Mass Media & Cultural Change, 1964-1970 (AQA A Level History: Component 2: Depth study): Revision Note

The expansion of the mass media

The expansion of television in households

• Television ownership rose sharply during the 1960s

  • 75% of the population had a television at home in 1961

    • This had increased to 91% by 1971

• Television brought the same news and entertainment into homes across Britain

  • It reduced the isolation of some distant communities

  • It became more popular than cinema as a source of entertainment

• The number of television channels increased

  • ITV had launched in 1955, bringing commercial advertising into family homes

  • BBC2 launched in April 1964

    • It began to use regular colour broadcasting in July 1967

Hugh Greene and the changing BBC

• Hugh Greene served as Director-General of the BBC from 1960 to 1969

  • More BBC funding was moved from radio to television

  • Rules on satire, nudity and swearing were relaxed

    • That Was The Week That Was (1962–63) used satire to mock politicians and the "Establishment"

  • News presentation changed and more popular programmes were commissioned

• Programmes dealt more openly with contemporary social issues

  • Z Cars, first broadcast in 1962, presented a more realistic view of policing

  • Steptoe and Son, also launched in 1962, was an unconventional sitcom

  • The Wednesday Play, first broadcast in 1964, covered subjects such as mental illness, alcoholism and homelessness

    • Some episodes included language and nudity that were controversial at the time

Radio, pirate stations and Radio 1

Credit Line: Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix

• Radio remained popular as it became portable and more personal

  • Cheap transistor radios, car radios and earphones allowed people to listen away from home

  • Teenagers no longer had to listen to the programmes chosen by their parents

  • Stations could target different audiences

• At the start of the 1960s, the BBC had only three radio stations

  • Radio Caroline began broadcasting pop music from a ship outside British territorial waters in 1964

  • Other pirate stations followed and attracted large numbers of young listeners

• The government introduced the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act in August 1967

  • It became illegal to supply or advertise on offshore pirate stations

• The BBC launched Radio 1 as an alternative

  • It hired former pirate radio presenters, including Tony Blackburn

Approach: Paul Bryan opposed the closure of the pirate radio stations because they had attracted a large audience that the BBC did not serve. As a Conservative frontbencher criticising Labour government policy, he had a clear political purpose. However, his speech is useful for showing the popularity of pirate radio and concerns that listeners would lose access to pop music

Newspapers and magazines

• Some commentators expected television to replace newspapers and magazines

  • Advertising income and readership initially fell

  • However, the print media adapted and remained widely read

• The Sun replaced the Daily Herald in 1964

  • It described itself as the newspaper "of the age we live in"

• Rupert Murdoch bought The Sun in 1969

  • It adopted a more popular style and its circulation grew rapidly

Growth in leisure activities

Increased time for leisure

• Leisure time increased during the 1960s

  • Fewer people were expected to work on Saturday mornings, creating a longer weekend

  • Paid holidays became more common

• Leisure also became an important part of the economy

  • Businesses made money by providing equipment, facilities and services for people's free time

Leisure at home

• The home remained the main setting for leisure

  • By 1969, television accounted for 23% of all leisure time

• Television encouraged the growth of home-based hobbies

  • DIY and gardening programmes presented by figures such as Barry Bucknell and Percy Thrower became popular

  • Cookery, needlework and knitting also remained common

• Live entertainment attracted smaller audiences

  • Theatre attendance declined, especially outside the major cities

  • Crowds at football matches and other live events also fell

Cars and weekend activities

• Car ownership increased rapidly during the 1960s

  • Technological improvements made cars more affordable

  • Cars already accounted for 39% of journeys in 1954, and their share rose further during the 1960s

  • Travel by bus, coach and train declined

• Greater access to cars widened the range of leisure activities

  • Caravanning, golf and sailing gained larger followings

  • Shopping became a leisure activity as mass production and advertising expanded

Holidays and the growth of mass tourism

• Leisure travel began to develop into mass tourism

  • Britannia Airways (renamed from Euravia in 1964) flew holidaymakers to destinations including Spain, Malta, Bulgaria and North Africa

  • Package holidays increased from under 4% of all holidays in 1966 to 8.4% in 1971

• Overseas travel introduced some British tourists to new foods and customs

• Foreign holidays remained beyond the reach of many families

  • Air travel was still expensive, so overseas holidays were mainly taken by the middle classes

The impact of scientific developments

Major scientific and technological projects

• The 1960s saw rapid developments in science and technology

  • The first person travelled into space in 1961

  • The United States landed astronauts on the moon in 1969

• Harold Wilson's government made scientific development an important part of its plans to modernise Britain

  • The Anglo-French Concorde project continued despite economic difficulties and limits on government spending

  • The Post Office Tower opened in 1965 to improve telecommunications

    • At the time, it was the tallest building in Britain

Technology in everyday life

• New technology changed daily life in many homes

  • Household appliances became cheaper and more widely owned

    • This reduced the time spent on some domestic tasks

• Transistor radios became cheaper and portable

  • Young people could listen to music away from the family radio

• New synthetic fabrics widened the range of affordable clothing

  • They also influenced changing fashions during the 1960s

Medical developments

• Medical developments also affected personal and family life

  • The contraceptive pill gave women greater control over pregnancy

• The National Health Service (Family Planning) Act (1967) allowed local authorities to provide contraceptives and contraceptive advice

