EFFECTS OF VOICE OF AMERICA BROADCASTS

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0003020415
• Release Decision: IPPUB U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: March 25, 2011
• Case Number: F-2011-00412
• Publication Date: January 8, 1953

APPROVED FOR
RELEASES DATE:
14-Mar-2011
r~.
CENTRAL I NTELL I GEN.CE AGE~`t~
I~VF~R~IA~I0~1 REPORT REPORT
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE
ACQUIRE
Effects of Voice of .~meri~n Bx?aadcasts
DATE DISTR. 8 January 195
N0: OF PAGES ~+'
NO.OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
GRADING OF SOURCE
COLLECTOR'S PRELIMINARY GRADING OF CONTENT
COMPLETELY
USUALLY
FAIRLY
NOT
USUALLY
NOT
CANNOT
BE
CONFIRMED
O
PROBABLY
POSSIBLY
PROBABLY
CANNOT
RELIABLE-
RELIABLE
RELIABLE
RELIABLE
RELIABLE
JUDGE6
BY
THER
SO
RCES
TRUE
TRUE
DOUBTFUL
FALSE
BE
U
JUDGED
A..
B.
C.
D,
E.
F. x
1.
2.
3, X
4.
5.
6.
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 18, SECTIONS 79j~
AND 194, OF THE U.S. CODE. AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UHAUTH ORI2ED PERSON IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW, THE. REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
C
A
I
T
ATI
N
S E
,
_.
STATE
L'ET'
NAVY
x
NSRB
DISTRIBUTION
ARMY
~
AIR
~
FBI
TH1S 1S UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Listening to foreign braadca~ts is not fvrbid.deri in the Czechoslovak Republic(CSR,~s?
people are not forced to listen 3:ra secretoa As a matter of fact, during important
meetings of the .Communist 'ax?ty, functionaries encouraged the members to listen
to the "foreign.bunkT.' in the hope that they would more readily accept the CP lime,
Those who listened to Western- brpadca:sts didt however, exercise a certain amau:nt
of caution -for fear of . be~.ng suspected of sympathising with the democracies,, or
of opposition to the Comrxwnist re~ia~e. C)ccasionally a small group of friends
who trusted each other implicitly would listen to the broadcasts together, but
for the most part listening was done semi-secretly, If there was an active
member of the C`P in the.house~ then the caution with which one listened was
increased.
2 The number of radio receivers in the CSR. was steadily increasing when I lefto
I believe that this may be attributed to the fact-that the people were more
eager than ever to learn what was going on in the world, Every radio set had
to be registered with the post office; failure t4 do so was punishable by law.
Each owner of a set must have a license. The monthly tax on a radio set was 3C) Kcs,
Spare parts for radio receivers were- scarce; some parts were unobtaz.nable. '
Community repair shops were established, but the wait for repairs was usually a
long one. Repairs were never made wells Many people thought that the workers in
such establishments took out the better parts of the radios left for repair and
replaced them with defective parts. Whenever passible, the people tried. to have=
their sets repaired privately.
3. There is not much choice offered in. radio .sets for sale in the CSR. The most
popular was the Largo, which east 12,C)C~C3 Iica., then Tesla and Harmonic, 3+rhich
costa-8,400 and 6,?OC7 Inc . respectivelya On -tha basis of a newspaper advertisemesnt
radio tube of e ^~ Kcs
~
~~'
~
~
-~
 S CRET
~t cCtsnpar3.n~; , ~iata.~-W~s~~~n rc~,d.c?a;s~~s ~ ' ?~h~ `C" `~~i~'~~~.c ~; _ ., .,.:;~
to me that the I3BG vas wel~-organize, anc~~ts commentar3.es ana news
broadcasts-were we11 prepared. It also seemed to do a good dab in
maintaining close ctrta;in,
from Washington, mat~rial Pram-intelligence reports that would be
suitable for foreign. broa.dcasto
Extreme care ~hauld be used in authenticating the truth of-every item
used can VOA. One of its broadcasts exaggerated the prices of certain
items in Czechaslovakie,; this created ~, bad impression on the people
iM the GSR whq compared the prices as given with the true ones.
TJr~truths breed di's~trust s It is often said in Czeehpslovakia that both
sides putout their-share of prapagand.a, so tkxe West should insure the
truth of everything broadcast to the GS6R~ It would e.lso be an excellent
ides. for VOA to answer Radio. Prague's propaganda charges with hard,
cold factso To the people of the CSR this-would be not only interesting;
s.nd informative, but would actually build up the-ir moral strength.-
The E~zechs feel that no answer to such charges means that they are true,
that the West.~ust does not care enough to answer, or that they are
completely unaware that the charges heave been made..
,.
It appea'~red t6 me and my friends that much of the reporting of VOA was
weak; it' was not forceful enough. Since time 'is. always so limited,, .as
much inforttia,tion as possible. should be packed into the time allowed.
