REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON OVERSEAS INFORMATION PROGRAMS

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• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01731R003300260002-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
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• Document Page Count: 38
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 26, 2003
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: June 14, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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83D CONGRESS
1st Session
f REPORT
No. -
OVERSEAS INFORMATION PROGRAMS
OF THE UNITED STATES
REPORT
SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON OVERSEAS
INFORMATION PROGRAMS
THE PROVISIONS OF S. RES. 74,82D CONGRESS, 2D SESSION,
AND S. RES. 44, 83D CONGRESS, 1ST SESSION
HOLE) FOR RELEASE
SUNI JUN 14 ~53 ~1 ~1
Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON : 1953
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COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
ALEXANDER WILEY, Wisconsin, Chairman
H. ALEXANDER SMITH, New Jersey
BOURKE B. HICKENLOOPER, Iowa
!CHARLES W. TOBEY, New Hampshire
.ROBERT A. TAFT, Ohio
WILLIAM LANGE, R, North Dakota
HOMER FERGUSON, Michigan
WILLIAM F..KNOWLAND, California
WALTER F. GEORGE, Georgia
THEODORE FRANCIS GREEN, Rhode Island
J. WILLIAM FULARIGHT, Arkansas
JOHN J. SPARKMAN, Alabama
GUY M. GILLETTE, Iowa
HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, Minnesota
MIKE MANSFIELD, Montana
FRANCIS O. Wrrcox, ChiefofStaff
T. V. KALIJARVI, Consultant
CARL MARCY, Consultant
Jutrus N. CAIIx, Counsel
C. C. O'DAY, Clerk
PAT HOLT, Associate Clerk
'SPECIAL COMMITTEE CREATED PURSUANT TO SENATE RESOLUTION 74 (82D CONG.)
AND SENATE RESOLUTION 44 (83D CONG.) ON OVERSEAS INFORMATION PRO-
GRAMS OF TIIE UNITED STATES
BOURKE B. HICKh7NLOOPER, Iowa, Chairman
ALEXANDER WILEY, Wisconsin J. WILLIAM FULBRIGHT, Arkansas
KARL E. MUNDT, South Dakota I GUY M. GILLETTE, Iowa
WILLIAM F. KNOWLAND, California THEODORE FRANCIS GREEN, Rhode Island
LISTER HILL, Alabama'
CARL MARCY, Staff Director
'Ii~,RANCIS R. VALEO, Staff Associate
HENRY F. HOLTIIUSEN, Special Consultant
WILLIAM F. HEIMLICE, Special Consultant
JANE WILLIAMS, Secretary
I Appointed by President of Senate to servo with the special committee.
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The Committee on Foreign Relations on June 5, 1953, authorized
the transmittal to the Senate of a report from the Special Committee
on Overseas Information Programs created pursuant to the terms of
Senate Resolution 74 (82d Cong.), as amended by Senate Resolution
44 (83d Cong.).
JUNE 15, 1953.
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CONTENTS
Page
1. Introduction--------------------------------------------------- 1
2. Legislative history of the special committee________________________ 3
3. Procedure of the investigation:
(a) Evaluations of overseas operations_________________________ 3
(b) Field investigations by members of the committee----------- 4
(c) Staff studies-------------------------------------------- 4
(d) Hearings----------------------------------------------- 4
4. Principal weaknesses of the information program:
(a) Ineffective coordination of psychological policy_____________ 6
(b) Duplication and competition in informational activities of
United States agencies operating abroad------------------ 6
(c) Lack of budgetary stability and continuity of administrative
direction--------------------------------------------- 7
(d) Ineffective administration of the program by the Department
of State---------------------------------------------- 8
(e) Inadequate personnel and faulty personnel practices --------- 9
(f) Maladjustment of responsibility between Washington and the
field------------------------------------------------- 10
(g) Failure to secure foreign cooperation in propagating common
concepts---------------------------------------------- 11
(h) Failure to utilize fully widespread public interest in this
country to further program_____________________________ 11
(i) Unsatisfactory evaluation methods _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 12
(j) Lack of a common understanding of the objectives of the infor-
mation program on the part of the administration, Congress,
and American people___________________________________ 13
5. The media-Strengths and weaknesses:
(a) Information centers______________________________________ 14
(b) Exchange of persons_____________________________________ 15
(c) Motion pictures----------------------------------------- 16
(d) Press and publications___________ _______________________ 16
(e) Voice of America and other forms of telecommunications ----- 18
(f) Television---------------------------------------------- 21
(g) RIAS-------------------------------------------------- 21
6. Recommendations-organization and administration:
(a) Strengthen coordination of psychological strategy ------------ 22
(b) Consolidate nonmilitary overseas information programs;
coordinate all exchange of persons programs -------------- 22
(c) Give the International Information Administration greater
autonomy within the Department of State for a trial period
of 1 year; or establish it as a separate agency, except the that
exchange of persons program should remain in the Depart-
ment------------------------------------------------- 23
(d) Establish independent personnel system suited to the needs of
the overseas information program----------------------- 25
(e) Consider establishing regional coordination of the program in
all areas of the world__________________________________ 26
(f) Explore possibilities of increased cooperation and coordination
with friendly foreign governments and groups------------- 26
(g) Encourage greater participation of nonofficial groups, organi-
zations and individuals in the program------------------- 27
(h) Consolidate all evaluation functions of the IIA in an inde-
pendent evaluation and inspection corps responsible directly
to the Administrator, with records of the corps accessible to
appropriate congressional committees and the advisory com-
missions ---------------------------------------------- 27
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 VI CONTENTS
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7. Recommendations-the media: Page
(a) Strengthen overseas libraries and exchange of persons programs' 28
(b) Continue the motion-picture program---------------------- 29
(c) Reappraise the press and publications service--------------- 29
(d) Reappraise the structure of the Voice of America; and explore
the possibilities of more effective use of telecommunications,
including television, in the program---------------------- 30
8. General recommendations:
(a) Avoid drastic cuts in appropriations for the information pro-
gram------------------------------------------------- 31
(b) Adhere to the terms of Public Law 402 (80th Cong.) and
maintain a tone in the program worthy of the United States
and its citizens---------------------------------------- 32
9. Concluding observations:
(a)
Accomplishments of the investigation----------------------
(b)
Limitations of the investigation---------------------------
(c)
Remaining tasks----------------------------------------
33
33
33
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83D CONGRESS
1st Session
REPORT
No.
O + RSEAS INFORMATION PROGRAMS OF THE UNITED
STATES
Mr. HICKENLOOPER, from the Special Committee on Overseas
Information Programs, submitted the following
REPORT
[Pursuant to S. Ices. 74, 82d Cong., and S. Res. 44, 83d Cong., 1st sess.]
In his state of the Union message, February 2, 1953, President
Eisenhower asserted the necessity "to make more effective all ac-
tivities related to international information." The President declared
that "a unified and dynamic effort in this whole field is essential to
the security of the United States and other peoples in the community
of free nations," and added, "there is but one sure way to avoid
global war and that is to win the cold war."
An international information service is a new tool in the conduct
of United States foreign relations. Its full potentialities are scarcely
realized. Our international information program must support and
promote our foreign policy and our foreign relations or it has no
reason for existence.
This country did not engage extensively in overseas information
programs until World War II. After the war and until 1948, the
activity was lodged within the Department of State and conducted
on a limited basis. In addition an educational exchange program
was provided for under the Fulbright Act of 1946 (Public Law 584,
79th Cong.) and a second program added by the Smith-Mundt Act
(Public Law 402, 80th Cong.) in 1948. The former financed the
exchange of professors, students, and others out of foreign currency
funds accruing from the sale of surplus properties abroad.
