Since the dawn of mass television, the newsreader has held a special place in culture. For many of us, the great milestones in the history of the country merge in our memory with the image of a man, and recently often a woman, announcing the news on TV. When the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced last autumn, the task inevitably fell on the shoulders of Hugh Edwards, the main presenter of all the BBC's most important events.
Given what has happened over the past two weeks, it is fair to wonder if we will see we will ever again in this role. It is true that at this point we know few details about what he did wrong, if anything at all; but accusations of sexual indecency will not leave their mark.
Some older viewers may also compare Edwards to a previous generation of BBC newsreaders who achieved cult status in the 1960s, 70s and 80s and who came to embody a certain honesty that then seemed to define the BBC. Looking back at the roll of names, it's impossible to imagine any of them ever being news. (Again, who's to say if they led a completely flawless life? We're constantly reminded that what we project onto public figures is often nothing more than wishful thinking.)
The founder of the family tree of BBC news readers was Richard Baker. Baker, who died in 2018 at the age of 93, made history when he read the first BBC TV newscast on 5 July 1954 at 7:30 pm. He was blessed with a great broadcast voice, rich, beautifully modeled, reassuring. It was an era when the Corporation took impartiality so seriously that management decided that even a hint of disapproval or approval on an announcer's face could be enough to compromise the sacred principle, and therefore the announcers were not shown on camera.
Baker continued to read the news into the 1980s, along with the likes of Michael Aspel, Robert Dougall, and Kenneth Kendall. It wasn't until 1975 that Angela Rippon established herself as the first woman to regularly present nine hours of BBC news. Another colleague of those days was Peter Woods, and although he never had any scandal during his tenure, Today presenter Justin Webb revealed in 2011 that Woods was his father – Justin was the result of an affair between a BBC employee and Webb's mother. , secretary of the Daily Mirror. A reminder that appearances of decency can be deceiving. But if this information had become public at the time, the BBC would certainly have gotten rid of it.
Queen Elizabeth II has passed away at the age of 96.
This is how the BBC broke the news. pic.twitter.com/Y8YeD4uiGu
— Adam Schwarz (@AdamJSchwarz) September 8, 2022
Over the years, the role of the BBC newscaster has changed somewhat. In the early days, it was not considered necessary for a newsreader to be a journalist; others were responsible for the actual composition of the ballots – the presenter was the delivery system, nothing more.
Richard Baker, for example, started out as an actor and musician, and so no one expected him to write the words he spoke. The policy changed in the 80s and 90s when it was decided that news readers should be trained journalists. It so happened that John Humphreys, a reporter to the marrow of his bones, began to read the news, followed by John Simpson, one of the most experienced correspondents the BBC has ever produced.
But despite these changing fashions, the job of the announcer remains essentially the same: part oracle, part actor, the person who announces the news of the day must radiate authority, truthfulness and authority. That's why Hugh Edwards seemed like a natural fit for the role. But despite its reassuring presence, the credibility of BBC news has steadily declined in recent decades. How strange it seems that back in the 1950s, it was believed that even a fleeting facial expression could jeopardize the reputation of the BBC's impartial company. Today, the BBC is regularly accused of being biased (I myself have written a number of books that contain just such an accusation), and part of the reason for this is that over the years the BBC has fallen into the trap of liberal-left groupthink.
A long time ago, a person in a studio, sitting at a desk telling us the day's news, seemed like the human equivalent of a recording angel. Indisputable and impartial, they never had to contradict – a real arbiter of truth. In millions of homes, the day ended with the main BBC newscast, and when you went to bed you thought you knew what was what. Perhaps we were more gullible in those days, but with that came faith in the virtues of the news readers themselves; we put them on a pedestal because we wanted to believe that they operate in the realm of impartial honesty and truth.
As the sad saga of Hugh Edwards shows, newsreaders are people like the rest of us; the danger for the corporation now is that its fall will spark even more public skepticism about BBC News. Because when it comes to TV news, perception is everything: the message and the messenger are inseparable.
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