A Candle Which Will Not Be Put Out

We have got to see that what we do is of the highest standard that
We can make it. There should be no motive actuating the minds of
Those running the broadcasting service other than the urge to do
The best programmes, the widest possible range of material, to
The best possible standard that we can produce. That is what we
Have always tried to do and what we shall continue to try and do

From the very first, our chief executive saw
Broadcasting as a public service with far wider vistas
And obligations than those of entertainment alone
No company constituted on trade lines for the profit of
Those composing it can be regarded as adequate. We think
A public corporation the most appropriate organisation
As we conceive it, our responsibility is to carry into the
Greatest possible number of homes everything that is best in
Every department of human knowledge, endeavour and achievement

From the earliest days it has been our resolve that
The great possibilities and influences of the medium
Should be exploited to the highest human advantage
The service as a whole has been and is
Dedicated to the best interests of mankind
By wise encouragement of the best in national and international life

By a responsible and careful exercise of its tremendous patronage of
The arts, and by its stimulation of the spirit of intellectual
Inquiry, broadcasting can exercise a
Most powerful and beneficent leadership

In setting up a system of public service broadcasting
Britain did in fact light the candle which will not be put out