The Smith-Mundt Act gave permanent legislative authority to
the information program of the Department of State, assigning to it
the following objectives:
To promote a better understanding of the United States in other countries and to
increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other
countries.
1
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 2 OVERSEAS INFORMATION PROGRAMS OF THE UNITED STATES
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conomic Cooperation Administration launched a separate informa-
tion program to publicize the European recovery program.
By Executive order,. in 1950, a further step was taken to enlarge
the scope of overseas information activity. To the function of promot-
ing "mutual understanding" and a "full and fair picture" of the
United States, which were the purposes of the Fulbright and the
Smith-Mundt Acts, President Truman directed that there be added
the "Campaign of Truth." This mandate constituted an attempt to
broaden the original intent of the information program into a more
dynamic psychological weapon to meet the growing threat of
communism.
These shifts in purposes and emphasis in the program during the
past several years have reflected themselves in constant changes in
organizational structure both within the Department of State and
within the executive branch generally. From a relatively minor
function under an Assistant Secretary of State, the administration of
the information program has evolved through a series of reorganiza-
tions into a quasi-autonomous unit which since January 1952 has been
called the International Information Administration.
Congressional assessment of the need and value of the program is
suggested in a history of fluctuating appropriations for the overseas
information and educational exchange services. In the last year of
World War II, appropriations were approximately $70 million. By
1948 they had decreased to $20 million. By 1950, after the passage
of the Smith-Mundt Act, appropriations for the program administered
by the Department of State reached $47 million. When President
Truman's Executive order inaugurated the "Campaign of Truth"
in 1950, Congress appropriated $121 million. A substantial propor-
tion of this sum, however, was earmarked for the construction of
radio facilities for the Voice of America. For the past 2 years appro-
priations have amounted to approximately $85 million annually for the
International Information Administration. In total, upward of
half a billion dollars have been appropriated for international informa-
tional and educational activities since 1945.
In terms of cost and personnel, the United States information
program has now reached a level of operations which is second only
to that of the Soviet Union. The Department of State estimates,
that Russia spends $1.4 billion annually for propaganda, both for
internal and external purposes, and employs over a million propa-
gandists. The propaganda of the Communists is unconcerned with
truth and is militant in promoting world communism. In this, it
is similar to Nazi methodology.
The United States cannot and will not tolerate in its own program
the utter disregard for truth which has characterized the foreign
information programs of totalitarian nations. Nor has this country
accepted the premise of the British information system, which while
factual and nonpropagandistic in tone, concerns itself primarily with
the affairs and interests of the United Kingdom and the Common-
wealth. The short history of the American program has been char-
acterized by a search for means which would advance both the inter-
ests of the United States and the community of interests of the non-
Communist world.
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2. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF TIIE SPECIAL COMMITTEE
By 1951, while there was general agreement in this country on the
importance of overseas information service, at the same time there
was doubt as to the efficiency and effectiveness of the program. The
program had not been examined by Congress since passage of the
Smith-Mundt Act in 1948, other than for annual hearings by the
Appropriations Committees and a brief hearing in 1950 on Senate
Resolution 243 to expand the information program. On February
19, 1951, Senators Alexander Wiley and William Benton introduced
Senate Resolution 74 (82d Cong.) proposing a complete study of the
United States information program. Reporting the resolution favor-
ably, the Foreign Relations Committee noted the receipt of a variety
of criticisms of the program.
Senate Resolution 74 was passed by the Senate on June 30, 1952.
The resolution directed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee or a
subcommittee thereof to conduct an investigation and study of the
objectives, operations, and effectiveness of the overseas information
programs of the United States. The committee was to be composed
of members of the Foreign Relations Committee appointed by the
chairman and two other Senators appointed by the President of the
Senate. Those designated in the 82d Congress were Senators Ful-
bright, chairman; Gillette, Benton, Wiley, Hickenlooper, and Mundt.
This special committee submitted an interim report,on January 30,
1953 (Senate Report No. 30, 83d Cong.). This interim report stated
that "the overseas information services and programs of the United
States and private agencies are very important and that they must and
can be strengthened." It also recommended continuation of the
investigation in order that the full study called for by Senate Resolu-
tion 74 might be completed.
Senate Resolution 44 (83d Cong.), passed February 20, 1953,
continued the special committee until June 30, 1953. The committee
appointed-under Senate Resolution 44 (83d Cong.) consists of Senators
Hickenlooper, chairman, Wiley, Knowland, Fulbright, Gillette, and
Green from the Foreign Relations Committee and Senators Mundt
and Hill from the Senate at large. As in the previous session, both
political parties are equally represented.
3. PROCEDURE OF THE INVESTIGATION
(a) Evaluations of overseas operations
As an initial step, the special committee requested American Am-
bassadors to evaluate the information program at their missions
abroad and to suggest improvements. Approximately 80 responses
were received.
The committee also sought appraisals of the program from American
foreign correspondents. Fifty-five evaluations were supplied to the
committee.
Similar requests were made of American religious groups and busi-
ness organizations with extensive operations abroad. From these
groups and organizations the committee obtained approximately 10
summary reports covering observations of their overseas associates.
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During November-December 1952, Senator Hickenlooper inspected
information operations in the Far East, Senator Fulbright, in Europe,
and Senator Gillette, in the Middle East. Senator Wiley had pre-
viously observed th3 program in Europe and the Mediterranean area.
Extensive discussions with personnel of the United States missions
abroad and other informed Americans and with local nationals were
held at the various posts visited. These discussions provided con-
siderable insight into the weaknesses and strengths of the program.
(c) Staff studies
To secure additional information, the committee- directed its staff
to prepare studies on various aspects of the program. Eight such
studies have, been published as committee prints during the course of
the investigation.
Staff Study No. 1, United States Overseas Information Programs,
provided background information, surveyed the current status of
overseas informational activities and brought together basic docu-
mentation.
Staff Study No. 2, The Information Program of Great Britain,
contained comparative data on the size and techniques of the British
Overseas Information System.
Staff Study No. 3, The Soviet Propaganda Program, highlighted
the activities carried on under the most extensive propaganda opera-
tion in the world.
Staff Study No. 4, Organization of United States Overseas Informa-
tion Functions, discussed alternative solutions to the problem of the
organizational location of the information program in the executive
branch of the Government.
Staff Study No. 5, Analysis of Reports From United States Mis-
sion Chiefs Abroad, summarized the strengths and weaknesses of
the information program, as seen by the Ambassadors in the field.
Staff Study No. 6, Analysis of Reports From American Correspon-
dents Overseas, and Staff Study No. 7, Analysis of Communications
Received From Business and Religious Organizations, supplied the
committee with an additional summary of evaluations of the program
and with suggestions for increasing its effectiveness.
Staff Study No. 8, Voice of America Broadcasts on the Death of
Stalin, analyzed a sampling of radio scripts to assess the manner in
which this subject was handled in official broadcasts to various parts
of the world.
In preparing these studies and in carrying out its work generally,
the committee had the assistance of the regular staff of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee and the Legislative Reference Service
of the Library of Congress. By drawing on this pool of specialized
personnel, the committee was able to conduct its investigation with
a minimum of full-time staff employees and with consequent savings
in costs.
(d) Hearings
The first phase of hearings was held on November 20 and 21, 1952,
prior to the departure of members of the committee on overseas
inspections. This phase was primarily exploratory in nature, designed
to establish the scope of the investigation and to provide the com-
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mittee with background data for use abroad. The witnesses included
representatives of the Department of Defense, the Department of
State, the International Information Administration, the Mutual
Security Administration, and the Technical Cooperation Adminis-
tration.
