FROST LETTER OF 3 FEBRUARY 1949

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03097A000200050133-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 13, 2010
• Sequence Number: 133
• Publication Date: February 23, 1949
• Content Type: MEMO

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/13: CIA-RDP78-03097A000200050133-3
Assistant Director for Operatic
Chief, FBIB
Frost letter of 3 February 1949
1. The curtailment of BBC -at 11 a IMIS
lined in subject letter will not vitally affect FBIB operations or
the quality and volume of its product. They do have the following
implicationst
a. Cancellation of BBC reports is not of concern to FBIB,
b. The requirement to supply Latin American material to
J3BC, an integral part of the original FBIBBBBC reciprocal arrange-
ment, does not materially increase PBIB costs or workload. It
does make necessary the use of the full quota of 20,000 words
per day presently allotted 113IB by the Army Communications Ser-
vice on its circuits eastbound from 'Washington to London. It
would also have to be taken into consideration in any future
proposal to discontinue FBIB monitoring of Latin American broad-
casts for budgetary or other reasons.,
c. Reduction in BBC Arabic monitoring will not alter
present plans, which provide for full Arabic coverage at
Kyrenia. It will increase the necessity, however, for removing
the 10,000-word limitation on the daily cable file from
i(yrenia to London,
d. Reduction in monitoring of Finland should not affect
CIA since O1 has indicated (memorandum of 29 Dec 4S to Chief,
FBt3) disinterest in monitored material from Finland. Reduc-
tion in the volume of material from Scandinavia and to a
smaller extent from Finland oan be compensated by monitoring
at the FBIB East Coast Bureau without considerable additional
workload. Discontinuation of recently initiated BBC monitoring
of Russian Baltic states, in particular of Riga, is inconsistent
with FBIB1s own efforts to expand monitoring of USSR Regional
transmitters and is to be regretted, but is not a major loss
against the great volume of other USSR coverage maintained*
e. The almost complete elimination of voice coverage from
the western cones of Germany and Austria will be a matter of
considerable concern to the German/Austrian desks in OBE and
other 7AC agencies, which have repeatedly requested that such
coverage be expanded in order to provide early information
concerning trends in public opinion and in the economic condi-
tions in these sons. It is believed in FBIB, however, that
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/13: CIA-RDP78-03097A000200050133-3
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/13: CIA-RDP78-03097A000200050133-3
''1Nt1UtN1.<
Subji Frost letter of 3 February 1949.
the significant yield in thew respects from such broadcasts
has been almost negligible. In any case, these asdiui-eavs
broadcasts cannot be monitored at any FBBIB station.
2. Given the need for reduction for economy purposes FBIB
concurs in the action Frost proposes.
0 94070100.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/12/13: CIA-RDP78-03097A000200050133-3