BBC Monitoring

Recognized as one the most important historical archives ever assembled, BBC Monitoring: Summary of World Broadcasts is now available as a digital primary source collection from Readex. This expansive resource features nearly 70,000 individual multi-page reports – brought together in partnership with the BBC. Scholars, faculty, and students can now explore new and vital background on 20th-century events that cast today’s global events in a new light.

BBC Monitoring: Origins and Scope
BBC Monitoring was founded in 1939 at the start of WWII. Its purpose was to listen to radio broadcasts and gather open-source intelligence to help Britain and its allies understand global dynamics and assess emerging global threats. Over the next 60 years, the scope of its monitoring grew quickly. Trained specialists transcribed broadcasts of speeches, current affairs, political discussions, and social and cultural events worldwide. Transcripts, in turn, were translated into English, then read by experts who carefully selected critical content for publication. Finally, selections were summarized and curated into daily reports that comprise the Summary of World Broadcasts. These original daily reports often included commentary and evaluation by subject matter experts, as well as synopses and specialist briefings.

First-hand, real-time coverage of 20th-century people, places, and global events
Daily digests of foreign radio and television broadcasts and news are essential primary sources for scholars specializing in 20th-century political, social, cultural, and economic history. Students will discover unmatched insights into key regions, global events, and national security priorities of the UK government, including WWII, the Cold War, Communist China, Chernobyl, Ukraine, and the Soviet Union/Russia.

Unlike newspapers – which appear in print and are widely circulated – radio broadcasts are ephemeral. They only survive when a listener makes a transcript and then publishes it. This unique quality makes Summary of World Broadcasts a record of essential discourse unlike any other.

A distinctive, essential addition to any research collection
Intelligently organized by critical time periods of high-research interest, the Summary of World Broadcasts digital archive is available to purchase as a complete collection or by individual chronological collections:

• Series 1: 1939-1958
• Series 2: 1959-1973
• Series 3: 1974-1988
• Series 4: 1989-2001