After the return of the committee members from their surveys
abroad, a number of informed and interested persons outside of
Government were invited to testify at public hearings on the in-
formation program. In issuing these invitations, the committee
sought to draw upon the experience of former officials of the Informa-
tion Administration, the Advisory Commissions on Information and
on Educational Exchange provided for under the Smith-Mundt Act,
public-spirited organizations and relevant industries such as radio,
motion pictures, and publishing.
A total of 35 witnesses were heard during the second phase of the
hearings which extended from March 6 to April 1. Among the or-
ganizations represented were the following: the Motion Picture
Association of America, the American Book Publishers Association;
the American Library Association; the American Legion; the Ford
Foundation; the National Association of Radio and Television Broad-
casters; International House; the National Association of Foreign
Student Advisers; the Institute of International Education; the
National Education Association; Board of Foreign Scholarships; the
Saturday Evening Post; the World-Wide Broadcasting System; the
Advertisers Council of America; the American Federation of Labor;
and the American Institute of Public Opinion.
On completion of the second phase, hearings were recessed for several
weeks. During the interval, the committee prepared summaries of
criticisms and suggestions relating to the program. These were
given to the Department of State with the request that informed
witnesses be designated to comment on the specific criticisms and
suggestions.
Testimony of Dr. Robert L. Johnson, Administrator of the in-
formation program, and eight other official' witnesses was heard in
a third phase of the hearings, April 20 to 27.
The committee then convened in New York May 11, 12, 13. This
fourth phase dealt with statistics and programs designed largely to
show the effectiveness of the Voice of America, but it also covered
potential uses of televison and other forms of telecommunications in
the information program.
Since radio broadcasting had been most severely criticized in
reports received by the committee, officials of the Voice of America
were given the fullest possible opportunity to explain the operation
and to answer criticisms. Some 30 witnesses were heard during the
sessions of the committee in New York.
The committee has analyzed the mass of information which has
been accumulated. It has reached conclusions and is prepared to
make recommendations on the overseas information programs as
required under Senate Resolution 74 as amended by Senate Resolution
44. For the most part, these treat with the activities of the Inter-
national Information Administration of the Department of State, but
also concern themselves with the specialized information programs
of the Mutual Security Agency and the Technical Cooperation
Administration.
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The information program of the Department of Defense deals with
special problems growing out of the presence of American troops
abroad and the training of foreign military personnel in this country.
The committee has taken cognizance of the military program but
makes no attempt to offer recommendations with respect to it. An
appropriate body of the Senate may wish to examine its operation in
detail.
(a) Ineffective coordination of psychological policy
The Psychological Strategy Board was established to coordinate
the psychological policies of the United States. Much of its activities
are necessarily of a highly classified nature, but data has been avail-
able to the committee which suggests that the Board is not effectively
discharging its function.
The Executive order (June 20, 1951) creating the Psychological
Strategy Board is loosely drawn. It lodges various responsibilities
in the Board but limits its authority to "guidance" and "reporting."
Lewis K. Gough, commander of the American Legion, testified that
he has been advised that-
not a single major recommendation of the Board has been executed by the
departments or agencies to which it reports.
This report was not challenged by representatives of the executive
branch. Observations of members of the committee abroad and other
evidence moreover suggest that the component agencies of the Board,
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Department of Defense, and
the Department of State are continuing to go their separate ways in
matters of psychological policy. This lack of coordination has no
doubt reduced the effectiveness of the overseas information program.
Just as this country cannot afford to have conflicting foreign policies,
it cannot support conflicting policies within the Government in dealing
with other nations or in handling major international issues.
(b) Duplication and competition in informational activities of United
States agencies operating abroad
The Mutual Security Agency (MSA) and the Technical Cooperation
Administration (TCA) operate overseas information programs: The
committee has been told that these programs have been merged or
coordinated with those of the International Information Administra-
tion (IIA). Examination of the written merger agreements, however,
suggests that they are more in the nature of cartel arrangements with
much duplication, some conflict, excessive personnel, and continuing
high operating costs.
Specifically in the Far East there has been no attempt to combine
the information programs of MSA and IIA. In several countries, the
committee found two separate and distinct information structures.
This has resulted in duplication, conflict in programs, and excessive
personnel.
It is difficult to evaluate the written understanding between TCA
and IIA on avoidance of duplication in informational effort since the
former is still a comparative newcomer to the field. The rapid growth
of the information budget of TCA, however, suggests that its ambi-
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vation if a duplication of the situation that has developed between
MSA and IIA is to be avoided.
In pointing out this duplication the committee questions the con-
tinued need for multiple overseas information programs. It sees in the
present situation unnecessary risks of conflict in policy, increased
administrative costs and excessive informational activity.
The same observation is generally true of the separate exchange of
persons programs administered by MSA, TCA, and other agencies.
These programs were separately authorized by law and by law were
to be administered separately. There may be some types of exchanges
so intimately related to the major projects carried on by MSA, TCA,
and others that they can be better handled by these agencies them-
selves. While these exchanges differ in degree from those administered
by the IIA under the Smith-Mundt and Fulbright program, the com-
mittee questions the need for their scattered administration. It
believes that the absence of efficient coordination in this field is adding
to administrative costs and is probably creating costly competition
among various agencies operating in this field.
(c) Lack of budgetary stability and continuity of administrative direction
In the postwar years, appropriations for the overseas information
program have fluctuated sharply, drastic cuts caused in the main by
dissatisfaction with its operations alternating with precipitate in-
creases. Simultaneously, there have been rapid changes in the organ-
ization of the program and in its administrators. There have been
some 5 major reorganizations and 5 Administrators in the last 5 .Years.
This instability has been costly. It has resulted in much lost admin-
istrative motion. It has had an adverse, effect on the ability to recruit
the type of specialized personnel needed in this program. It has, on
occasion, produced too rapid expansion with consequent waste. It
has made it difficult for Appropriations Committees to judge past
performance or to estimate the probable effectiveness of new organ-
izational proposals.
Many of the witnesses have cited the repeated shifts in the direction
of the program as a major factor in reducing its effectiveness. The
committee concurs in this view. It would point out, however, that
in any new undertaking there is bound to be a certain amount of
instability. It takes time and experimentation to determine an effec-
tive level and method of operation. In the case of the information
program, difficulties have been accentuated by the limited experience
of the United States with an activity of this type. Even more serious
is the fact that those who have been responsible for the program in
the past have tended, perhaps inadvertently, to hold out to Ccngress
and to the American people an exaggerated picture of the ac om-
plishments of overseas information which has produced cycles of ex-
cessive expectation and disappointment. These reactions have been
reflected in fluctuating appropriations.
The committee believes that the program can be stabilize) by pre-
senting realistic goals. It is damaging to the entire program when
the Appropriations Committees are led to expect results which are, not
attained. A realistic information program, properly administered,
can be of inestimable value in producing a favorable attitude toward
us and our policies. The present Administrator, Robert L. Jclt Ison,
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wl 1 t
nen
f
ne esti
ied that-
A Government program of information and educational exchange can be only
a small segment of the great flow of American ideas which reach other peoples
through the printed word, our products and our skills, our Armed Forces, and our
tourists.
The committee believes that the information program must settle
into a clearly defined continuing pattern of operation. Enough
knowledge of the nature and possibilities of overseas information has
now been accumulated to make this possible. To apply this knowl-
edge, however, will require a well-defined scope of activities, reason-
able stability in appropriations, technically competent personnel and
a continuity of administrative direction. The committee feels that
this can be accomplished.
