MONTHLY REPORT - LONDON BUREAU - MAY 1985

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86-00040R000300560008-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 27
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2010
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: June 4, 1985
• Content Type: MEMO

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4 June 1985
MLD-5022
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
FROM : Chief, London Bureau
THROUGH : Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT : Monthly Report - London Bureau - May 1985
I. GENERAL
STAT
1. Director, FBISI land Chief, Operations Group
STAT ttended the annual FBIS-BBC Coordination Meeting at
avers am 29-31 May. The BBC side was chaired by Roland
Challis, Acting General Manager of the Monitoring Service,
David Witherow having transferred from the Monitoring Service
to his new position at External Services as of the 20th. This
meeting, like the last one in Caversham two years ago, brought
a splash of sunshine after a dreary stretch of cold, wet
weather; the calendar registered May but this month in fact was
England's third March this year.
2. British Home Secretary Leon Brittan this month announced the
members of the Peacock Committee which is to look into
alternative methods of financing the BBC. How the committee's
conclusions - not due until next summer - may affect decisions
on British satellite broadcasting has been the subject of
renewed speculation in the press. A spate of articles this
month discussed the options for the "club of 21" - the BBC, the
15 ITV companies, and five independent companies. This DBS
consortium reportedly tends to favor using a British company,
Britsat, which would lease to the club an American Satellite
made by RCA at less cost than a satellite built by Unisat, a
consortium of British Aerospace, British Telecom, and
GEC-Marconi, which is favored by the British government. The
DBS project has been bogged down for a year and a half already
over which system to use and the financial implications of
each.
A. Editorial/Monitorial
1. May produced still more production records - the highest
ever bureau file for a May, and the highest ever daily
wordage, a massive 159,000, with the daily file exceeding
100,000 words 15 times this month. Events generating this
wordage included May Day, Indian Prime Minister Gandhi's
visit to the Soviet Union, Gorbachev's Leningrad
walkabout, the 40th anniversary of World War II, and the
USSR's anti-alcoholism campaign, which began foaming up
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STAT
STAT
2. Editorial and communications sectio hnt-b
enthusiastic about associate editor suggestion
that the SUBJ line on copy be used to list named packages
of addressees and numbered add-ons. The was
instituted promptly after receipt of the OK and
has already proved its worth in time saved and hassle
avoided. It gives the precise combination of consumers
chosen for any given item at a glance - to those familiar
with the packages. The uninitiated may pause at "SUBJ: SU
LA GENARM 198 289" or pass over "SUBJ: SU AFRI ACRUISE"
with indifference, but may wonder at "SUBJ: BASIC SHAM"
(Shipping, Atlantic Mediterranean).
B. Technical
1. The new VCVC2 (Vienna-Cavershamm voice circuit) came into
operation on 28 May, providing increased capacity so that
the two circuits now provide six audio channels dedicated
to East European stations, a telephone line, and facsimile
and radioteletype facilities.
2. Communications and Tabulation sections broke new computer
ground this month by producing the Moscow Radio Peace and
Progress commentary lists on a floppy disc copy of the
Tabs Multimate document, feeding it into Commo's IBM, and
pulling it out on the Telexcutter. The tape lists were
produced daily from the 21st on for a total of over 10,000
words.
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
CTAT
STAT
STAT
III. ADMINISTRATION
Personnel
1. Editor arrived on PCS 7 May.
2. In a series of longevity ceremonies, the followin were
presented with length-of-service pins: (admin) 30
years- (driver), 25 years;
and mmo)- 25 rs;
1 years; PMU editorial), 1 years;
(commo), years; (commo, pressfax
unit), 10 years.
3. Teletype operator) I completing his first year
with the bureau, was promoted from trainee grade to FBN-7.
STAT To the bureau:
STAT stoppe at avers am on a iutn en route nome trom a visa
to Washington for discussions with the BBC and the bureau. TDYers
STAT included JPRS Near East and Asia desk officer
STAT Production Group. Chief Editor F
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STAT
STAT
V.
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
BBC monitors lof the Russian team,
and a new English monitor scheduled to join the
Serbo-Croat team later.
A farewell part for senior editor was hosted by PMU
Chief with editor again superbly
performing as the chef extraordinaire, filling in for the absent
And the FBIS-BBC Coordination Meeting was the occasion for
The party drew a throng from all bureau components as well as BBC
guests, and overflowed from the new club Function Room to the
marquee (which looked suspiciously like an army tent) set up on the
edge of the playing field.
a late- I afternoon party at the BBC Club in honor of the visitors.
cc: Chief, Austria Bureau
Chief, Cologne Unit
Chief, Islamabad Unit
Chief, Okinawa Bureau
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London Bureau 'roci1.1i:::t].(::)c"' !'+'(iii'G:)O1' : i (: I' !'!isa i I.`'YfY?`..',
TOTAL. F'i_!E:L... I SHAI3LE WORt?AGE F' :I: L...I (O NT -'I
TOTAL. N17N F'1JHi.IShIAE+L.E i~!l.)F:h;71'i;G= l:l._.E:1") `.IIr.JII( 1 r:I',.11_! 7 TOTAL NUME,ER OF FUEL I S1-'IABLE I TE Ms J: L.;F".:I: N_1 I''IC:I!:! Tt'; ;; 5 4
F'UEL_.I..._
t:'flE i S C3ENC I ES CAT IONS
II. INEt.JT OF RE.-GUIAR
(mi r1utes; or? i ssUec
II.I. OLJTF't.JT FROM ALL SOURCEES:
(publishable words per month)
AFGHAN I i:3?TANI
Ka b u l ]. I"1
English to Eukrope
I:::,Fabul in
Pashto and Dari to E ur c)pe !.O
Kabul Domestic: Service in
Kabul Domestic Service in
F'a5,htc:)
Kctbui Domestic Servic-c? in
F:asht(:o atnd i.
Kabul F.BAE:HTAR in
Dar i
f::< Ti .tB Ak::I-ITAR i n
Er., o I ish
AL.)SANIA?a
Ti Ir ana ATA in
English
Tirana ATA in
French
ALGERIA
Algier i::.: V(:oic_e cot 1-` 3.e Domest.:ic Service in
Arabic
Algiers Domestic Service in
1=r? c?nch
Alc:iiers:; APE in
Arabic
Al.gier-ss AF's in
En :t i. hh1
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Alcliers Al-::'S in
French
Algiers AL?..SI IA' P :in
Arab i. c.
A].gi.er?