Conclusion

Abstract

So much that is written about the media fails to acknowledge radio. Too often ‘the media’ is merely shorthand for ‘the visual media’ and the invisible world of audio communication is ignored. As this book shows, that is a serious omission. Of course in the world before 1953 – the moment when millions watched the coronation of Queen Elizabeth on television – radio was at the heart of public life. During the war years the iconic image of the family gathered around the wireless to hear the latest news was not far from reality. But after the war, as television became a ubiquitous part of the domestic scene, radio was forced to change in the ‘post-television’ world. But radio did adapt as the previous chapters have shown and it survived to make a distinctive contribution to our understanding of public issues.