(d) Ineffective administration of the program by the Department of State
Numerous witnesses testified to the inadequacy of, or perhaps
indifference to, the administration of the program in the past by the
Department of State. Those who had previous experience in operating
the program were unanimous in agreeing that the program had been
hampered among other things by the redtape, budgetary rigidity, and
bureaucratic rivalry in the Department. Those who had observed
the program in unofficial capacities generally expressed the view that
the administrative needs of a hard-hitting, fast-moving information
program could hardly be met within the confines of a cautious,
tradition-bound, bureaucratic foreign office. Many witnesses favored
complete separation of the program from the Department and its
elevation to the Cabinet level.
The attitude of the public affairs officers at the posts abroad was
somewhat in contrast to those mentioned above. While these officers
still complained of certain administrative inadequacies and dis-
crimination on the part of old-line Foreign Service personnel, never-
theless, they agreed that the situation in the field had improved during
the past year or two and there was little sentiment among them for
complete separation. Their attitude was succinctly expressed by one
field officer in this manner: "The administrative link is too close;
the policy link is not close enough. This should be reversed."
A most serious indictment against the administration of the program
by the Department came from the Advisory Commission on Informa-
tion. In its Seventh Semiannual Report, February 23, 1953, the
Commission stated :
During the past 5 years we have observed the efforts made by top officials of the
information program to overcome internal resistances and misunderstandings of the
Department of State. They have been hampered by established procedures and
traditions developed for the purposes of political diplomacy and not for propa-
ganda and information. Too much time and effort on the part of IIA has been
spent in attempting to fit the program into the structure of the Department and
to the convincing of officials of its importance.
There has been a singular lack of enthusiasm and imagination in the Depart-
ment's development of the information program. When the program was first
set up under Department of State auspices it got off to a slow and unconvincing
start. There was much overt and covert opposition to it in the Department.
Instead of initiating and carrying on a fresh, dynamic program, the Department
converted it into a low-level and secondary operation. It soon became apparent
that the Department was more interested in conforming the information program
to its own long-established conventions than in carrying out the congressional
intentions of Public Law 402.
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Repeated recommendations of our Commissions were disregarded or reluctantly
and halfheartedly adopted. Such progress as has been made has followed only
after repeated recommendations, protests, and threats of reduced appropriations.
[It is to be noted that the Advisory Commission on Educational Exchange, how-
ever, recommended that educational exchange should remain in the Department
of State.]
These criticisms, in the main, seem to be valid. Some may excuse
these shortcomings by pointing out that they are characteristic of the
early stages of any new undertaking. The fact is, however, that after
7 years the program should have arrived at maturity.
(e) Inadequate personnel and faulty personnel practices
The committee recognizes that there are many able men and women
employed in the Information Administration. It cannot, however,
ignore the observations of a number of witnesses to the effect that
unsuitable or unqualified persons fill many posts in the administrative
hierarchy both at home and overseas. Dr. Wilson Compton, former
Administrator of the program, touched on a principal source of the
difficulty when he testified that-
The building up of this.program was pushed somewhat faster than the available
qualified personnel would justify; also, to some extent and in some activities, there
has been accumulated a sort of overhead of persons who may have been fairly
well qualified for the function they were asked to discharge when they were orig-
inally employed, but who are not very well qualified for the function that they are
asked to discharge now.
Other difficulties in the field of personnel arise from personnel
practices for which the Department of State is responsible. Infor-
mation employees are fact disseminators, not fact gatherers, as are
regular Foreign Service officers. The temperament and the skills
required for the one are not the same as for the other. The testimony
of various witnesses and observations overseas leads the committee to
believe that this distinction has not been sufficiently recognized either
in recruitment or assignment
Nor has the Department established what the committee would
regard as a satisfactory training program for employees in the infor-
mation service. Inexperienced people are often sent abroad after the
most meager orientation, and followup training at the posts is more
a matter of chance than policy. In this connection, the committee
cannot overemphasize the desirability of officers abroad being profi-
cient in the language, history and culture of the country of assignment.
The committee finds that comparatively low salary classifications
for key policy positions and the inadequacy of prestige attaching to
such positions in the Information Administration add to the diffi-
culties of attracting and holding professionally competent employees.
The Department of State has assigned to the Information Admin-
istration only 3 out of the 27 classified supergrades which it is allotted.
The Information Administration, however, comprises 40 percent of
the total personnel of the Department.
Unfortunately, there is little doubt that the Information Adminis-
tration has frequently been used in the past as a "dumping ground"
for departmental employees for whom other assignments are not
conveniently available or as a stepping-stone for Foreign Service
officers whose primary interests lie elsewhere or for interim appoint-
ments for officers awaiting other assignment. The committee would
like to make clear that it has no objections to temporary interchanges
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 10 OVERSEAS INFORMATION PROGRAMS OF THE UNITED STATES
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epar ment or training or special
ur
oses
Th
b
i
h
p
p
.
ere
to
e
s muc
gained from cross-fertilization of the fact disseminators and the fact
gatherers. The committee feels, however, that the practice pointed
out by Mr. Ben Hibbs, editor of the Saturday Evening Post, is not
in the best interests of the program or the Department. Mr. Hibbs
testified that ever since he has been a member of the Advisory Com-
mission on Information-
it has been the practice of the State Department to assign young Foreign Service
career men to important posts in information work-particularly to posts located
abroad. This is regarded as just another tour of duty by many of these fellows-
something to be endured on the climb up the ladder. Their goal is not to be
topnotch information men but eventually to be ministers and ambassadors. Most
of them are competent young men, some of them brilliant, but they are not
particularly well equipped for important information posts.
Another personnel practice which should be mentioned as disruptive
of the effectiveness of the program is the current system of rotation of
assignments followed by the Department. Officers frequently have
little time to familiarize themselves with a post before they are
assigned elsewhere. The result is that there is little incentive to
become really expert in the language and customs of the area to which
they have been assigned. Short tours of duty may be justified for the
diplomatic and consular service, but the committee does not believe
that the same principle should apply to the Information Service.
The committee would like to emphasize the vital importance which
it attaches to the solution of the personnel problems which have been
cited. It is essential to have well-selected, well-trained persons in
this program. Information employees overseas are under the con-
stant scrutiny of other peoples. Indeed, it is of paramount necessity
that they meet local inhabitants and be in constant communication
with them. In relationships of this kind, a misfit, an incompetent- "
or a person with alien sympathies can do serious damage to the
prestige and interests of the United States and our objectives.
(f) Maladjustment of responsibility between Washington and the field
During the past 5 years the information program has gradually
shifted from a centralized to a decentralized operation. Formerly
most information materials were prepared in this country and planning
and operating decisions were made largely in Washington. The field
posts were primarily disseminating centers with limited influence
over what was disseminated. The pattern of operation differed little
---J from post to post.
This situation has been steadily reversed in recent years. Regional
reproduction centers overseas and the individual posts themselves
are now turning out substantial quantities of the information material
used in the program. The posts are presently the principal focus
of the entire program and exercise prime influence in planning the
operations for their respective localities on a tailormade basis.
The committee's own observations generally support the views of .
the many witnesses who found this change of emphasis beneficial;:
Situations, customs, and attitudes differ from post to post throughout
the world. By placing the emphasis on the field operations, it has
been. possible to. adjust to these differences and thereby gain greater
acceptance for the activities of the program. The absence of such
adjustment in the past undoubtedly contributed to general ineffec-
tiveness.
