Evening star., 1939-01-22

United States are giving the official prop
aganda experts of Germany, Italy and
Japan a stiff battle over the short-wave
broadcast channels to South American
audiences.
Weeks of sometimes tedious technical
testimony before the Federal Communi-
cations Commission have passed since
the Federal investigation of operations
OF the major broadcasting organizations
were launched. Back of this probing
some observers see an attempt by the
Government to determine among other
things, just how effective private initia-
tive and private resources in American
radio may be in the present battle be-
tween the democracies and totalitarian
governmental systems
There is still in the background the
plan for an official international broad
casting system, for possible use by this
Governments spokesmen, as a counter
part to the governmental broadcasting
facilities of European powers This prof.
ect has been the subject of legislation in
the last Congress, and has been under
= study by an interdepartmental group in
recent months.
1t remained for one radio company
Official who had only latterly trans
ferred from service as a very active
foreign news correspondent for Amer
lean services and papers, to the radio
feld. to tell the commission just what is
being done.
Frank E. Mason now directing inter-
national programs for the National
Broadcasting Co., told the commission
that short wave programs sent from the
United States over the sir waves to
South American audiences by his organi-
zat1on alone exceed those sent by Ger
many by seven hours per week and
exceed the italian programs by 50 hours
I week.
c. B. S. Series Comprehensive.
The other major American broadcast
Ing service, Columbia Broadcasting Co..
likewise maintains a comprehensive in
ternational series of programs, details
OF which are furnished official agencies
IN washington regularly. In addition,
certain endowed, non-profit organiza-
tons OF strictly cultural character
send programs in Spanish and Portu-
guese to Latin America.
weeks OF dry reports, charts and
statements resulted in the hearing being
all but deserted the day Mr.. Mason
gave the commission one of its good
stories, so that his answer to the oues-
tlon OF what American broadcasters are
oolng In the present critical situation in
Latin America was virtually lost, Onlv
Commissioner Eugene Sykes was behind
the bench, smoking his pipe and atten-
lively following the testimony, while a
few men from technical papers sat in
front.
Unofficial observers sent by various
governmental agencies in recent months
quietly to study German and Italian
radio methods in Latin America have
returned with much information. From
some sources 1t was reported that the
Germans were virtually giving away
cheap short-wave sets in the southern
republics, the joker being that these
sets could only be tuned in to German
stations.
Other reports had it that only rela-
lively small proportion of radio sets
in use by the general public in the diff
ferent countries could be tuned to short
wave broadcasts. There have been
stories since, from other than official
sources presumably, that the large num-
Der of Germans and italians in the
Southern Hemisphere made it expedient
for the German or other propagandists
to use German to great extent, along
with their Spanish translations over the
air waves
The American companies studied all
the facts they could get. There is evi-
dence that native ingenuity had share
IN the final shaping of the broadcasts
now going out from this country to the
southern nations.
Want Programs in Own Language.
First, from experience, the American
companies have learned tnat radio au-
dlences down there want to hear pro-
grams IN their own languages. The
Spanish speaking audiences do not care
even to remain tuned in on strictly
Portuguese language broadcast, and the
people using the latter language, as in
Brazil, do not long remain rapt list
eners to Spanish.
When the typical radio fan in Latin
America, therefore, turns the dial and
catches a blast of German gutterals. or
rapid-fire Italian, he keeps right on
turning until he hears Spanish, or in
Brazil, Portuguese. This tendency hay-
ing been verified by the American COM
panies, they made good use of the dis
covery
"In Brazil, for example, Mr.. Mason
told the commission regarding his own
companys practice, I'VE understand
there are only about 5000 North Amer
leans, out of the total population of that
country of perhaps 100000 persons We
feel that we are giving listeners in Brazil
better service by building our Brazilian
programs in Portuguese for Brazilian
listeners, and the steady growth of our