Description
A groundbreaking study that uses newly-declassified internal Metropolitan Police and Home Office correspondence to tell the story of the Met's project to manipulate the British film industry into producing propaganda under the guise of mainstream entertainment cinema.
About the Author
Alexander Charles Rock is Director of Commercial and Operations at Derby Museums, UK. He has published on the history of independent cinema, policing London's cinemas during World War I and local film censorship. His writing has featured in Post Script and Early Popular Visual Culture.
Reviews
Rock has produced a critical reading of the public relations activity of the Metropolitan Police and their film industry collaborations in the twentieth century, foreshadowing issues around press-police relations identified in the Leveson inquiry. His forensic archival work identifies the impact of the first journalist and non-policeman, Percy Fearnley, appointed as the Met's Public Information Officer in 1945 and the contradictory tensions between committing to transparency and controlling the message. The book makes a strong contribution in developing a nuanced historical narrative that highlights the role of public relations in producing both propaganda and entertainment. -- Kate Fitch, School of Media Film & Journalism, Monash University, Australia
Book Information
ISBN 9781350295087
Author Alex Rock
Format Hardback
Page Count 278
Imprint Zed Books Ltd
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC