SOURCELINE STANDARDIZATION PROPOSAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP92-00053R000300430005-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 26, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: September 13, 1976
• Content Type: MISC

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/11/26: CIA-RDP92-00053R000300430005-0
Sourceline Standardization Proposal
I. Basic Principles
1. A sourceline should contain no information that is not available
from station announcements, programme content or technical
observations, or from official schedules or other published
material verified by observation.
2. Station identification within sourcelines should use no more
words than are needed for maximum desirable precision.
3. Sourcelines should not reflect distinctions such as "official,"
"semi-official," and "non-official" as applying to broadcasts.
II. General Rules
1. The word "service" shall be eliminated from all sourcelines.*
Examples: Luanda Domestic in English
Mexico City External in Spanish
Sofia BTA Domestic in Bulgarian
East Berlin Domestic Television in German
Cologne Deutschlandfunk Domestic in German
2. The word "domestic" shall be used for broadcasts intended for a
domestic audience which is not specified or confined to a
particular region; either organization will include the target
in the sourceline of domestic broadcasts intended for a specific
audience or region, instead of "domestic," if it thinks it use-
ful to do so. ***
Examples: (A) Tirana Domestic in Albanian
Paris Domestic in French
Peking Domestic in Mandarin
La Paz Radio Fides Domestic in Spanish
Bogota Radio Cadena Nacional Domestic in Spanish
Bratislava Domestic Television in Slovak
(B) Khanty Mansiysk in Russian to Khanty Mansiysk
National Okrug
Chimkent in Russian to Chimkent Oblast
Moscow in Russian to Moscow Oblast
(C) Ufa in Russian to Bashkir ASSR
or
Ufa Domestic in Russian
Makhachkala in Russian to Dagestan ASSR
or
Makhachkala Domestic in Russian
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Tashkent in Russian to Uzbek SSR
or
Tashkent Domestic in Russian
Tangier in Arabic to Tangier Province
or
Tangier Domestic in Arabic
3. The phrase "domestic and external" shall be used for any trans-
mission which can be accurately determined to be intended for
both domestic and external audiences.
Examples: Kuwait Domestic and External in English
Cairo Voice of the Arabs Domestic and External in Arabic
Baghdad Voice of the Masses Domestic and External in Arabic
Madrid Domestic and External in Spanish
Tunis Domestic and External in Arabic
Blantyre Domestic and External in English
Jerusalem Domestic and External in English (for 1030 cast)
Baghdad INA Domestic and External in Arabic
4. The word "external" shall be substituted for all phrases now used
to indicate transmissions not intended for a domestic audience nor
specifically targeted.
Examples: Mexico City External in Spanish
Moscow TASS External in Russian
5. In the case of broadcasts for named targets outside the country
in which the radio is located either organization will include
the target instead of the word "external" if it thinks it useful
to do so. ***
Examples: Budapest in Hungarian to Europe Africa and Near East
or
Budapest External in Hungarian
Helsinki in English to Europe and South America
or
Helsinki External in English
Delhi in English to Northeast Asia Australia and New Zealand
Or
Delhi External in English
6. When a sourceline is to include destination the word "to" and not
"for" should be used in description of destination.
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Examples: Tirana in Polish to Poland
Kabul in Dari to Europe
Peking in English to Africa
Moscow in French to Southeast Asia
7. The field bureaus will include the name of the country as the
first word in sourcelines to which it can be usefully added. **
Examples: Santiago Chile Radio Cooperative Domestic in Spanish
San Jose Costa Rica Radio Reloj Domestic in Spanish
Tacna Peru Domestic in Spanish
Sucre Bolivia Radio la Plata Domestic in Spanish
8. Either organization will include the target instead of the word
"external" in sourcelines for press agencies if it thinks it
useful to do so. ***
Examples: Peking NCNA in English to Europe
or
Peking NCNA External in English
Buenos Aires ANSA in Spanish to Latin America
or
Buenos Aires ANSA External in Spanish
Sofia BTA in English to Western Europe
or
Sofia BTA External in English
Notes: * Current PRC regional sourcelines will remain in effect for
the time being.
** BBC will prepare a list of sourcelines for transmissions
covered by FBIS that should include the name of the country.
*** It is accepted that every effort should be made to limit the
number of discrepant sourcelines resulting from this provision.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/11/26: CIA-RDP92-00053R000300430005-0