Evening star., 1949-12-25

to the people themselves. Radio
Is one medium that remains I'M
mune from man-made barriers OF
censorship and suppression and
one that cannot be halted by ma
tional boundaries. It can, how
ever-I regret to adobe inter-
fered with by deliberate jamming
but more Of that later.
The entry of the United States
into the field Of international
propaganda has been beset by in
Vulnerable difficulties. That may
be attributed in part to the ira
dttional American antagohism TO-
ward propaganda as such and to
the widespread suspicion Of any
Government-sponsored informa-
ton program. It may be attrib-
uted also to the fact that the
program was something new in
American experience. There were
no precedents to follow and ii
was necessary to experiment with
untried methods. Thanks to a
watchful Congress and an alert
American press. however, the early
mistakes were brought to light
and have served to weld the pro-
gram into an effective operation
Keeps Kremlin on Toes
Several months ago 4 Commu-
mist propagandist told q meeting
Of professional people in Moscow:
1T was easy to indoctrinate people
IN Soviet ideo1ogy before the war
but since then BIC and the Voice
Of America have made it consid-
erably more difficult. It Is bad
enough that individuals listen but
the worst feature is that they are
always running to friends to say,
Did you hear that p"
On several occasions the press
Of the U. S. S. r. and the satellite
states have published verbatim
texts Of international Importance
which ordinarily would not have
been made known to their popula-
tions prior to the establishment of
the Voice of America. AS one ex-
ample, the Voice broadcast in
Russian last March 18 the full
text Of the North Atlantic pact.
Two days later Izvestia, official
organ of the Soviet Of Deputies
of Workers Of the u. 8. s. R.,
published the text Of the pact in
full. Before the Voice started
broadcasting to the U. s. s. R.,
the official Soviet press seldom
published the full text of any such
document which was the target
of Soviet propaganda. Other news
which ordinarily would have been
suppressed has been frequently re-
ported in the official organs OF
various iron curtain countries
after it had been referred to by
Voice broadcasts.
The Voice frequently has served
to keep the propaganda organs of
the U. 8. s. r. and its satellites
on the defensive. They have felt
obliged to devote much of their
publication space and air time to
attacking the Voice Of America
and attempting to refute what 1t
has broadcast. Their attention Is
thus diverted from their internal
Enlightenment" campaigns.
Radio Moscow recently started
in its home service a weekly pro-
gram called Replies to Listeners
Questions One of the first ques-
tions was, "What are the funda-
mental characteristic of a people S
democracy?" After the Moscow
radio gave q vague and somewhat
ambiguous reply, the Voice OF
America went to the assistance of
its radio colleague and gave its
own answer to the question, the
gist of which was that a people s
democracy is not democracy
and does not belong to the people.
Direct Exchange Rare
,
Radio Moscow blistered the air
waves with a vitriolic, name-call-
ing counterblast. The Voice ac-
knowledged the attack and re-
peated its earlier program in order
to show what had aroused the ire
of the Soviets. On the following
week Radio Moscow substituted a
musical concert for Replies to
Listeners Questions.
Such direct exchanges are rare
for the Voice, however. For the
most part it confines its efforts
to giving a true picture of the
United States and to shedding
light on the happenings and poll
cies Of other countries-light
which often is denied by their
own governments.
In August, the Hungarian news
paper Gyermogyei Hirlap be-
moaned the fact that so many
Hungarians listened to the Voice
I'm spite of all our work Of en-
iightenment," said the article
listening to the American radio
passes among us for the same
sort Of secret indulgence as Il
opium smoking In the Chinese
ports. White-collar workers
tradesmen of the industries, even
factory workers listen to it or al
least inquire, What did it say?'
1.-THE fact is," the article con-
tinued. that the Voice Of Americs
is among us, as constant killjoy
a saboteur of the will to work
and as sure source Of poison al
q culture of bacteria that got into
the blood. :. New York spreads
sadness, lethargy and self torture
in our midst. It is impossible tt
express in figures how much dam.
age this voice does us in lowering
the spirit of work competition, the
verve of gathering IN the harvest
the pace Of construction, the un.
folding of the family spirit ane
of the Socialist spirit" The ar.
ticle concluded with q plea tt
"those whom we cannot convince
af the p1ori0llS victory that so.