John Reith, 1st Baron Reith

The Lord Reith
1st Director General of the BBC
In office 1 January 1927 – 30 June 1938
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Frederick Ogilvie
Minister of Information
In office 5 January 1940 – 12 May 1940
Preceded by	Hugh Macmillan
Succeeded by	Duff Cooper
Born	John Charles Walsham Reith 20 July 1889 Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland
Died	16 June 1971 Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
Political party	Tory
Spouse(s)	Muriel Reith (m. 1921)
Children	2
Alma mater	Royal Technical College at Glasgow

John Charles Walsham Reith, 1st Baron Reith (1889-1971), a native of Kincardineshire, Scotland, was a fascist and Nazi apologist and perpetrator of cancel culture, known for establishing the state-controlled, left-wing propaganda mouthpiece the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Politics

Reith was a Nazi and fascist sympathizer and admirer of Adolf Hitler, a fact which came to light when Reths' diary was posthumously published in 1975. When discussing the Night of the Long Knives massacre of June 1934, Reith wrote that he "really admire(d) the way Hitler [...] cleaned up what looked like an incipient revolt." Following Hitler's 1938 invasion of Czechoslovakia, Reith remarked "Hitler continues his magnificent proficiency".

According to Reith's daughter, Marista, Reith cancelled several Conservatives who opposed the appeasement of Nazis and fascists, notably Winston Churchill.