Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-02-11
By Crosby 5. Moves
EoFeian corTespondent Of The Stov


Foreign Correspondent Of The StoE
BERLIN.-ThG job of getting
the news Of the Berlin four
power conference to the people
Of RusSian-controlled Central
Europe falls largely on RIAS,
Berlin's American-operated radio
station. and its director. an en-
ergetic former New York news
man named Gordon Ewing.
It's a big job with a big and
receptive audience. RIAS plays
to an estimated 10 million peo-
pie in East Germany, parts of
Poland and Northern Czechoslo-
vakia. In East Berlin. where
there is still some opportunity to
check the real sentiments of the
people. the guess is that more
than 80 per cent are strongly
anti Communist.
The work goes on "a hours a
day. More than one third of the
broadcast time is devoted to news
and comment, divided into Is
separate programs. While the
conference is on, RIAS has ex-
panded it's facilities to include
two extra tranSmitters located
in Munich to spread the Western
viewpoint through the southern
satellites.
Red, Radio Active, Too.
What makes the job important
is that RIAS is virtually the only
way that the people of Eastern
Europe can get an inkling of
what is going on here. The sta
tons Communist counterpart,
Radio Berlin is making quite an
effort. of course. But there is no
pretense at all of what would
be normally called news cover
age. So far as Radio Berlin'S
listeners are concerned, the
Western Ministers might as we'll
not exist. After yards of copy
about Soviet Foreign Minister
Molotov. the Eastern station-like
the Eastern newspaperS-turns
to the various activities of the
East German government: Petit
tions for German representa-
ton at the council table. pro-
posals for the formation of an
alderman government and so
on.
The other day, Radio Berlin
relieved this heavy bill of fare
to the extent of satirizing visit
ing American newsmen in Ber-
lin. The main idea seemed to be
that the Yankee reporters were
interested in nothing but the
most exquisitely trivial details
of the proceedings. AS long as
they could find out the color
Of French Foreign Minister BIZ
dault's socks. the position of
France in regard to a European
settlement became a matter Of
relative unimportance.
RIAS, of course, is essentially
propaganda outlet. but its ap-
proach is a good deal less heavy
handed. 1t would be hard to
distinguish between its news
summaries and those of the va
rious American press aSsocia-
tons which supply much of the
basic material. The editorializ-
ing is saved for the second part
of the program and runs to fac
tual refutation sOf Communist
claims and schafges.
Practical Warnings Given.
AS a regular service to its lis
teners, RIAS issues warnings of
the most practical kind on what
the Communist leaders are up
to. Factory owners in specific
areas are advised before inspec-
tors visit them to check for sur
plus stocks. Names of known
security agents are beamed to
the different sections of the zone.
A typical script for the warn
ing service reads like bulletins
on an American police radio:
Attention Niesky-attention
Niesky!
johannes Bruekner-B-R-U-
E-K-N-E-R. Lives on Zinzen-
dorfer PlatZ. Is setting up a
State Security Service office in
Niesky. This Is located in the