Difference between revisions of "John Profumo"
(New page: '''John Dennis Profumo''' (30 January 1915 - 9 March 2006) was a Conservative politician best known for being forced to resign as Minister for War as a result of a 1963 scandal involving ...) |
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In 1947 Profumo joined the Conservative Central Office as the party's first head of broadcasting. There he set up a unit to monitor supposed left-wing bias at the BBC. He was also one of a group of Conservative backbenchers who campaigned to end the monopoly of the BBC and paved the way for the creation of [[ITV]] in 1955. <ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-profumo-469445.html Obituaries: John Profumo. Secretary of State for War sensationally forced out of politics after lying to the House of Commons]', ''Independent'', 11 March 2006</ref> | In 1947 Profumo joined the Conservative Central Office as the party's first head of broadcasting. There he set up a unit to monitor supposed left-wing bias at the BBC. He was also one of a group of Conservative backbenchers who campaigned to end the monopoly of the BBC and paved the way for the creation of [[ITV]] in 1955. <ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/john-profumo-469445.html Obituaries: John Profumo. Secretary of State for War sensationally forced out of politics after lying to the House of Commons]', ''Independent'', 11 March 2006</ref> | ||
− | Profumo was instructed to set up the BBC monitoring unit by [[Winston Churchill]], who was convinced that the [[BBC]] was ‘honeycombed with communists’. <ref>Michael Cockerell, 'Broadcasters caught in crossfire of politics', ''Manchester Guardian Weekly'', 2 April 1995</ref> Profumo told the author and journalist Michael Cockerell: | + | Profumo was instructed to set up the BBC monitoring unit by [[Winston Churchill]], who according to Profumo was convinced that the [[BBC]] was ‘honeycombed with communists’. <ref>Michael Cockerell, 'Broadcasters caught in crossfire of politics', ''Manchester Guardian Weekly'', 2 April 1995</ref> (It should be noted however that according to MI5's official historian, [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] privately believed that communist influence in the BBC was 'very slight' and did not 'constitute a serious security danger.' <ref>Duncan Gardham, '[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/7777548/BBC-wanted-more-vetting-from-MI5.html BBC wanted more vetting from MI5]', ''Daily Telegraph'', 28 May 2010/</ref>) Profumo told the author and journalist Michael Cockerell: |
<blockquote style="background-color:ivory;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%;font-size:10pt">I wanted to keep an eye on left-wing bias at the [[BBC]]. I couldn’t think how we could do it. Whenever we wrote to [[William Haley|Haley]], the Director-General, he would say that we should look not just at one programme but at the whole lot. I decided to put an advertisement in the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' saying I was looking for long-term patients in hospital who had a radio – or if they didn’t, we would give them one. When people replied, we asked if they would agree for a small payment to listen to the programmes we chose and then write to a box number. We appointed six monitors. And each week we would have a monitoring conference at Conservative Central Office on the day the ''Radio Times'' was published and we would select the programmes to be monitored. We would say, “That chap looks left-wing” and we wanted to see whether his broadcasts were biased. I still remember one programme – about tapestries, of all things, and the commentary said something like: “To think these tapestries hang on the walls of the rich, yet they were woven in the hovels of humble peasants”. I suppose creative young people are left-wing. But as a result of our efforts we made a great deal of headway with the BBC – it had its effect. <ref>Michael Cockerell, ''Live from Number 10: The Inside Story of Prime Ministers and Television'' (London: Faber and Faber, 1988) p.7</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote style="background-color:ivory;border:1pt solid Darkgoldenrod;padding:1%;font-size:10pt">I wanted to keep an eye on left-wing bias at the [[BBC]]. I couldn’t think how we could do it. Whenever we wrote to [[William Haley|Haley]], the Director-General, he would say that we should look not just at one programme but at the whole lot. I decided to put an advertisement in the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' saying I was looking for long-term patients in hospital who had a radio – or if they didn’t, we would give them one. When people replied, we asked if they would agree for a small payment to listen to the programmes we chose and then write to a box number. We appointed six monitors. And each week we would have a monitoring conference at Conservative Central Office on the day the ''Radio Times'' was published and we would select the programmes to be monitored. We would say, “That chap looks left-wing” and we wanted to see whether his broadcasts were biased. I still remember one programme – about tapestries, of all things, and the commentary said something like: “To think these tapestries hang on the walls of the rich, yet they were woven in the hovels of humble peasants”. I suppose creative young people are left-wing. But as a result of our efforts we made a great deal of headway with the BBC – it had its effect. <ref>Michael Cockerell, ''Live from Number 10: The Inside Story of Prime Ministers and Television'' (London: Faber and Faber, 1988) p.7</ref></blockquote> | ||
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==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
− | [[Category:MP|Profumo, John]][[Category:BBC|Profumo, John]] | + | [[Category:MP|Profumo, John]][[Category:BBC|Profumo, John]] [[Category:British Politician|Profumo, John]] |
Latest revision as of 14:19, 3 March 2015
John Dennis Profumo (30 January 1915 - 9 March 2006) was a Conservative politician best known for being forced to resign as Minister for War as a result of a 1963 scandal involving a prostitute.
Broadcasting and the BBC
In 1947 Profumo joined the Conservative Central Office as the party's first head of broadcasting. There he set up a unit to monitor supposed left-wing bias at the BBC. He was also one of a group of Conservative backbenchers who campaigned to end the monopoly of the BBC and paved the way for the creation of ITV in 1955. [1]
Profumo was instructed to set up the BBC monitoring unit by Winston Churchill, who according to Profumo was convinced that the BBC was ‘honeycombed with communists’. [2] (It should be noted however that according to MI5's official historian, Churchill privately believed that communist influence in the BBC was 'very slight' and did not 'constitute a serious security danger.' [3]) Profumo told the author and journalist Michael Cockerell:
I wanted to keep an eye on left-wing bias at the BBC. I couldn’t think how we could do it. Whenever we wrote to Haley, the Director-General, he would say that we should look not just at one programme but at the whole lot. I decided to put an advertisement in the Daily Telegraph saying I was looking for long-term patients in hospital who had a radio – or if they didn’t, we would give them one. When people replied, we asked if they would agree for a small payment to listen to the programmes we chose and then write to a box number. We appointed six monitors. And each week we would have a monitoring conference at Conservative Central Office on the day the Radio Times was published and we would select the programmes to be monitored. We would say, “That chap looks left-wing” and we wanted to see whether his broadcasts were biased. I still remember one programme – about tapestries, of all things, and the commentary said something like: “To think these tapestries hang on the walls of the rich, yet they were woven in the hovels of humble peasants”. I suppose creative young people are left-wing. But as a result of our efforts we made a great deal of headway with the BBC – it had its effect. [4]
Notes
- ↑ Obituaries: John Profumo. Secretary of State for War sensationally forced out of politics after lying to the House of Commons', Independent, 11 March 2006
- ↑ Michael Cockerell, 'Broadcasters caught in crossfire of politics', Manchester Guardian Weekly, 2 April 1995
- ↑ Duncan Gardham, 'BBC wanted more vetting from MI5', Daily Telegraph, 28 May 2010/
- ↑ Michael Cockerell, Live from Number 10: The Inside Story of Prime Ministers and Television (London: Faber and Faber, 1988) p.7