1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio, 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,480 Speaker 1: Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: show that uncovers a little bit more about history every day. 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lucier, and in this episode, we're taking a 5 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,439 Speaker 1: closer look at a famously slow news day that may 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:33,880 Speaker 1: not have been as uneventful as everyone clean. The day 7 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: was April eighteenth, nineteen thirty. During its evening news bulletin, 8 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: BBC Radio announced there was no news to report and 9 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: played fifteen minutes of piano music instead. Listeners all over 10 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 1: England had tuned in for the news bulletin, just as 11 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: they did every night at eight forty five. This time, 12 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: though they heard only a brief three sentence announcement, good 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: evening today is good Friday. There is no The rest 14 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 1: of the time slot was filled out with piano music, 15 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:07,400 Speaker 1: though we don't know which songs were played, as BBC 16 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,559 Speaker 1: broadcasts weren't recorded in those days. Once the no news 17 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,280 Speaker 1: segment was over, the station returned to broadcasting a Wagner 18 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: opera which was being performed live at the Queen's Hall 19 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: in London. Many listeners were left scratching their heads over 20 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: the supposed shortage of news, but others likely took it 21 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: as permission to forget their own cares for a while. 22 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: If the rest of the country had taken it easy 23 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: that day, that meant they could too. The BBC's no 24 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: News bulletin is often brought up as an example of 25 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: how much simpler the world used to be, but it's 26 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: not like there really wasn't anything of note happening in 27 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: or around Britain. On April eighteenth, for example, a revolutionary 28 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: in British India named Surrea Sen led an armed raid 29 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: on a police armory in Bangladesh that very night. To 30 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: be fair, the BBC couldn't have reported on that attack anyway, 31 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: as the raiders had cut the city's telegraph and phone lines. 32 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,840 Speaker 1: But even within England there was still news that could 33 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: have been reported car accidents, house fires, community events, the 34 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: death of a prominent figure, the kind of stories that 35 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: remain staples of the local news today. So then, what 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 1: made the BBC decide not to report any news at all? 37 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: It really came down to a combination of factors the 38 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: station's structure, staffing, and standards. In nineteen thirty, the BBC 39 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,799 Speaker 1: and broadcast radio in general were only about a decade old, 40 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: the industry was still finding its footing, so there wasn't 41 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,919 Speaker 1: a great deal of programming in that era. For example, 42 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:46,120 Speaker 1: the BBC only broadcast for a few hours on April eighteenth, 43 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: and most of its content was orchestral music and sports bulletins. 44 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: Each day, there was just one fifteen minute time slot 45 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: devoted to news. It generally included a weather forecast, public announcements, 46 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,600 Speaker 1: and a general news bulletin, which were read on the 47 00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:05,440 Speaker 1: air by announcers. The station didn't have a dedicated news 48 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: department at the time, though, so instead of gathering news themselves, 49 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: a staff of two editors and two sub editors would 50 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: simply compile reports from other British news agencies. However, they 51 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: weren't free to report any stories they wanted, only those 52 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:26,519 Speaker 1: that aligned with the BBC's institutional values. Although it began 53 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,760 Speaker 1: as a private company, the BBC was chartered by the 54 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 1: Crown in nineteen twenty seven in recognition of the growing 55 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: influence of the radio medium. The charter made the BBC 56 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: a public corporation rather than a commercial broadcaster. Under that model, 57 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: the BBC didn't have to rely on ad revenue to 58 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: stay on the air. Instead, it was funded by license fees, 59 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: which every radio owner in the country had to pay. 60 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,480 Speaker 1: That unique arrangement was supposed to help keep the BBC honest. 