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Practice Reading: Fill in the Blanks (Dropdown) ID: #1228 BBC
Instructions
By  now  the  BBC  under  Reith's  leadership  had  forged  a    favouring  a  continuation  of  the  unified  broadcasting  service,  but  more  money  was  still  required  to  finance  rapid  expansion.  Wireless  manufacturers  were  anxious  to  exit  the  loss  making  consortium  with  Reith  keen  that  the  BBC  be  seen  as  a  public  service  rather  than  a  commercial  .
The  recommendations  of  the  Crawford  Committee  were  published  in  March  the  following  year  and  were  still  under  consideration  by  the  GPO  when  the  1926  general  strike  broke  out  in  May.  The  strike  temporarily  interrupted  newspaper  production  and  with  restrictions  on  news  bulletins  waived  the  BBC  suddenly  became  the  primary  source  of  news  for  the  duration  of  the  crisis.
The  crisis  placed  the  BBC  in  a  delicate  position.  On  one  hand  Reith  was  acutely  aware  that  the  Government  might  exercise  its  right  to  commandeer  the  BBC  at  any  time  as  a  mouthpiece  of  the  Government  if  the  BBC  were  to  step  out  of  line,  but  on  the  other  he  was  anxious  to  maintain  public  trust  by  appearing  to  be  acting  independently.  The  Government  was  divided  on  how  to  handle  the  BBC  but  ended  up  trusting  Reith,  whose  opposition  to  the  strike  mirrored  the  PM's  own.  Thus,  the  BBC  was  granted  sufficient  leeway  to  pursue  the
Government's    largely  in  a  manner  of  its  own  choosing.  The  resulting  coverage  of  both  striker  and  government  viewpoints    millions  of  listeners  who  were  unaware  that  the  PM  had  broadcast  to  the  nation  from  Reith's  home,  using  one  of  Reith's  sound  bites  inserted  at  the  last  moment,  or  that  the  BBC  had  banned  broadcasts  from  the  Labour  Party  and  delayed  a  peace  appeal  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The    of  the  strike  nicknamed  the  BBC  the  BFC  for  British  Falsehood  Company.

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