Editing History of broadcasting (section)

=== France ===
{{Main|Radio France}}
[[Radio Paris]] began operations in 1922, followed by Radio Toulouse and Radio Lyon. Before 1940, 14 commercial and 12 public sector radio stations were in operation. The government exerted tight control over radio broadcasting. Political debate was discouraged; for example, in the 1932 election campaign, the opposition was allowed one broadcast while the incumbent made numerous campaign broadcasts.<ref>{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Starr|year=2004|title=The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communications|publisher=Basic Books|page=376|isbn=978-0465081943}}</ref> France lagged behind other European countries in consumer ownership of radio sets, with 5 million radio receivers in 1937, compared to over 8 million in both Britain and Germany and 26 million in the United States. The government imposed very strict controls on the dissemination of news. After 1938, stations were allowed only three brief bulletins of seven minutes each per day to cover the day's news. The Prime Minister's office closely supervised the news items that were to be broadcast. Due to these policies, French citizens learned little or nothing of the events surrounding the lead-up to World War II from the radio. As a result, the French population was often puzzled about the specifics of current events, and their morale and support for government policies was much weaker than in Britain, where news broadcasts were used to communicate regularly with citizens.<ref>{{cite book|first=Anthony|last=Adamthwaite|year=1995|title=Grandeur and Misery: France's Bid for Power in Europe 1914-1940|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|pages=177–78|isbn=9780713165760}}</ref>