ABSTRACT
On 1 January 1927 the British Broadcasting Company became the British Broadcasting Corporation, a publicly funded yet quasi-autonomous organization whose constitution and statutory obligations have remained largely unchanged for seventy years. It was established by Royal Charter, with a board of governors and a director-general, Sir John Reith, who was answerable to it. Although the Charter determines the Corporation’s structure, its activities are regulated by a Licence and Agreement which is conferred by the government. It was, and is, obliged to inform, to educate and to entertain; to report the proceedings of Parliament; to provide a political balance; and in a national emergency to broadcast government messages. It may neither editorialize nor carry advertising. Its income is guaranteed from broadcast receiving licences and it strives to maintain a position of editorial independence.
