NO 'FLAG WAVING' BELL-MCCLURE TO OFFER FEATURES FROM SOVIET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100040009-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 18, 2004
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: December 14, 1968
• Content Type: NSPR

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f tl t f 1 11 h}- overn-
.,. h
~y~ o test Co... 1.y s Soda ar Pi not us jaw
!>10 l( o ? waving .,."They're on the same social level meat is terribly concerned about
as educators and writers," said' this and is trying to make mar-
Mc l ur to w Osenenko. "A Soviet journalist riage more attractive,.' They've
earns about $220 a month, and > et up a number of Wedding
-V -r off
CH-c
this isn't bars when you consider Palaces' which incorporate a
O that a Soviet jet pilot earns $300.!- number of attractive features in
featui'es from a month. And a press card opens the wedding ceremony. We've got
; a lot of doors to them that'' an upcoming story on this."
wouldn't necessarily open to our v Drunkenness is widespread-
h.'
By Don Maley newsmen overere "The price of booze is dirt cheap
j "The people I met at Novosti and they get you bombed drink-
J"lut Osenenko boarded it Plus- rolling. I came back from my -whose motto is 'information ing toasts to you, your profes-
sian Aeroflot airliner at New trip convinced that they were on for peace and' friendship'- sion, your relatives and most
-York's JFK Airport on Elec.-the level and sincere in their
th " weren't afraid of losing their anything they can think of. I
u
Moscow.
on Day and flew to
"We'd been negotiating," said
Osenenko, who heads the Bell-
? McClure Syndicate and North
American Newspaper Alliance,
'"with Novosti, the Soviet press
11
agency, to use their non-political
features nnrl I wanted to see for
myself if they were on the level."
Although his wife thought he'd
"end up in Siberia," Osenenko
journeyed over 3,000 miles
throughout the Soviet Union-
snapping pictures all the while
.-and visited every place but
Siberia.
"When I went over," he com-
mented, "I told'them there would
be no flag waving and they fully
agreed. Oddly enough they'd
never heard the 'no flag waving'
expression used before and they
were delighted with it. It be-
desire to do business wi
s. ~~ "They're found the. only wa to stay sober
"We intend," he further ex- jobs, he added. sup-': Y Y
plained, "to import features on: ported by four of the most' over there was to drink only
science, education, medicine, .powerful and important journal, mineral water during meals."
f' istic fraternities in the Soviet ? Flying is cheap in the
sports, fond, fashion and health'! Union." Soviet Union. "It's. one of the
but no political columns. If they Osenenko's guide during his biggest bargains over there.',
do begin injecting politics into two-week stay in the Soviet They have to travel such great
their features we'll drop them. Union was Alftonil Rhuhadze, distances to go. to market that
'
d
The artwork is fine and their an editor in Novosti's American they're force to fly, and its
non-political cartoons are excel-? Department. "He was the only costs next to nothing. The planes
lent." , Soviet assigned to me," said I flew on resembled Mexican
Novosti will work on the same Osenenko. "I didn't have a 'tail', jitney buses with all the pigs,:
percentage as syndicated authors j (luring my entire trip. I, called chickens, goats and boxes of
and cartoonists but before the him 'Ted' and he seemed pleased. I vegetables stuffed into the aisles
service is launched in January, I He liked jazz and seemed inter- and on the racks above the seats.
Elmer Roessner, Bell-McClure ested in anything American. The Soviet Union is the
editor, will spend a few weeks o When I was touring the ? Soviet world's number one builder of;i
at Novosti's Pushkin, Square ~ Union with him' I found the: prefab houses, employing this
offices where he'll initiate his people hungry for news from`sbuiiding method to solve their
syndicate's methods. - "They'll America They suffered from housing problem.
send some people later to our I the same news blackout con-' a Air pollution ? is under con-
offices,". said Osenenko. "They corning our country as weda trol in the Soviet Union. .
t theirs" o Their cooking is awful.."Be-
use some of our features
ma
b
..
a
y
ou
ame a new addition to their , next year." - ? cause many of their great chefs
c
idiomatic vocabulary and they Besides finding Soviet intcrcrsting ob servations were killed and lost in the war
would use it every chance they agency's features to be of "top During Qsenenko's tour lie the great recipes were lost. I
-" duality," Osenenko found Novos- found their cuisine ostentatious
got ti staffers to be "intelligept, made many observations, among; but their ice cream was good." `
Stipulation patient, frank well ed ated and them:
a An airmail subscription to ' In concluding, Osenenko said:
But what of Novosti, the flag- outgoing." the New York Times cost $600 "We'll offer a minimum of three, less Soviet news-gathering "I found the Soviet~j.ournalists ! pet. year in the U.S.S.R. "It's . features per week and we'll have
agency? to be char They re master'! their favorite American. paper, a 'Man in, Moscow' type column
"It's a public news organiza- psychologists as well as master
m 'followed by the Christian Sci- for the editor's swipe -file. Ifour;:
I'll b
d epitome of 'drabness "They're' due, but it's a gamble, as I an-
Union features -cultural fea- they talk to you. I've met stupi
tures. Their literary and picture journalists in this country but six pages of solid type without! ticipate a great built-in resist-.
items are circulated in 110 coun- not in Russia.,, any ads. Each of the 15 Repub -ante to everything Soviet from
tries and they have contracts ''They're. joist like us' lies has its own newspaper." :,editors; around the country. Al
;with over 6,000 foreign publica o There is a strong Spanish though we've negotiated: ,for
tions, including Life, Look, , The Soviet people must have influence in Russian culture. "I' features devoid of '$ag,waying
"There's galloping capitalism
over there," he said, "but the
clients, are the London Daily Soviet. people themselves are
Mirror, the San Francisco desperately in need of direction.
Chronicle, and the Milwaukee Basically they're just like us.
Jout?nal? They're vain, selfish,, curious, in-
"I felt that there was a news terested and they're getting fed,
blackout concerning the Soviet i up with the arms race. They.
Union. After all, it's a big coun- r feel it drains their taxes. One
`try but there's so little known thing though, they don't crave
about it. If we are to survive security as frantically as we do.
i
stem of gover
t
d
hi
-
?7
s o lu ??c re go
?-??----
111 t
o -t a? e
' tists and are in the proiess1oils!
w ultn
stand 'each other and I fe tha offers them a form of security ? and when they tire of marriage.
someone should show some edi-. that ours doesn't." ?! they can easily get a divorce. ;?.
torial initiative an(1get the ball,Soviet newsmen are at the -top Their. &at dut
j y is to the state,;
Approved For Release 2004/10/28 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100040009-2
Geographic in Georgia (a Soviet'into, %his tlrtng. .,l
"And the government is con-
cerned because families are get
ting smaller and smaller."
"Many married women are scion
features no cats t on
happy. Y. feel the country's ready