The formation ofWorld in Action

Abstract

This article examines the character of the British television current affairs series World in Actionfrom its first transmission in 1963 until 1965. Against the background of existing current affairs programming, it assesses the series' contribution to the development of distinctive rhetorical and visual forms appropriate for television current affairs journalism. The authors examine some of the specific intentions and practices, the guiding ideas and key ingredients, which informed this long-running and successful series and its address to the public. They also engage with the role of and constraints upon television journalists operating outside the ‘news bulletin’ format, working within the ethos of public service television, dependent upon the opportunities offered by existing technology and having to produce popular, engaging programming whilst maintaining their own professional standards as journalists. The article contributes to a growing academic interest in the historical development of media forms and represents one phase of a larger project of archival research into World in Action.