Topic: The Rise Of Television In The UK Sources Used: - 'An Introductory History To British Broadcasting' Andrew Crisell, 1997- 'Television' Williams, 1974- 'The Television Studies Book' Geraghty and Lusted

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Assessment 1: Literature Review

Topic: The Rise Of Television In The UK

 

Sources Used:

  • ‘An Introductory History To British Broadcasting’ Andrew Crisell, 1997
  • ‘Television’ Williams, 1974
  • ‘The Television Studies Book’ Geraghty and Lusted
  • ‘Journal’

The rise of television in the UK has been extensively discussed and contested by media authors and critics, with the different interpretations and disciplines forming a range of comparable source material to gain a personal understanding and perspective from.

In order to develop a more effective analysis it was requisite that I investigated into a broad scope of sources that I could then utilize to compare with one another, eventually shaping a fuller view of the matter. When first venturing out on my investigative process I was aware that I wanted a variety of sources inclusive of books, journals and articles that would allow me to forge clear distinctions between the different responses helping me achieve my aim of gaining a well rounded viewpoint. I made an immediate decision to avoid ‘textbook’ style sources that would have been written directly for student study, as I believed items such as these would provoke limited detail and insightfulness of views and ideas. After using the library, advised book list, and internet as my major search tools I managed to collect a series of helpful and perceptive sources which then I narrowed down to the four items I felt were the more compelling and accommodating to my needs.  

An Introductory History To The BBC:

My primary source material was taken as a recommendation from the book list, titled ‘An Introductory History Of British Broadcasting’ by Andrew Crisell. I chose to use this as a major source predominantly because it had an entire chapter dedicated to the specific topic of the rise in television. From this, I believed it would provide a quicker and more efficient process in researching the subject, having a distinctive tone and style that I felt well adapted to communicating from. Moreover as I wanted sources that span over different time periods to observe changes in thought and progress, I decided that as a more recent item this would be appropriate being published in 1997. The item was presented in a sophisticated and coherent form with a direct and logical structure to its layout which made breaking down and digesting information a much more straightforward process. The section on my topic was broken down into four main segments; (The early years of television, The BBCs post-war television service, The Beveridge report and its aftermouth and The campaign for commercial television) that were positioned in a logical formation expressing televisions emergence in a wider context.

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In this particular chapter of the book, Crisell successfully manages to separate personal opinion from fact, presenting the reader with historical dates and figures that can then be researched into in more depth for opinion and debate. Crisell describes those who have been discussed as the founding fathers of television, and in agreement with Roy Armes explains how he believes this to be the companies such as Marconi, rather than John Logie Baird who many will argue against. By giving the reader a range of names to think about rather than simply his preferred choice, Crisell offers the reader ...

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