Evening star., 1942-08-02
Psychological Warfare Plan
Held Failing Of Its Purpose
Private Broadcasters Baking at Government
Ineptitude and Request for Use of
Unlabeled Propaganda
BY Blair BoUes.

the neighborhood Of about $35oo,o00
year on their broadcasts overseas-an
operation for which they received no re-
turn except professional satisfaction.
Army Plan Thwarted.
The ineptitude of the Foreign Infor-
nation Service and the consequent snub
the private broadcasters give it con-
ing its psychological warfare plan. The
Army and the State Department each
day express their wishes to the FIS,
which are teletyped to FIS operations
headquarters in New York City. The
FIS Is supposed to pass these wishes on
to the private bfoadcasters The private
broadcasters 60 their own way, but
and the State Department from COM
municating with them except through
the official agency, the F1S.
Except from the Czechoslovakians,
who are pleased with two humorous
commentators that broadcast to their
country for the Foreign Information
Service. the foreign diplomatic missions
isfied with American official propaganda
written for short-wave transmission to
the particular people they are interested
in. The Polish Embassy last week ar
ranged with the General Electric Co. to
beam regular program to Poland over
which the Foreign Information Service
would have no control. The Greek gov
ernment In London is reported to be
making arrangements for its own broad
casts from the United States to Greece.
The American Government has no
broadcast to the Netherlands, to which
Station WRUL in Boston beams a pro-
gram conceived by Henrik Willem van
Loon.
One OF the factors in the Polish COM
plant was that the Foreign Information
Service broadcasts have been making the
Poles doubt the veracity of American
broadcasts. Polish underground news
paper recently received here commented
that the American broadcasts consistent-
ly exaggerate the numbers of Poles ex-
ecuted by the German authorities of oc-
cupatlon. The Foreign Information
stances the American reputation for
reportorial reliability and good taste.
When the Japanese took Singapore, our
Official broadcasts boasted that the in.
vaders were two days behind their sched-
ule when they captured the British cit-
adel. And the on1cial broadcasts In
sisted last winter on telling Far Eastern
Iistenerx that fha 4 =, or1oe,. .>1It~.. !. !. =
fought so well that 1t was plain Ameri-
can was the equal of 10 Japanese soldiers.
Eased From Donovan's Control.
The 0ovMnment's short-wave program
was eased quickly out Of Col. Donovans
control. The colonel designated Robert
Sherwood, the playwright who, although
he lacked previous propaganda exper-
fence, was favorite OF the White House.
to take immediate charge OF the short
wave programs overseas The colonel
tried to make Mr.. Sherwoods province
the whole world by attempting to take
the broadcasts to South America away
from Nelson Rockefellers Office of CO.
ordinating Inter American Affairs. Here
he was rebuffed, and soon afterward he
and Mr.. Sherwood parted in dispute
over policy. Mr.. Sherwood moved his
headquarters to New York, where he
could be out of reach OF his nominal
Washington bass.
Now Mr.. Sherwood has moved his own
office back to Washington since the
Foreign Information Service has been
transferred from Col Donovan to the
ONCE Of War Information. But his
short-wave operations still are conducted
for the most part in New York, where the
offices take up II floors of the Cadillac
Building. There is Sherwood Office also
in San Francisco, headquarters for the
beams to the Far East-Australia, Dutch
Indies, Malaga, Thailand, Indo- China,
China, the Philippines and Japan.
The Budget Bureau estimates that the
official foreign propaganda service
whose work never has been subjected to
the scrutiny of congressional appropri-
ations committee-costs now $4,000 900
a year. which is more than the Associ-
ated Press spent in 194l for gathering
hA ox1re AZ ha