More like Jesus while watching TV?

Depending on when you read this, you may be planning on watching or have recently watched the King’s Christmas Broadcast on TV.

Or perhaps enjoyed some of the celebratory programming around the centenary of the BBC – the British Broadcasting Corporation – even if celebrities doing the tango to the Casualty theme tune on Strictly might have seemed a rather peculiar way of marking the occasion.

However, you may never have considered the origins of that word ‘broadcast’. With a son studying agriculture, I had a vague awareness of terms such as ‘broadcast seed drills’ but had never connected the two words until I heard a Radio 4 programme about the history of the BBC.

One of the items in this programme was about Broadcasting House, just next door to All Souls’ Church, and in particular the Latin inscription that is still there in the main reception:

DEO OMNIPOTENTI TEMPLUM HOC ARTIUM ET MUSARUM ANNO DOMINI MCMXXXI RECTORE JOHANNI REITH PRIMI DEDICANT GUBERNATORES PRECANTES UT MESSEM BONAM BONA PROFERAT SEMENTIS UT IMMUNDA OMNIA ET INIMICA PACI EXPELLANTUR UT QUAECUNQUE PULCHRA SUNT ET SINCERA QUAECUNQUE BONAE FAMAE AD HAEC AVREM INCLINANS POPULUS VIRTUTIS ET SAPIENTIAE SEMITAM INSISTAT

In English this reads: This temple of the arts and muses is dedicated to Almighty God by the first Governors in the year of our Lord 1931, John Reith being Director General. And they pray that good seed sown may bring forth good harvest, and that all things foul or hostile to peace may be banished thence, and that the people inclining their ear to whatsoever things are lovely and honest, whatsoever things are of good report, may tread the path of virtue and wisdom.

The Biblical imagery, from both the Parable of the Sower and Philippians 4:8, is clear and reflects the Christian beliefs of the BBC’s founder and first Director General, Lord Reith. He saw the BBC’s remit as transformative, educating and informing the audience, and envisioned it in Biblical terms of sowing the seed widely – literally ‘broadcasting’, a common agricultural term.

Lord Reith’s lofty aspirations may not have been fully realised. As Alan Partridge once put it: ‘The BBC – Inform. Educate. Entertain. Noel’s. House. Party.’ But its reach is undeniable. Even in an age of streaming and multiple platforms, the respect in which its war correspondents are held, its pitch-perfect handling of the late Queen’s funeral, and the impressive interviews by local radio journalists who refused to be a soft option during the recent Conservative leadership troubles, show that there is still much to appreciate.

Broadcasts are still talked about. Common viewing, ‘must see’ television events, are discussed around the watercooler at work or on social media. Dan Strange’s book Plugged In and Steve Couch and Nick Pollard’s Get More Like Jesus While Watching TV have helpfully considered how Christians can engage with TV and other media.

But what seed is being ‘broadcast’? Often the ‘seeds’ sown by the media can be dead or rotten. Reith’s inscription, like the Bible, talks about the ‘good seed’ and as the new year begins, perhaps we can think about how we can all be involved in broadcasting the gospel.