ABSTRACT
One of the problems faced in studying the pioneer women in broadcasting is the very ephemeral nature of their product, irretrievably lost in the ether when recording was still virtually unknown. In establishing the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC’s) first News Section, Hilda Matheson sought advice from the Royal Institute of International Affairs, one of whose founders was Nancy Astor’s husband, Waldorf, Viscount Astor, and from Geoffrey Dawson, editor of The Times, to help her assess what problems the BBC might face by becoming a major provider of news. On their advice she commissioned a former assistant editor of the Westminster Gazette, Philip Macer-Wright, to work in the News Section during the summer of 1928 and then to present his observations and recommendations based on his experiences. Those who worked with her described Matheson as ‘enterprising, indefatigable, and liberal-minded a sympathetic personality, capable of winning and holding the loyalty of subordinates’.