61 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: It wouldn't be a for profit enterprise, but it wouldn't 62 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: be under or state control either. Rather, it would be 63 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: a public service, paid for entirely by the members of 64 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:10,360 Speaker 1: the public who used it. The BBC transitioned into that 65 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,680 Speaker 1: new role under the leadership of its first Director General, 66 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: John Reith. He understood the station had effectively been granted 67 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: a monopoly over the country's airwaves, and he felt that 68 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: gave them an important responsibility not just to entertain the 69 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: British people, but to educate and enlighten them, to raise 70 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:33,880 Speaker 1: their moral character. That rather patronizing mandate resulted in programming 71 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:39,359 Speaker 1: focused almost exclusively on the arts, namely classical music, poetry, drama, 72 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: and literary discourse. In other words, the BBC was a 73 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: bit like NPR in the States, except without the quiz shows, interviews, 74 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,760 Speaker 1: and of course, the news. John Reith didn't want the 75 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: BBC to devote much time to news coverage. He thought 76 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: the longer and editors spent covering a story, the more 77 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: likely they'd be to add their own per personal opinions 78 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,160 Speaker 1: and bias. To prevent that, Wreath insisted on brief, bulletin 79 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:09,120 Speaker 1: style reporting with no added commentary. He also had to 80 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: approve every story, and if a topic seemed too controversial 81 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 1: or inflammatory, he'd make the editors run something milder instead. 82 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: Wreath's high minded rules even extended to the dress code. 83 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: The news announcers of the day were required to wear 84 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,560 Speaker 1: dinner jackets to the office, even though it was radio 85 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 1: and the audience wouldn't see them. Reith reasoned that all 86 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: of the musicians and actors who were featured on the 87 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: radio had to dress up to perform, so it was 88 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: only right that anyone else featured on the radio should 89 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: do the same, even the announcer of a fifteen minute 90 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 1: news show. The last piece of the no news broadcast 91 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: puzzle is the day It Happened April eighteenth, nineteen thirty, 92 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: which happened to fall on Good Friday. Many British newswires 93 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: and newspapers were closed for the holiday, and in some 94 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:02,839 Speaker 1: cases for the holy weekend. That meant the BBC staff 95 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: had no fresh news to choose from for its segment, 96 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,119 Speaker 1: or at least none that would meet the high moral 97 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 1: standards of its owner. A for profit station would have 98 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: had to put a show out anyway in order to 99 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 1: keep its advertisers happy, but of course the BBC was 100 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 1: under no such obligation, and so on a day with 101 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 1: no government announcements and no big breaking stories, Reith decided 102 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: to just skip the news and play some music instead. 103 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,520 Speaker 1: When you factor in the BBC's structure, staffing, and the 104 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: standards of its management, the no news broadcast of nineteen 105 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: thirty doesn't seem nearly as strange as it did on 106 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: the surface. Yet the story continues to make the rounds anyway, 107 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:45,359 Speaker 1: including on this show, because we're captivated by the idea 108 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 1: of a day without news. In this age of social 109 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: media and twenty four hour cable channels, most of us 110 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 1: are inundated with news and with propaganda disguised as news. 111 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: And while it's hard to imagine life without easy access 112 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,160 Speaker 1: to up to the minute news news, I know many 113 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: of us question whether it's good for us to be 114 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: that connected all the time. It can feel overwhelming and 115 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: exhausting to process that much information on a daily basis, 116 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:13,000 Speaker 1: and when so much of the news we absorb isn't 117 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,040 Speaker 1: relevant to our own lives, it makes you question whether 118 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: it's really worth your time and attention. I think that 119 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 1: should be the real takeaway from the BBC's No News broadcast, 120 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,760 Speaker 1: not some fable about how the world used to be 121 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: less eventful, but the idea that it's okay to be 122 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: discerning about what you consider newsworthy, and that sometimes it's 123 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: a good idea to take a day off from the 124 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: rest of the world, to disconnect and say all of 125 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: that can wait, because whether it's nineteen thirty or twenty thirty, 126 00:07:42,160 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: on some days, no news really is good news. I'm 127 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: Gabe Luesier and hopefully you now know a little more 128 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: about history today than you did yesterday. You can learn 129 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 130 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: and Instagram at HC Show, and if you have any 131 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: comments or suggestions, you can always send them my way 132 00:08:06,280 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 1: at this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. Thanks to Chandler 133 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: Mays and Ben Hackett for producing the show, and thanks 134 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 135 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History class.