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 OVERSEAS MS PD R
I ~' ~l se NaYfbfib Cfi~ DSP86 01731 R00
(g) Failure to secure foreign cooperation in propagating common concepts
Analysis of the operation of the information program reveals that
two major concepts have developed. One might be termed the
national program which encompasses primarily the dissemination of
information about the United States, its peoples, and policies. The
other concept involves propagation of international matters in which
the United States has an interest, but not a unilateral interest.
Included in this latter is the publicizing of anticommunism, democracy,
the United Nations, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. .
In the first concept, the information program serves as an American
instrument for communicating information about the United States.
In this, the committee believes, the program should be a firm, forthright,
clearly identified voice of this country based upon a pattern which is
understandable to the recipients.
In its other concept, however, the program serves not alone as an
American instrument but as a part of the total voice of world free-
dom. Propagation of information about the aims of the, free world
on the one hand and the. evils of aggressive communism on the other
should be the concern of all countries and all peoples. This is not
and ought not to be a unique American responsibility. The evidence
suggests that the manner in which our information program is admin-
istered in some areas has created an impression of this kind.
The committee believes that the character of our program should be
such as to enlist the active cooperation of other nations and peoples
in propagating common concepts, to the end that it may stimulate
their enthusiasm and friendship and not their apathy or suspicion.
The greater our unilateral effort; the higher will be the cost to this
country and the more the need for American personnel. However,
the more cooperation which we receive from other countries, the
:greater will be the impact of the message.
This weakness in the program varies in specific detail from post to
post. In general, however, the variance seems to be directly related to
the caliber of the field personnel. The more capable the officers the
more conscious they appear,to be of the value of foreign cooperation
and the more likely they will be to obtain such cooperation.
There is still another aspect of the problem that should not be
overlooked. In the absence of coordination among free governments
and unofficial agencies, a listener in Iron Curtain countries may hear
conflicting ideas from the Voice of America, the British Broadcasting
Corporation, Radio Free Europe, etc. The free world should unques-
tionably speak with many voices but its fundamental messages should
be the same. The committee believes that each voice should be con-
cerned as to what the other is saying.
(h) Failure to utilize fully widespread public interest in this country to
further program
The generous cooperation which the committee has received in its
investigation from nongovernmental sources attests to the widespread
public interest in the information program. Many individuals and
groups have indicated their desire to help in promoting a better under-
standing of the United States and in developing mutually beneficial
relations with other countries.
The committee is aware of the steps that have been taken by the
Information Administration to bring about public participation in the
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used f-, i r rr
w
9
an o e ectlvc leadership and guidance. It agrees with the
many witnesses who testified along the lines of the following statement
by Waldemar Nielsen, former Director of the information program of
the Mutual Security Agency in Europe:
* * * I think we must make much greater use of private and semiprivate
American organizations in the field of international propaganda.
I think that there is a tremendous contribution that can be made by American
churches, by American trade unions, by American organizations like the American
Legion, to the general problem of advancing American interests and informing,
,creating world understanding of American concepts and American ideas.
(i) Unsatisfactory evaluation methods
There is general agreement that one of the prime needs of the
program is a realistic system for evaluating effectiveness. Such a
system involves techniques for calculating the reach of the program
(how many people are being contacted by radio, publications, motion
pictures, etc.) and the impact which it is making on the attitudes of
the people contacted.
Increasing efforts are being made by the Information Administration
to measure effectiveness. Evaluation units are maintained in the vari-
ous media. The Administrator has a small evaluation staff. Evaluat-
ing officers have been assigned to a few field posts. Private research
agencies under contract have undertaken evaluation studies for the
Information Administration. Even the semiannual reports of the
Advisory Commissions constitute a kind of evaluation of the program
for the Secretary of State and the Congress.
These efforts notwithstanding, the committee shares the conviction
of many of the witnesses that inadequate evaluation remains a
principal weakness of the program. Part of the difficulty stems from
the scattering of responsibility for the evaluation function and the
haphazardness that appears to characterize the present approach. In
these circumstances, the probability of bias in evaluation increases
and, inevitably, the cost. Another difficulty is the tendency of evalu-
ators to depart from their main task of measuring effectiveness and
to give undue emphasis to the development of impressive data to
justify the program to the Administrator and to Congress.
Even more serious, perhaps, is the common error noted in all
branches of the Information Administration of Judging effectiveness
by feverishness of activity. Frequently, it seems to the committee,
information
ersonnel Ae1-A
th
l
-
_..a7_ tL_ ____
p
e
emse
y
-
une gluplr ur uuupuu of information material shows a constantly ascend-
ing curve then all is well with the program. It is the unusual officer,
the committee found, who recognizes that the effectiveness of the
information program does not depend on quantity.
The committee also notes that.at some posts to which independent
evaluation officers had been assigned directly from the office of the
Administrator, the results have been neither satisfactory nor happy.
A principal difficulty appears to be that the status of these officers in
the chain of command and the extent of their authority is ambiguous.
In consequence, they are sometimes inhibited from exercising the very
independence of judgment and action which was the principal justifi-
cation for their assignment to the field in the first place.
The problems discussed above. are those which primarily concern
internal evaluation within the Information Administration. The
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Advisory Commissions were established by Public Lew 402, to
provide among other things independent assessments of the overall
effectiveness of the information program to Congress and the Secretary
of State. The committee does not believe that the Commissions have
effectively discharged this particular function as they might have done
with broader authority. In reaching this conclusion, the committee
in no way intends to reflect on the able, public-spirited persons who
have voluntarily given their time and efforts to the work of the Com-
missions. The problem lies not in the'Commissioners but in pro-
cedures which leave them dependent on the Department of State for
staff and for information on which to base their reports and which do
not provide for a clear-cut method of reporting to Congress.
The committee believes that scientific evaluation techniques to
measure public demand and acceptance developed in the United
States by business and industry might be more profitably adapted in
the planning and execution of this program.
(j) Lack of a common understanding of the objectives of the information,
program on the part of the Administration, Congress, and American.
people
Many witnesses pointed out the necessity for clarification of the
objectives of the information program so that the Administration,
Congress, and the American people will know what to expect of it.
The confusion over the purposes of the information program exists.
within the Information Administration itself. Mr. Lloyd Free, public
affairs officer in Italy, testified that-
The most fundamental weakness in the IIA program as heretofore administered
is a lack of a basic understanding shared by all * * * of the job to be done.
The committee's observations in various parts of the world corrobo-
rate Mr. Free's opinion. Frequently public-affairs officers seemed to
distort the legislative purpose of the program beyond most liberal
interpretation. At some posts, the objectives stated in Public Law
402 (80th Cong.) were being strained to cover activities of a kind and
on a scale which appeared quite remote from the original intent of the
Smith-Mundt Act.
This diversity of intepretation and understanding of purpose leads.
to costly, ineffective, and sometimes questionable activities at many,
posts. It frequently resolves itself into superabundant activity cal-
culated to satisfy everyone's concept of what overseas information
should be but which instead confuses. The committee is convinced
that a prime reason for the recurrent outbursts of criticisms and con-
sequent instability of this program has been the administrative failure
to develop among participating personnel a clear and uniform under-
standing of the aims of the program together with effective methods
for their achievement and to communicate that understanding to Con-
gress and the American people.
5. THE MEDIA-STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
As presently administered, the information program is carried on
primarily by field posts which are serviced by five media. These are
the Information Center Service, the International Education Exchange
Service, the International Motion Picture Service, the International
Press Service, and the International Broadcasting Service (the Voice
of America).