  • These services were made available regardless of whether a woman was married

The reduction in censorship

The Lord Chamberlain and the stage

• Until 1968, new plays had to be licensed before they could be performed in public

  • The Lord Chamberlain's Office could demand the removal of material it considered inappropriate or immoral

  • Theatre owners could be prosecuted if they staged a play without making the required changes

• The Royal Court Theatre in London became an important centre of opposition to theatrical censorship

  • Edward Bond's play Saved was refused a licence for public performance in 1965

  • Another of Bond's plays, Early Morning, was banned in 1968 and closed after two performances

    • Bond's plays were criticised for their violence and sexual content

The Theatres Act (1968)

• Labour backbencher George Strauss introduced a bill to end theatrical censorship

  • Roy Jenkins supported the measure

  • The actor Laurence Olivier also gave evidence in favour of reform

• The Theatres Act (1968) ended the Lord Chamberlain's power to license plays

  • Plays no longer needed approval before they could be performed

  • Theatre owners could still be prosecuted if a production broke the law

• The end of censorship allowed more explicit material to appear on stage

  • In 1968, 13 members of the cast of the musical Hair stood naked on stage for around 30 seconds

Film and television

• Films continued to be classified by the British Board of Film Censors

  • However, films became more open in their treatment of adultery, abortion, illegitimacy, violence and sex

    • Examples included Darling (1965), Alfie (1966), and Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1968)

• Television also dealt with subjects that had previously been avoided

  • Kenneth Tynan became the first person to use the "f-word" on British television in 1965

  • The ITV soap Coronation Street included storylines about failed marriages

• By the end of the decade, screen violence and sexual content had become more open, although films and television remained regulated

Opposition to changing standards

• Mary Whitehouse became the best-known campaigner against changes in television and popular culture

  • She launched the Clean Up TV campaign in 1964

  • In 1965, she founded the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association

  • The organisation soon had around 100,000 members

• Whitehouse argued that television was contributing to declining moral standards

  • Her campaign focused particularly on the BBC under Hugh Greene

  • The Clean Up TV petition attracted hundreds of thousands of signatures

• Her campaign gained wide public support but had little effect on BBC programming

  • Greene defended the BBC's right to reflect changes in society

  • He rejected calls for broadcasters to return to older standards

Approach: Mary Whitehouse delivered this speech at a public meeting in Birmingham in May 1964, at the start of her campaign against changes in television. As a campaign speech, it was designed to persuade an audience that the BBC was failing in its responsibilities and that stronger moral standards were needed

This makes the source useful for showing:

• how opponents of cultural change presented their arguments

• the language used to describe television as a threat to family life and social order

• the strength of concern among organised moral campaigners in the mid-1960s

However, Whitehouse was trying to build support for her campaign, so she had reason to emphasise the dangers of violence and changing standards. Her claim to represent the views of the “vast majority” cannot be accepted without other evidence, such as opinion polls, audience figures or membership of her organisation

Approach: Hugh Greene gave this address in Rome in 1965 five years into his time as Director-General of the BBC. He was defending the BBC’s record against criticism from campaigners such as Whitehouse and explaining why broadcasters should respond to social change

This makes the source useful for showing:

• how senior BBC leaders justified more open programming

• the belief that broadcasting should reflect changing attitudes rather than preserve older standards

• the confidence of reformers in the mid-1960s

However, Greene was defending policies introduced under his leadership, so he had reason to present them positively. The source tells us more about how the BBC explained its decisions than about how audiences responded to them. It should, therefore, be compared with viewing figures, complaints, press reactions and campaigns such as Whitehouse’s

How far did the media transform British culture?

• This question asks whether the media caused cultural change or mainly reflected changes that were already happening

  • Some evidence for each side is outlined below

How the media changed British culture

• By 1971, television had reached almost every home

  • It brought the same news, entertainment and advertising to a national audience

    • This helped create a more shared popular culture

• Under Hugh Greene, the BBC introduced more satire, realistic drama and programmes dealing with subjects that had previously been avoided

• Pirate radio and later Radio 1 gave young people greater choice over what they listened to

  • Portable radios also allowed them to listen separately from their parents

• The Theatres Act (1968) ended the Lord Chamberlain's power to license plays

  • Film and television also became more open in their treatment of sex, violence and social problems

• Newspapers adapted to changing audiences

  • Under Rupert Murdoch, The Sun adopted a more popular style from 1969

• The scale of Mary Whitehouse's campaign shows that changes in broadcasting were widely noticed and debated

Limits to the media's impact

• Reduced censorship often allowed the media to show changes that were already taking place

  • It did not necessarily create those changes

• Traditional leisure activities remained popular

  • Gardening, cookery and knitting continued throughout the decade

• Foreign travel and package holidays were still mainly available to a minority by 1970

• The image of the 'Swinging Sixties' was centred largely in London

  • Many people elsewhere in Britain did not experience the same level of cultural change

• Surveys suggested that many young people still held relatively traditional attitudes towards sex and marriage

• Mary Whitehouse attracted substantial support

Approach: Darlington belonged to an older generation of critics whose careers had developed under the system of theatrical censorship abolished in 1968. His description of Hair as noisy, ugly and unfunny may therefore reflect not only his judgement of the production, but also his discomfort with the new styles and standards appearing at the end of his career

This makes the review useful evidence of a generational divide over cultural change. However, it cannot show how audiences in general responded. The popularity of Hair suggests that many theatre-goers did not share Darlington’s reaction