The sound of the apocalypse was intended to soothe the listener. If prophets and novelists envision a noisy end of the world, full of earthquakes and looting, it should resonate with the voice of Peter Donaldson for the BBC [voix historique de Radio 4, décédé en 2015]. As declassified documents revealed a few years ago, this herald had been appointed to announce the end times. The recording was ready.
“This country was attacked by nuclear weapons.” he said in his velvety voice, with perfect diction. Do not leave your home under any circumstances.The show added some clarification. Food had to be saved, water had to be rationed. (“It should not be used to flush the toilet.”)
Satisfy radio manufacturers
For many of us, such a tone was up to the occasion. The BBC has just celebrated its 100th anniversary [le 18 octobre pour sa création, le 14 novembre pour ses premières diffusions]. This old lady announced the beginning of World War II and its end. She covered the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen camp and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Suez crisis and the Falklands War. For a hundred years, the Beeb presented the British with disaster and defeat after the beeps [qui marquent les cinq dernières secondes de l’heure] and before the weather forecast. If the apocalypse was to occur, it seemed logical for the BBC to announce it, probably after The archers [feuilleton radiophonique diffusé depuis 1951]certainly with a perfect accent British.
It was not obvious that it would be so, at least at first. The BBC was founded a century ago in a spirit of pragmatism, more than idealism. Its creation was the result of a sinister compromise to satisfy the new radio manufacturers (who believed they would sell more sets if listeners had programs to listen to) and the Postal and Telecommunications Service (who wanted to prevent anyone from gaining a monopoly on the air, but did not want to be responsible for the broadcasts themselves). Thus, on October 18, 1922, in almost nobody’s interest, the British Broadcasting Company [Société de radiodiffusion britannique] saw the light of day.[“Company”erd[“Company”estd[“Virksomhed”erd[“Company”estd
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Source for the article
The Economist (London)
Great institution in the British press, The Economist, founded in 1843 by a Scottish hatter, is the bible for anyone interested in international affairs. Openly liberal, he generally defends free trade, globalization, immigration and cultural liberalism. It is printed in six countries and 85% of its sales are outside the UK.
None of the articles are signed: a long-standing tradition that the weekly supports with the idea that “personality and the collective voice matter more than the individual identity of journalists”.
On the website of The Economist, in addition to the journal’s main articles, there are excellent thematic and geographic files produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit, as well as multimedia content, blogs and the calendar of conferences organized by the journal around the world. As a bonus: the regular update of the main stock market prices.
The magazine cover may vary between editions (UK, Europe, North America, Asia), but the content is the same; in the UK, however, a few extra pages deal with national news.
The Economist 43.4% belongs to the Italian Agnelli family, with the rest of the capital divided between large British families (Cadbury, Rothschild, Schroders, etc.) and members of the editorial board.
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