Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-11-08
BY GEORGE w. CAKES
Contributing Writer


question arises again:
Just what are we sending
abroad for Soviet consumption?
Before Premier Khrushchev's
visit here in September only about
10 per cent Of broadcasts in Rus
sian and six other Soviet Ian
guages got through to short-wave
listeners in the USSR. Today 1t
is believed that so per cent Of the
programs are being heard.
The exact relation between the
let-up in jamming Of our pro-
grams and Mr.. Khrushchev's visit
cannot be determined but officials
here believe that the visit did have
Q lot to do with It.
Every day w hours Of pro-
grams in Russian are transmitted
to the Soviet Union. Seven hours
of broadcasts are sent out in
Ukrainian. Lithuanian, Latvian,
Estonian, Armenian, and Geor-
gian. The program consists Of
five 30-minute broadcasts given
three times. making q total Of
71a hours. AS many as 16 DIFF
ferent frequencies are used to
overcome Soviet TANNERS. AS they
usually do not jam each frequency
at the same time, o Moscow
listener has the opportunity to
hear the program on at least one
wave length.
Every 30-minute broadcast in
cludes Is minutes Of United States
and foreign news, a five-minute
commentary and a 10-minute
feature, much as one described
in the program on this page.
Little music is used because
tanning is more successful
against the sound of music than
the human voice.
Policy Toward Educated
The Voices policy is to try to
select material that will appeal
to educated, informed Russians
and to average citizens too. The
programs are prepared under gen.
eral guidance of the State De-
partment, and the choice is
dictated both by an effort to in
form Russians about worldwide
news events as well as significant
aspects of American life. Feature
programs discuss and explain
American home life, our system
of education, medical develop
ments. scientific progress, social
security benefits, aviation, etc.
Foreign policy commentaries in
clude reports on the international
conference on peaceful uses Of
atomic engery, the foreign loan
program for underdeveloped coun-
tries, etc.
AS more Soviet visitors, dele
cations and entertainment groups
have visited this country, Rus
SLAMS at home have listened to their
reception in the United States. For
example, Mr.. Khruschchev's three
major speeches here were carried
In Russian.
On-the-scene descriptions of the
Bolshoi Ballet and other Soviet
dance groups have also been
broadcast.
All material is prepared by the
Voices special stats in Washing
ton. In putting it together they
often use tranSlations of impor-
tant statements such as President
EiSenhower's press conference
comment.
Jomming Activities PuzzIinq
Voice officials are puzzled by
Soviet tanning policy. In the
program published on this page,
the news analysis of RED China
after Ten Years" was damned on
most frequencies but the rest of
the program went through fairly
well. News seems to suffer little
interference from jamming at
present. In the case of the final
program on this particular day,
the TANNERS were ready for &C
ton but were not turned on.
Evidently the Russians allow
enough to be heard to substan-
tate their claim of a freer policy
but not so much to suggest that
all restrictions have been lifted.
1t is estimated that 1900 TANNERS
from 300 sites in the Soviet
Union operate at a cost of ap-
proximately 500 million a year.
about as much as the total annual
budget of all USIA activities of
which radio is only a part.
Although evidence of the extent
OF listening to the Russian Ian
guage programs is naturally hard
to acquire, it is believed that,
before the recent lifting of JAM
ming. there was a daily audience
of about a million and a half and
that approximately two million
Soviet citizens hear some broad
casts in Russian at least once a
week. In fact. the Voice receives
about a dozen letters a year post
marked in the Soviet Union, al
though most letters are mailed
outside of Russia. No effort is
made to encourage mail for fear
OF reprisal to Soviet listeners.
lmpoct on the Public
Soviet radio and press attacks
on the Voice also indicate that
American broadcasts are having
an impact on the Russian people.
Voice broadcasts to Russia
originate in Washington and are
transmitted from five points in
the United States to five relay sta
tons in Europe and Okinawa. At
present a new complex of the
latest type transmitters is being
constructed at cost of $25 million
in North Carolina that will en-
able the relay stations to beam a
much more powerful signal to
the Soviet Union.
In general the content of the
Voices Soviet programs appear to
have aroused little criticism in
this country although there has
been some Questioning about their