes presented democratic Britain as a role 
model for designing a new, non-militaristic German nation in the 
post-war period. Britain’s recent exit from the European Union and the 
country’s efforts to re-position itself in a rapidly changing global 
economy make this research extremely timely. Commencing in the year of 
the BBC’s centenary, the CDA will allow the doctoral researcher to 
develop specialist knowledge relevant for academics, heritage 
institutions, policy makers and the general public.

Research Questions and Methods:

Research questions cluster around a series of issues relating to 
transnational broadcasting, Anglo-German relations, media history and 
European political history, but will be shaped by the interests and 
research expertise of the postgraduate research in consultation with 
supervisors. They might include:
– How did the BBC interpret governmental requests to become an agent of 
cultural diplomacy and use its programmes to boost Britain’s cultural 
standing in post-war Germany? – What were the programmes designed to 
cement Britain’s leadership role within post-war Europe and who were the 
people chosen to address listeners in post-war Germany? – What can these 
attempts to influence opinions abroad tell us about the role that the 
BBC played within European politics in the post-war period? – What are 
the lessons to be learned from historical precedents for a post-Brexit 
Britain aiming to redefine its role in Europe through the projection of 
“Global Britain” today?

Supervisors:

Between them, members of the supervision team cover all areas relevant 
to this cross-disciplinary project. Professor Vike Martina Plock 
(Exeter) has published a monograph on the BBC German Service during the 
Second World War that was supported by a Leverhulme Research Fellowship. 
Professor Simon Potter (Bristol) has published books on global news 
flows, the BBC and empire and on British broadcasting and 
internationalist thinking, and he has led a Leverhulme international 
research network on global radio history. Both HEI supervisors have 
worked extensively with the UK National Archives, the BBC Written 
Archives Centre and other radio-related archives around the world. Both 
have a track record of supervising PhDs to completion and have 
previously acted successfully as co-supervisors for a SWW DTP-funded PhD 
student working on the BBC. Further subject expertise is provided by the 
Non-HEI supervisor Robert Seatter, who is—in his role as Head of BBC 
History—ideally placed to create a dialogue between the academic side of 
the project and current BBC priorities. Leading on commissioning, 
managing and co-ordinating the wider interpretation of BBC history, his 
role on the supervisory team is central in facilitating access to 
further training opportunities and to other divisions within the BBC.

More information: 
https://www.sww-ahdtp.ac.uk/prospective-students/apply/collaborative-doctoral-award-projects-2022/

Contact: Professor Vike Martina Plock ((v.plock /at/ exeter.ac.uk))

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