Introduction

This introduction deals with British media history and historiography. It first defines how the concepts of “issues” and “singularity” are to be interpreted, before setting the notional framework within which the media in general and images in particular will be studied—how they (literally) mediate between the real and the receiver: in other words, how they enable but also shape the audience’s interpretation of reality. Finally, it describes the ambition of the present volume, which focuses on radio and television broadcasting and combines thematic and conceptual approaches (innovation, public sphere, service and opinion, citizenship, media ecology, collective memory, cultural landmarks, etc.) to determine how, in their diversity, the British media have contributed to shaping national identity and culture.