Public Service Broadcasting
What of the Future? (In Touch with the Infinite)
And what of the future?
This country has in its hands an instrument of
Incalculable power for good
An instrument that can be given to spreading to among the nation the true knowledge of each other
Helpful rather than hurtful to the interests of mankind
These newly acquired skills of mankind will move at a breathtaking pace
Broadcasting, which we begin to see now as a worldwide international service
Is a step into the future even more dramatic, I think, than the devеlopment of flying
Broadcasting without its responsibilities is nothing
It's not a way of thought, it's not a way of culturе, it's not a way of life
It's there to serve thought, so that people think for themselves
It's there to serve culture in such a way that people will turn more and more to active participation in the arts
Go to the theatre, attend concerts, read books, use their hands
And help to build a community in which broadcasting is only a very small part of a full and satisfying life
It has helped something living in us to keep alive
And it has reminded us in its graver moments that life won't last
And that for this very reason, there are things more important than success or power
Well, it was a great adventure for all of us
We were broadcasting in a type of service which had not been operated before, except on a purely experimental basis, and almost every day we learnt something new
It was a good experiment
It still is
The whole of my complex, lovely picture with its voices
Its castles, its landscapes
Its musics, its men and women
Had been painted on the underside of a cloud with a brush full of iridescent vapour
It melted as you looked and listened
And like so much moonshine, it vanished forever