The BBC and The European Enlightenment

Introduction BBC is an abbreviation for British Broadcasting Corporation. The British Broadcasting Corporation is a public service broadcasting in British and was founded by Sir John Reith on 18th October 1922 (McDonnell, 1991). Its headquarters are in the Broadcasting House in London. It is one of the world oldest universally acclaimed broadcasters and has the largest number of employees. By 1980 there were 36 public and 5 private channels in Europe. The British Broadcasting Corporation has in many occasions challenged by market forces, illiberal states, and in some cases, a hostile or apathetic citizenry. Enlightenment concepts may be broken down into the following: watchdog, public forum, catalyst of social reform, and builder of peace and consensus. The idea of public service broadcasting is rooted in the enlightenment notion of the public and of a public space in which social and political life democratically unfolds (Habermas, 1989).

Public broadcasting should appeal to the audience’s intelligence and general understanding. The information broadcast by public broadcasting should be treated with a concern for in-depth explanation and inner examination to enlighten citizens on the issues at hand. The media such British Broadcasting Corporation determines the development direction of the national spirit of a country. Hence, people should emphasize and attach importance to the study of the media, more important in its impact on the national spirit and related social effects. ( Jianfei, Xiuyun, & Chaoqian:2017) The British Broadcasting Corporation serves as a platform to various groups in society. For this reason they must be diversified, objective, unbiased, and allow voices to be heard from all of society including the government, the leaders and the corporate voice in the establishment (Mueller, 2010).

  The British Broadcasting Corporation provides to the public an opportunity to hear all sides of a story and not just what is included in one government’s platform (Mueller, 2010). The core responsibilities of the BBC were to: entertain, inform and educate: i. Entertainment The British Broadcasting Corporation provided popular entertainment, such as music, arts and drama, but also to serve the public by extended coverage of public affairs, world events, and parliamentary debate. The British Broadcasting Corporation has made entertainment impact to the world through its wide coverage and such programs as BBC sports events like Wimbledon (2001), the Interactive Olympics (2004), Talk sport, and Vera Comedy. Viewers are able choose among different matches and camera angles. Vara Comedy is one of the Dutch public broadcasting associations.

Information The British Broadcasting Corporation plays a key role in transmitting useful information about health to a large public, not just a source of information for the general public, but also a potential vehicle for educating the public on general issues of importance such as health issues ( Bucur 2000). Information gives people more power because the more people know, the more they can effect change on a personal, political, economic and societal level. ( Bucur 2000). The British Broadcasting Corporation plays a key role to disseminate information to the audience, hence empowering them. BBC is careful to explain information in a clear, exact, and understandable manner, translating different languages and statistical data into accessible language. The Role of The Media. Journalists Are Helping to Change Attitudes Toward Health and Promoting Health Literacy.