Behind it all lies the even greater problem of the
function of the B.B.C. in war-time. There are those who desire to see our whole wireless system turned into an agency for home and foreign propaganda and who would wish to deprive the B.B.C. of its independence and therefore, essentially, of its representative function. I am one of those who contend that the B.B.C. in all these years has in fact striven to convey all that is best in our national life and character. It has striven to be moderate, unimpassioned, informative, and wise ; these are not exciting qualities and would not, I admit, increase the circulation of a popular newspaper. But the B.B.C. is not a newspaper ; it is a public utility undertaking and it is something more ; it represents a certain moral and intellectual dignity, a certain gentleness of mind, which are in accord with the standards of our race. I should much rather that the B.B.C. incurred the charge of pompousness than that it should ever, in any circumstances, behave as a cad.
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