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The number of information centers has grown from none in 1948 to
200 in 63 countries in 1952. In addition, there are 34 binational
centers, largely in Latin America.
Stimulating favorable attitudes abroad through the use of overseas
information libraries is a long-range process. Nevertheless, the po-
tentialities of this medium are considerable. Their appeal is pri-
marily to the groups who are most directly concerned with interna-
tional relations, i. e., students, Government officials, members of the
professions, and various groups and organizations.
Information from all sources, including the committee's own over-
seas observations, indicates that these centers contribute effectively
to the purposes of the information program. Former Directors of the
information program testified to their value. Nonofficial observers
abroad who communicated their views to the committee generally
concurred.
There are, however, certain precautions which are indicated if the
utility of the library program is to be preserved and extended. Care
must be taken to prevent field posts from distorting the purposes of
the libraries. The libraries are essentially American institutions and
their atmosphere, collections, and functions must be maintained as
such.
The committee does not refer to the binational centers, which are
specifically designed to blend the culture of our 'country with that of
another. What should be avoided is the tendency, particularly in
underdeveloped countries, for the library administration to undertake
functions which are properly those of local authorities and which
burden the United States with responsibility for providing general
library facilities. This tendency, if not checked, is bound to lead to
increased and unwarranted costs, substitution of American initiative
for what should properly be local initiative and, in some situations, ad-
verse reactions to what will be termed" American cultural domination."
During its overseas inspections, members were repeatedly told of
an unfilled demand for translations into the local languages of certain
American books, particularly those of a technical nature. While
English is the mayor secondary language of most of the individuals
abroad who would be interested in our overseas library facilities,
an increase in the percentage of translations from English in the
collections would probably result in a considerable and proper expan-
sion in the use of the information certers. This is a matter for con-
sideration by the Administrator. Local authorities in some countries
should be prevailed upon to cooperate in providing translations into
their languages as part of a community educational process.
Finally, the committee wishes to call attention to the problem of
book selection for the overseas.. libraries, particularly books of a
controversial nature. The wise selection of books for inclusion in
the libraries abroad is fundamental to the success of this undertaking.
Unless reasonably consistent, commonsense criteria are established
and maintained for this program the effectiveness of these libraries
for our best interests may be diminished.
An adequate cross section of American literature should be provided
for a better understanding of American life and culture but writings
of Communists or Communist sympathizers should not be tolerated
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ner which would m icate their acceptance >y tile merle
i
n any man
people.
(b) Exchange of persons
In comparative ratings of the various mediums, it is generally con-
ceded that the exchange-of-persons program under the Smith-Mundt
Act and the Fulbright scholarship program is among the most effective
instruments for the creation of mutual understanding and good will.
Since 1948, a total of 15,722 students, professors, and other persons
have been exchanged under the program of the Department of State,
11,866 coming to the United States and 3,856 going abroad. Some
42 percent of the cost of exchangees coming to the United States
and 98 percent of the outgoing exchangees have been financed out of
foreign-currency funds realized from the sale of surplus war materials
rather than from new appropriations of dollars.
The strength of the exchange-of-persons program appears to stem
from diverse factors. The program enjoys a high prestige both at
home and abroad and is therefore able to attract the voluntary par-
ticipation of leading citizens. It is nonpolitical and nonpropagandistic
in character so that it is acceptable in all parts of the non-Communist
world. More than any other part of the program, exchanges are 'a
two-way undertaking which stimulate foreign participation. Ex-
changers often are or may become prominent in government, business,
and the professions and their potential impact on attitudes toward
this country is considerable.
The difficulty with the exchange-of- ersons program has been
largely of an administrative nature, dewing with such questions as
selection and orientation of exchangees and financial arrangements.
The committee, was particularly concerned with the administrative
location of the exchange-of-persons program in the event that the
information program should be separated from the Department of
State. Many official witnesses concurred in the view of Dr. Robert L.
Johnson on the desirability or even the necessity of retaining exchange
of persons with the other media. Dr. Johnson stated:
* * * The more I have learned about it * * the more I feel that really the
exchange program is the hard core of our entire information program and that
the movies, our press, our publications, and our voice are really supplementary *? *.
Informed nonofficial witnesses, concurring in this high evaluation of
the utility of the exchange program were of the opinion, nevertheless,
that its effectiveness would best be served if it remained an integral
part of the Department of State. Some advocated separation of
exchanges from the other media even if the Information Administra-
tion remained in the' Department. Their principal argument was
directed to preservation of the nonpropagandistic, nonpolitical char-
acter of the exchange program which otherwise might be lost.
While there may be advantages in retaining all the media in one
agency, nevertheless the committee believes the exchange-of-persons
program should be retained in the Department of State without sub-
stantial change in its administration or programs. The relationship
between short-range media such as radio and press and long-range
educational media such as exchange of persons is not so interlocked
that, properly administered, the divorcement of this single unit would
be detrimental to our overall purpose.
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 16 OVERSEAS INFORMATION PROGRAMS OF THE UNITED STATES
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VT o ton pictures
The Information Administration exhibits motion pictures in more
than 30 languages in 87 countries. It operates several hundred mobile
motion-picture units mostly in the Middle East and the Far East.
The evidence supports the value of the continued use of motion
pictures in the program. The strength of this medium lies in its
combined visual and audio appeal and its mass impact. The com-
mittee, however, feels that it would be an error to use size of audience
reached as the measure of effectiveness. The appeal of free motion
pictures, regardless of content, is very great especially in impoverished
parts of the world. Documentary and other types of films are useful
in the program when they convey an intelligent and progressively
unfolding message related to the objectives of Public Law 402. When
films are properly used and tied in with other media their value is
potentially great. The showing of films willy-nilly merely to attract
mass attention for the moment is abortive and expensive. On oc-
casions it is detrimental.
With respect to the quality of motion pictures employed in the
program, the committee is inclined to agree with the opinion of Mr.
Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America,
who testified:
* * * I am inclined to think that the State Department shorts hav(, improved
a great deal in the last few years; they have learned. * * *
Officials of the motion-picture program appear to have become
aware of the dangers of stimulating envy and resentment by accentu-
ating the difference between the standard of living in this country
and others.
There also seems to be a better understanding of the great impor-
tance of selecting films which will not run counter to the traditions
and customs of the audience before whom they are exhibited. Films
which are .not carefully chosen in this respect can do more harm than
good. Senator Green, for example, recalled the shock to an audience
in India when bathing beauties were shown as ono of the best features
of the State of New Jersey. Undraped women in public violate the
Indian code of -propriety.
With respect to the mobile motion-picture units employed in the
program, the committee believes that with proper selection of subject
matter they are valuable. Those units undoubtedly attract mass
audiences, particularly in remote areas, and bring a picture of American
life to people who might otherwise have only hearsay impressions of
this country. With artful selection' of subject matter. they are
offective. On the other hand, there are certain drawbacks in the use
of these units. The public-affairs officer in Italy, Mr. Lloyd Free,
stated the problem in this fashion:
They are subject to two difficulties: One is cost, because they are very expen-
sive to operate; the other is, that if they are operated as a straight United States
proposition, there is considerable danger of them inviting a reaction about United
States intervention.
Continuous attention to and careful selection of subject matter must
be emphasized in this program.
(d) Press and publications
The International Press Service has facilities both in this country
and abroad for the production and dissemination of press copy and
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publications. Its output consists of pamphlets, magazines, leaflets,
cartoon books, reprints, posters, photographs, displays, newsletters,
and fast-press materials.
