National Identity in the National Interest: The Branding of Britishness by the BBC in the 1960s

Moving beyond the debate over propaganda and the various shades of Cold War broadcasting (Philip M. Taylor, et al), a review of external broadcasting by the BBC in the sixties shows a more insightful model for interpreting its activities is that of modern 'nation branding' (Simon Anholt, et al). This provides a new interpretation to studies of the BBC abroad, an area notably filled by Alban Webb, Marie Gillespie and others, with a more detailed exploration of the content itself using the London Calling magazine that was circulated to global listeners. What the BBC does is thus reevaluated through its influence on a 'competitive identity' in the 'global village'.

In the decade of the BBC's symbolic rebrand of the English-language external arm as the World Service, it is clear that the remit was no longer limited to calling out to the Commonwealth and colonies. How the BBC External Services answered in programming the pressing questions asked of Britain in this era - as a great power; as head of the Commonwealth; as part and partner of Europe - is illustrative of the role it played in presenting a brand that supported national policy.