Every word, every sentence should say something,. Far in.stance,~ o~ae
~rogram inicluded an interview-with one of the women .who escaped on the
Freedom Train", The interviewer spent too much-time asking meaningless
questions; the Czechs would like to have heard. how the woman was
 treated by USA s,uthnrities, what sort of ~c~b .her husband was able to
ob~ain,,and the difficulties-they experienced mother example was
s, report on the American school system.- C'~ech listeners are interested
in Iearr~ing'more about the sc~iool system in the U~ they are already
familiar with. the system of edu.eatien. What they would like to hear
is how the children are taught, what sort-of examinations they are
g#.ven, what they da du.ring vacation, etc. On the other hand, ~ liked,
an int~rvievr with ,former Czech in the US. he was-asked where he
worked,- what he did, how much he earned,. wY~at h,e could buy with his
wages, haw he occupied hi.s leisure, where he went on -~rac~tfic~n, etc.
.Such an interview was not anly interesting, but it gave those in
Czechoslovakia an opport~txn.ity to compare their sawn. living conditions
with those in -the tTS. It incree,sed the desire for a better life
especially among the young people. Some of the reports on life in
the Y~est should be repeated .-
lOo I wQU1d like to make the following suggestions with regard to programs
on Vt~A s
(a) important news broadcasts should be advertised ahead of, time in
order to insure the maximum number a~` listenersy
(b) In certain cases; important .foreign news should be repeated.
Repetition of 'news concerning. the Communists in France, agreements
with YJestern Gerrnan.y~ and the US presidential campaign, would
strengthen the- Czechrs faith and canfide~ce in the West.
I think it would be an excellent idea if news of Czechoslovakia
were'~broadcast to-other Satellites, a~td vice versa, since the
Communists-put aut little news upon which the population can
depend, In this manner resists-nee would be strengthened among
the appressecl peoples
(d~ I should like to stress as strongly as possible;: that neither VOA.
-nor any other agency broadcasting to the CaI~; should relate the.
manner by which people escape from Czechoslovakia. Such disclo-.
cures make it impossible for other people to use the same method.
It also .impairs the work of 'those on duty in the border regions.
who -are actually working. against the regirn.e,
It seems to me that the staff of"the Voice of America should be
separated into divisions according to the subject rn,atter of the
broadcasts, ie, education, industry, agriculture, etcy It is a
good idea~to include on-the-spot interviews and eyewitness
accounts. VOA should have people who not ozily are familiar with
the Czech larYguage, but :know the country s,rYd the people well.
(f) Denunciation of Commuxists and the regime should be backed up by
facts. Mild irony as well as ,yokes could be employed. Active
Communists sY~ould be cons-tautly reminded of their activities and
told that they are being watched very carefully by the people, and
that there will be a day of reckoning 'when they will have to
answer for their deeds, Whenever possible;. the names of these
people. should be included, It has sometimes been the case that
Communists, singled out by one of the Western broadcasts, have
improved out of `ear of reprise,l. In any ease, the Czechs are
careful to s.void contact with them, and to watch what is said in
their presence The ~.ntelligentsia should be told not to be
narrow minded or afraid, and to cooperate with the Communists only
to the extent that is absolutely necessary Tt should be
emphasized that there will come a day when each person will have
a chance to-give- an accounting of his past activities for the
Communists, and that they will not be able to say they were not
warned It should also be made c-bear that penalties will not be
meted out for the mere sake of revenge but in the interest of
common ~usticeo,
SEtJ~Z~
 (g) The church is o~.e ot` the most important opponents of Communism,?
therefore VOA should devote a certain portion of its broadcasts
to religion,. ~`rdorn of religion as it exists in the US should
be emphasized,
(h) The Communists are trying constantly to re~~educate the youth to .-
think along Communist lineso It is of the utmost importance
that VaA concentrate on this segment of the populations Sub~~cts
of interest to the youth of the ~~~ include: opportunities for
young: people in the hest, reports on films, the theatre, sports,
travelling-and bookse
(i) In my opinion, music programs on VOA should vary and be morn in
-step .with what the people want to hear Europeans also have a
.goad, stare 4f classical music from which to draws but American
music is sometimes a far-cry from European music. T think it
would be a good idea if-Czech listeners became better acquainted-
- with contemporary A~ericar.., composers and .their compositions, eg,
Leroy Anderson~s :Blue Tango'. dome-thing on the order of the
~fiiit Parade" would be very popular with Czech listeners. I think
it would also be a good idea if semi-~class.i-cal European music
were interspersed with America~i tunesu If` a 15 minute program
is made vap of jazz, >> -bop, or jive, exclusivelya the people
lose interest and swi tc;h off their sets .
~~ c ~E:S?~';er"`, -f;Y,[:tarirn~cw~_ L,E,,,T.n;.a w. ._.__. .
w ..A~ s. ~ ~~~ ~~ pF.~ y C},z:~. ~~' ?ap sh~~.; ~.'?.cps: f~~s?
r`~'R ? $ tY`~i,.l. L~ ~'S~`'d'?~~`q Ca+~~ ~,".r9 1134 k.? '~, , 7. " S` "' "_ t ~~-: 'VSO ._
~.~ ~ v w, ~ c r~._ i ~, ~ ',~ W Y r T ~ ?~; ~ r ~: ti}1'~'ll.~. "' dn,.~.
,~rJ.~3.E' CZ~' ?~"J~t ~~'~~ ~.~'.~~~$,_ ~i.C~.'i. :.~7iLt`~ '~~~F-' ~E..~e'~4 ~.~ fig,, ~'C~~IYl:~ 91 ?`~. '~:r ~ g h^~~ w;r~ ~
~~cx~~