John Reith

20 July 1889 – 16 June 1971. Full name John Charles Walsham Reith. Scottish broadcasting executive, the first general manager and later director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from 1922 to 1938.

Life before BBC

John Reith, the youngest son of the Reverend Dr George Reith (a minister of the Free Church of Scotland), was born in Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland. Reith's parents met in 1868 and got married in 1870. During their marriage, they had six children, two girls and four boys, and almost ten years later John Reith was born. He first went to a girls' school nearby, where he won a prize for his singing, as there were such classes as sewing and singing in the school. Later, in 1896 Reith moved to Glasgow Academy, where he showed his personality: he was an intelligent young man, who went through all the classes without any efforts, but who, however, was impatient and intolerant. In 1904, Reith became a student at a boarding school in Norfolk. His father and he had a different view on John's future: while John wanted to go to University, his father insisted on studying trade and engineering. After a five-year engineering apprenticeship, Reith decided to go to London despite the fact that his father was against it. John Reith was an ambitious man, who had the goal to earn a lot of money working as a sub-agent in an engineering company. However, after finding out that sub-agents did not earn as much as he wanted, he knew that he had to change his life.

Reith was a soldier from 1914 to 1917. Starting in the Territorial Army, Reith later joined the Royal Engineers. His active service lasted until 1915, when a German sniper hit his left cheek, while Reith was inspecting damage in a mine crater. After he recovered, he moved to the USA and worked there at the Remington Arms Company, where he was running a team of more than 1500 experts and inspectors. This experience helped him to become a public figure. His career at the Remington Arms Company lasted until 1917 and he returned to the UK. In 1918, Reith worked at the Royal Marine Engineers in Sussex. Later he left the army and worked as an assistant director of ordnance supply at the Ministry of Munitions.

BBC

1922 is a crucial year in Reith's life. He saw a job advertisement for a general manager position for the British Broadcasting Company and applied for it. Reith wrote two applications. He did not put much effort into his first application. However, he asked to take it out of a closed letterbox after he found out who he was applying to. It was the Aberdonian Sir William Noble, the director of the company. In his second application, Reith wrote about his connection to Aberdeen. Reith got the job for £1,750 a year one day after the interview he did not prepare for.

The BBC was the work of Reith. It consisted of his views and ideas. Reith had absolute freedom in his actions. All he had to do was to report once a month on his achievements and progress. Reith was a workaholic and tried to achieve as much as possible. He almost got to broadcast the marriage service of George V, which, however, turned out to be impossible because of the Chapter of Westminster Abbey. Even though Reith was turned down in his efforts to interview or to broadcast many important public figures and events, he never gave up and continued to work harder. One of the problems Reith had to face was the schedule of the broadcasts. The newspapers refused to print it for free or at all. Reith was suggested to have the schedule printed as a paid advertisement, which he refused to do. Instead, he came up with the idea of creating BBC's own newspaper, Radio Times. Just like the BBC, it was a success (until today).

Reith also remodelled the BBC from a profit-oriented company to a public-service broadcaster based on the three pillars entertainment, education, and information. In 1926 the BBC became a corporation and Reith's work was honored with a knighthood. He himself was on air when significant events were happening (the General Strike, the 1936 Abdication speech of Edward VIII, the 1929 election). During the General Strike in 1926, the public had only one independent news source and it was the BBC.

On 30 June 1938, Reith left the BBC. Why this decision was made is still not clear. His daughter Marissa claimed he was made to leave. Others claim that it was his own decision as he had been talking about it for years.

And then he did stuff. Years and years went by. Finally, Reith died on Bloomsday 1971 somewhere in Scottland.

Sources:

BBC History. John Reith

Encyclopedia Britannica. John Charles Walsham Reith

Walker, David Pat. The BBC in Scotland: The First Fifty Years. 2nd ed., ‎ Luath Press Ltd, 2017.