The committee has received diverse comments on the press and
publications program from all parts of the world, many of them
critical. Criticisms have been directed at both press materials and
pamphlets, posters and other publications produced by the Inter-
national Press Service of the Information Administration. In the
case of press materials, the principal comments from abroad have
concerned themselves mostly with the slowness, the bulk and the
style of the material. There has been advocacy of the complete
abolition of the wireless file on the grounds of its relatively minor
value and its competition with the regular commercial news services.
With respect to publications as distinct from the press materials
of the International Press Service, criticisms are directed at the
massiveness of the operation and the contents and style of the litera-
ture produced and distributed. The comment of Theodore Repplier,
member of the Press Advisory Committee of the Advisory Commis-
sion on Information, is typical of one shortcoming that is repeatedly
cited. Mr. Repplier testified:
I believe that IPS material designed to reflect American life is too diffuse.
It tries to cover too much ground. It tries to convey too many ideas about the
United States. We do not have that much time, and we do not have that much
money. To use advertising terms, we are trying to sell too many products in
too short a time, with too small an appropriation. If we are to make headway,
we must, I think, confine. our * * * material to transmitting one idea at a time.
This is a principle of sound advertising, the application of which I feel is very
much needed.
Mr. Boris Shishkin, director of research of the American Federa
-
tion of Labor, gave voice to another common criticism when he stated:
Too often * *, *'substance has been sacrificed to form. A swanky brochure,
with half-tone illustrations exquisitely laid out and printed on heavy slick paper,
is likely to be resented by an impoverished worker and farmer. Some have told
the story in language far over the heads of the people they have tried to reach.
With printing 'plants in various parts of the world, output of
publications runs into hundreds of millions of reproductions annually.
The committee has-had numerous complaints to the effect that much
of the centrally produced material is unsuitable for use by particular
posts. The flow of this material, however, has reportedly decreased
in recent months. There have also been reports of wastage in distri-
bution. If these. reports are valid, responsibility at least in part is
attributable to... the. posts in the field. since they now exercise con-
siderable choice over the materials that are supplied to them.
It should also be noted with respect to the press service that in
many regions not reached by regular commercial news services, the
IPS wireless bulletin is a principal source of information for indigenous
newspapers and other publications. Statistics kept by the Inter-
national Press Service indicate that features, photos, and other
prepared press materials are sought in considerable quantities by
foreign publications. However, the information service should not
become a competitor of commercial news and related services in any
areas which they serve.
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 18 OVERSEAS INFORMATION PROGRAMS OP THE UNITED STATES
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(e) Voice of America and other _ forms of telecommunications
In 1942, the United States Government began to broadcast news
commentaries and "other programs to the people, of the world by short-
wave radio. This was done through the Office of Coordinator of
Information. Programs were to serve as an instrument primarily of
psychological warfare, but, also, as a means of making America's
wartime mission clear to friends and enemies abroad.
With the outbreak of World War II the United States took control
of all shortwave international broadcasting transmissions in this
country. These had all been built by private enterprise, and the
operation was continued during the war by the owners under contract
with the Department of State.
Between 1942 and 1944 the Government constructed additional
transmission facilities.
. It had been the intent of the Government at the end of the war to
discontinue international broadcasting, but with the development of
the cold war and the consequent enactment of, Public Law 402 in
January 1948, it was deemed necessary and vital to expand our short-
wave transmitting facilities. Public Law 402 directed the Secretary
of State to-
purchase, rent, construct, improve, maintain, and operate facilities for radio
transmissions and reception-
and the Secretary was also directed to-
utilize to the maximum extent practical the services and facilities of private
agencies.
Today the Voice of America network consists of-
(a) New York, Washington, and Munich studios for program
origination.
(b) Twelve domestic plants (at present) containing 42 trans-
mitters with powers up to 200 kilowatts.
(c) Overseas. plants at Munich, Tangier, Salonika, the Courier
(at Rhodes), Colombo, Manila, and Honolulu.
(d) The network is further. extended by many relays of specific
VOA language programs over stations and networks in many
areas including Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.
(e) The network will be greatly strengthened. by the high-
power plants expected shortly to become operational at Munich,
San Ferando (Philippine. Islands), and Okinawa
The domestic transmitters are used primarily to send programs to
relay bases, and the relay stations in turn retransmit programs on
medium-wave and shortwave to listeners in assigned target areas.
The well-known technical difliiculties inherent in shortwave broad-
casting and the preference of listeners in most parts of the world for
medium-wave broadcast make the relay bases the primary source of
program transmission to listeners.
This large expansion in broadcast facilities, along with others in the
planning and. construction stage, has been undertaken at a most sub=
stantial cost to the American taxpayer. A large part of the appro-
priations of the International Information Administration have and
will be expended for these purposes.
The ostensible goal of the Voice of America is to transmit programs
clearly and consistently to foreign areas selected for it, with deter-
minations of policy content made by the Department of State. In
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other words, the inARPrPY& r R4Wgf ~9,QMZ% g:GI& P8OR01731 R
reach all listeners in designated areas at any determined time with
consistently reliable signals.
The committee and its staff have devoted considerable time and
study to an examination of the Voice of America plant with relation
to its objectives and have arrived at certain conclusions. It must be
kept in mind that the geographic location of the United States puts it
at a distinct disadvantage in reaching the rest of the world with short-
wave broadcasts. The great distances which radio beams must travel
dissipates a major part of the energy. To overcome these deficiencies
American technical science has achieved means to increase the
reliability and strength of signals.
At best, with existing facilities, deficiencies exist in the reception
of shortwave signals overseas. After studying the developments of
the shortwave broadcast facilities, the committee believes that the
planning has been haphazard, frequently unscientific, and at all times
costly. Its engineering has been inexpert and mediocre, and often
inadequate. Thorough technical studies, including those of the
electromagnetic barriers, were not made or considered at certain
locations (e. g., "Baker East" in North Carolina and "Baker West"
in the State of Washington) before contracts were let and extravagant
expenditures made. Signal propagation problems were not thoroughly
resolved. Certain station sites were acquired and building contracts
let before adequate engineering specifications were on the drawing
board. The result has caused confusion within the organization itself
and suspicion of the competence of the VOA on the part of the Ameri-
can public. These shortcomings have been among the primary
factors which have stigmatized the Voice of America as inefficient,
both in this country and abroad.
The electronics profession has brougl't radio transmission to a fairly
exact science. The United States has the leading technologists in
the world. The committee believes, nevertheless, that in spite of the
enormous grants of money that have been made to it by Congress,
the Information Administration has failed in establishing effective
radio communication of our message of freedom to the world. It has
failed to make adequate use of the available technical skills of our
country.
The committee sought diligently for consistent, concrete evidence of
the effectiveness of our radio transmissions. The following observa-
tion by the chairman, however, typifies the experience of other mem-
bers of the committee who traveled abroad:
I, personally, have had a very disappointing series of reports in those countries
as to the listening audience and the effectiveness of the Voice of America, on
standard bands. * * * But as for the Voice of America, which broadcasts on
shortwave, I have been told repeatedly that nobody listens to it-that is, compara-
tively speaking-and that very often the places we want to reach do not have
the proper sets to receive the shortwave broadcasts.
In hearings in New York, officials of the International Broadcasting
Service took issue with critics of the Voice, particularly those abroad.
It was pointed out that programs beamed to foreign countries were
intended for indigenous persons and that Americans abroad, including
those in the embassies, generally did not make efforts to listen to
them. Consequently, Voice officials contended, their reports were
not necessarily based on first-hand observations, and, further, might
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be prejudiced by the desire of those at Clio posts to obtain increased
funds for local use at the expense of the broadcasting medium.
