LBC/IRN Archive Teaching and Learning Case Study

The online archive provides lecturers, researchers and students with an extraordinary wealth of audio material covering the period 1973-1996. Precisely how this is best used in a teaching and learning context will probably only emerge after the resource has been used in various schools, colleges and universities. The subjects covered are so diverse that it is hard to know whether, for example, it is the history of Northern Ireland, or changing attitudes to food, which prove to be the most productive subjects. Will it be students of the media, and of course in particular radio , who exploit the archive, or those studying recent British history; political, social and cultural? There are, however, some general points worth making about the archive and how it might be used before looking in a bit more detail at what is available; 1) The archive is important both in terms of content (especially news and current affairs coverage of political, economic, social and cultural events and developments) and for also for production techniques employed (including interviews, vox pops, phone-ins, reportage and rolling news). 2) The online resource lends itself to student centred learning in which the student can explore the archive using the search and key word functions. This will probably work best as a relatively non-prescriptive task which allows the student to wander through the material in their own way (see the examples below). 3)Perhaps the most exciting archive-based student projects will include examples of audio which have been downloaded and then edited and incorporated into a web based report with audio examples, possibly within a multimedia product

BBC Radio Four’s Analysis and the Third Way

BBC Radio Four’s current affairs programme, Analysis provided a platform for Third Way ideas in 1994 and 95. Key Third Way thinkers both contributed to and presented the programme which repeated many of the core Third Way ideas. This willingness to intervene in a key ideological shift mirrored the programme’s enthusiastic treatment of neo-liberalism in the mid 1970s. Editions of the programme presented by the influential Thatcherite, John Vaisey provided an important space for the representation of neo-liberal ideas as they were beginning to influence the Conservative Party. Today there are early signs that Analysis is an important vehicle for the articulation of new ideas developing in the opposition Labour Party

The birth of BBC Radio 4's Analysis

BBC Radio 4's Analysis was first broadcast in 1970 and represented a striking departure from the tendency to combine news and comment in radio current affairs. It was created by a small network of broadcasters who believed that current affairs was distinct from radio journalism. The publication of the controversial document Broadcasting in the Seventies in 1969 and the outcry that followed it gave this group the opportunity to produce an elite form of radio

John Peel's Home Truths

Although widely regarded as the most influential British radio DJ of the last century, John Peel was also a presenter of speech radio. This article examines his career presenting two BBC Radio 4 speech programmes; ‘Offspring’ and ‘Home Truths’. Research carried out included interviews with radio producers, close listening to selected programmes presented by Peel as well as reviewing the literature on radio presentation and broadcast talk. The evidence shows that Peel's success owed a lot to his ability to create a distinct radio persona, one which inspired a unique listening community. Themes of eccentricity, English nationalism, parenting and ageing were central to ‘Home Truths’ as were nostalgic references to the past. The article begins with a consideration of some of the relevant literature on radio presentation and DJs followed by an account of Peel's early career. His experience writing for ‘Radio Times’ is described and the influence this had on his selection to present on Radio 4. There are detailed accounts of the genesis of both ‘Offspring’ and its successor, ‘Home Truths’ which explain the roles of women producers in their creation. Peel's persona is discussed with reference to concepts of broadcast talk, discursive space and co-presence

Out of the Dark: Samuel Beckett and BBC Radio

The article primarily addresses the BBC radio broadcasts of Samuel Beckett's work including drama for radio and radio versions of some of his novels and stage-plays. It is an account which employs the perspective of radio studies

Radio Drama Takeover 1: Hedda Gabler

British radio drama since the creation of the BBC in 1922 has often been in the form of adapted stage plays. This has led to disagreements about whether the non-visual representation of dramas written for the theatre produces satisfactory results. This article explores this question using Ibsen’s realist drama, Hedda Gabler. It is argued that the audio version is successful and enables the listener to ‘overhear’ whispered conversations and share Hedda’s domestic claustrophobia