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Abstract
This article uses the mass-media career of the British psychiatrist David Stafford-Clark (1916-1999) as a case study in the exercise of cultural authority by celebrity medical professionals in post-war Britain. Stafford-Clark rose to prominence in the mass media, particularly through his presenting work on medical and related topics for BBC TV and Radio, and was in the vanguard of psychiatrists and physicians who eroded professional edicts on anonymity. At the height of his career, he traded upon his celebrity status, and consequent cultural authority, to deliver mass media sermons on a variety of social, cultural, and political topics. Stafford-Clark tried to preserve his sense of personal and intellectual integrity by clinging to a belief that his authority in the public sphere was ultimately to be vindicated by his literary, intellectual, and spiritual significance. But as his credibility dwindled, he came to distrust the cultural intermediaries, such as broadcasters and publishers, who had supported him.
Highlights
In the mid-1960s, a charismatic British psychiatrist rose to prominence in the mass media
Impelled by a desire for literary and cultural significance, he exploited his psychiatric authority and celebrity status to comment on a wide range of social, cultural, and political matters
His celebrity dwindled, he resorted to popular journalism and bad poetry to air his unfashionable views
Summary
In the mid-1960s, a charismatic British psychiatrist rose to prominence in the mass media. Stafford-Clark was unwilling to accept that his celebrity was to a large extent attributed by the mass-media machinery that employed him temporarily because of his talent for broadcasting, rather than achieved by lasting success in some other realm of human accomplishment In his desire to be well-known for something other than his wellknowness, Stafford-Clark maintained a lifelong conviction that he was to be recognized as ‘an unrecognized literary author of substantial merit’ (Miller, 2015: 81). Stafford-Clark was propelled into a position of ‘cultural authority’ (Collini, 2006: 47–48) by Penguin’s mass publishing, and by his national exposure on BBC TV and Radio By his access to such media, he was empowered, and incentivized, to speak to ‘general concerns’ (Collini, 2006: 56) of the wider public audience via his views on political, ethical, and spiritual issues, amongst others. Scottish Academic Press, naturally, were unmoved by Stafford-Clark’s self-estimation, and declined to proceed further (PP/DSC/C/2 letter: Douglas Grant, DSC, 28 July 1978)
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