His concept of broadcasting as a way of educating the masses marked for a long time the BBC and similar organisations around the world.

[3] He spent two years at the Royal Technical College at Glasgow (later the University of Strathclyde) followed by an apprenticeship as an engineer at the North British Locomotive Company.

In 1913, he moved to London after obtaining a post at S. Pearson and Son through Ernest William Moir, and worked on their construction of the Royal Albert Dock.

[1] Reith, who was 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall, joined up with the 5th Scottish Rifles early in the First World War and was quickly transferred to the Royal Engineers as a lieutenant.

In February 1916, he went to work at Remington Arms, Eddystone, Delaware County, Pennsylvania who were manufacturing the Pattern 1914 Enfield Mk 1 rifle for the British government.

[6] He managed to retrieve his original application from a post box after re-thinking his approach, guessing that his Aberdonian background would carry more favour with Sir William Noble, the Chairman of the Broadcasting Committee.

[6] In his new role, he was, in his own words, "confronted with problems of which I had no experience: Copyright and performing rights; Marconi patents; associations of concert artists, authors, playwrights, composers, music publishers, theatre managers, wireless manufacturers.

When Ramsay MacDonald, the leader of the Labour Party, asked to make a broadcast in reply, Reith supported the request.

He recognised that at a time of emergency the government was never going to give the company complete independence, and he appealed to Snowden to understand the constraints he had been under.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Randall Davidson, wanted to broadcast a "peace appeal" drawn up by church leaders which called for an immediate end to the strike, renewal of government subsidies to the coal industry and no cuts in miners' wages.

"[10] Reith asked for the government view and was advised not to allow the broadcast because, it was suspected, that would give the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Winston Churchill, an excuse to commandeer the BBC.

[11] Reith contacted the Archbishop to turn him down and explain that he feared if the talk went ahead, the government might take the company over.

However, Reith had been in favour of the company being taken into public ownership, as he felt that despite the boards under which he had served so far, allowing him a high degree of latitude on all matters, not all future members might do so.

Later Director-General Greg Dyke, profiling Reith in 2007, noted that the term Reithian has entered the dictionary to denote a style of management, particularly with relation to broadcasting.

[13] Reith summarised the BBC's purpose in three words: inform, educate, entertain; this remains part of the organisation's mission statement to this day.

In fact, this may have been inspired by his catching the Chief Engineer, Peter Eckersley, not just kissing but being in flagrante with an actress on a studio table.

Reith also had to deal with Eckersley after the BBC Chief Engineer had a rather public affair with a married woman on the staff.

[16] By 1938, Reith had become discontented with his role as Director-General, asserting in his autobiography that the organisational structure of the BBC, which he had created, had left him with insufficient work to do.

He was invited by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to become chairman of Imperial Airways, the country's most important airline and one which had fallen into public disfavour because of its inefficiency.

"[19][20] John Gunther wrote that Reith's "modernist citadel on Portland Place was more important in the life of Britain than most government offices [and] rules the B.B.C.

an expression of his nonconformist conscience, and also what is probably the finest broadcasting organization in the world"; Gunther predicted that he "is almost certain to have a big political job some day".

"[22] Reith succeeded in building a high wall against an American-style free-for-all in radio in which the goal was to attract the largest audiences and thereby secure the greatest advertising revenue.

Pressured by Tory backbenchers who wanted a Conservative in the Information role, Reith was replaced by Duff Cooper.

More plausible, is the explanation given above, and the cleavage between Reithian management methods: energetic, thorough and highly organised, and the established style of the British civil service at that time: at best, calm and deliberative; at worst, ponderously slow.

Reith also frequently references in his autobiography departmental jealousies resulting from his ministerial activities, reported to him by colleagues such as Sir John Anderson, wartime Home Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Churchill coalition.

In 1943, he was promoted to captain (RNVR), and appointed Director of the Combined Operations Material Department at the Admiralty, a post he held until early 1945.

These annual radio talks, with the aim of advancing "public understanding and debate about significant issues of contemporary interest"[26] have been held every year since, with the exception of 1992.

When he visited the BBC to record the programme, work was being undertaken, and Reith noticed with dismay the "girlie" pin-ups of the workmen.

His final television appearance was in a three-part documentary series entitled Lord Reith Looks Back in 1967, filmed at Glasgow University.

[30] Following the July 1934 Night of the Long Knives, in which the Nazis ruthlessly exterminated their internal dissidents, Reith wrote: "I really admire the way Hitler has cleaned up what looked like an incipient revolt.