Insufficient proof was given to the committee by Voice of America
personnel who appeared before it to sustain the claim that our signal
was adequately received abroad. In fact, there exists no overall
continuing monitoring service in the Voice of America. Only recently
a start has been made to determine transmission strength in this
country and receiver strength abroad. This should have been done
long ago.
With respect to the administrative setup of the VOA, the New York
operation of the VOA leaves much to be desired. In the first place,
it is housed in seven separate buildings at high rentals. It lacks
coordination of activities, and authority is divided between the New
York Administrative Office and the International Broadcasting Service.
This division places the Administrator of the broadcasting service in
the anomalous position of being unable to fix responsibility on his
staff for producing results. This was certainly evidenced in the chaotic
conduct of the construction program. Duplication in staff, friction
amongst personnel, and other inefficiencies were the result. The com-
mittee is advised that as of May 18, 1953, the IIA took steps to merge
certain functions of the New York administrative office and the
International Broadcasting Service.
The accounting operations for the International Broadcasting Serv-
ice show the need for many changes and improvements. Here again
there is division of responsibility between the New York Administrative
Office and the International Broadcasting Service.
There exists many personnel problems in the New York operation.
In part, this is attributable to too frequent changes in overall policy,
multiple internal reorganizations, too frequent executive shifts, and
budgetary fluctuations.
The function of the Voice of America is primarily that of a service
organization. In theory, it operates the instrumentalities for con-
veying the message of the United States as determined by the policy
advisers in Washington. It does not and should not make policy.
If, as has often been true, policy decisions are uncertain, or laggard
or confused, the corollary can only be a dilute, delayed, or bewildered
Voice over the air waves.
When it phrases policy for broadcasting purposes ineffectively,
or inaccurately, however, the Voice must be-as it has been-criti-
cized. The committee has paid much attention to a review of the
scripts sent out by the Voice. It cannot rate many of them high in
message value or purpose. Many of them might well have been
omitted.
'rho committee also notes that the view expressed by Mr. George
Probst, director of the University of Chicago Roundtable, is one that
was frequently heard during the course of this investigation. The
committee agrees with Mr. Probst, who testified:
* * * the Voice of America is ineffective and unsuccessful in talking to our
friends and our potential friends who live in this third world between Russia and
the United States. The stance or posture of the Voice of America has been and
is a commercial salesmanship framework that puts us into a competitive shouting
contest with the Kremlin. Europeans find our American broadcasting technique
of flogging the listener with words uncongenial and unsubtle. * * *
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An important problem for the Administrator is to see to it that in
the message content the purpose of Public Law 402 is adhered to.
It must not be the decision of the section head as to what he and his
assisting foreign-language advisers believe would be the best palliative
to give our particular friends abroad, but what the undiluted forth-
right message of America is and what it stands for. That is why there
must be strong and informed direction at the top. That is what is
presently lacking. It would be better to forego broadcasts entirely
than to diminish the character and simple impact of our story. Much
of the justifiable criticisms of the Voice's message will be forgotten if
we quite literally adhere to the objectives of section 2 of Public Law
402; namely:
to disseminate abroad information about the United States, its people, and
policies * * *
At the New York hearings evidence was inserted in the record to
refute the charges of the lack of audience interest in VOA broadcasts.
Mr. Robert Francis, Acting Deputy Administrator of the Interna-
tional Broadcasting Service, for example, testified:
* * * We have over a million requests for program schedules, which are only
sent out when people write in and ask for them. * * *
Our audience mail is running over 300,000 pieces of mail a year. That is a
tremendous amount of audience mail, particularly when you consider that it is
quite expensive and difficult usually for someone living abroad to write a letter to
the United States; sometimes the postage is 30 cents.
Even though presented with enthusiastic sincerity, the committee
was not convinced by the elaborate testimony and presumptive evi-
dence given by VOA personnel to establish numerical and other proof
of foreign audience reception. Much of the data was of a speculative
nature.
(f) Television
It would appear to the committee from its experience and from
testimony which has been received that a universal picture language,
through television, is bound to become a major factor in working
toward greater unity of the non-Communist world. The Information
Administration seemingly has not kept pace with important tech-
nological developments in this field. While acknowledging that
audiovisual media are of prime importance in the information and
educational field, the Administration has paid little attention to new
telecommunication methods, including television.
The committee has examined the development of television in the
United Kingdom and Western Europe. Without doubt television
offers great possibilities for the international information program.
Studies should be undertaken to determine the practicability of
television broadcasts in various areas. The technical problems of
such broadcasts are less complicated than would appear at first glance.
(g) BIAS
Aware of the general opinion that the American radio station.in
Berlin, Germany, has achieved notable success in the field of informa-
tion, the committee took steps to survey its present effectiveness. The
station was built in the early days of the Berlin blockade and became
at once our principle weapon in countering Communist propaganda.
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A
merica daily in addition to about 16 hours of original programs. A
second BIAS transmitter is located at Hof, Germany.
RIAS is overstaffed but it performs effectively and offers unique
opportunity for continuing the fight against communism. Its inde-
pendence of action should not be substantially interfered with. It
could be made more effective by reviving the techniques used on the
station during the Berlin blockade, by relaying its programs over
American-controlled transmitters in .Austria and by coordinating
much of the BIAS program with the Voice of America in Munich
and possibly with Radio Free Europe.
6. RECOMMENDATIONS-ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION
(a) Strengthen coordination of psychological strategy
The security ramifications of the work of the Psychological Strategy
Board are such that the committee is not in a position to make specific
recommendations with respect. to it. Such evidence as is available,
however, clearly points to the need for adjustments in coordination of
psychological strategy. A number of possible remedies suggest them-
selves. One is to strengthen the Psychological Strategy Board by
adding to it a representative of the White House and conferring on
the Board powers to secure the necessary cooperation on policy from
all executive departments and agencies. An alternative might be to
abolish the Psychological Strategy Board and transfer responsibilities
in this field to the National Security Council. Without prescribing
the details of the remedy, the committee believes the President should
deal with the problem as a matter of urgency. Conflicting approaches
in this field which now characterize the operations abroad of several
executive agencies must not be allowed to weaken our world position.
(0) Consolidate nonmilitary overseas information programs; coordinate
all exchange of persons programs
The committee examined pro and con the continuance of the
separate information programs of the Mutual Security Agency and
the Technical Cooperation Administration. Information is an
important part of the success of these agencies, and this is the basic
contention for separate information programs. Senator Mundt, how-
ever, pointed out the inherent danger of separate information pro-
grams when he remarked :
* * * we started out with MSA and the theory originally of the information
service was that it was to be rendered through the so-called IIA Administration.
Then they said, "Well we need just a little authority. We have got certain things
to tell in a different way." So they started out and have now reached the point
where they have an exchange program of their own, they have a series of radio
programs of their own, and they have a literature distribution program of their
own. They virtually operate a second IIA of their own, and now quickly follow-
ing in their tracks is point 4 which says, "We also have a little different angle."
The argument for separate agencies must also be weighed against
the cost, the increased personnel and the dangers of conflicting
influences on foreign policy growing out of separate programs. Mr.
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Waldemar Nielsen, a former Administrator of the MSA information
program in Europe, stated:
* * * I am firmly convinced, on the basis of my operating experience in Europe
in connection with the MSA information program, that there should be an integra-
tion of all the civilian information agencies of the American Government operating
abroad.
The committee notes, finally, that much of the material produced
and disseminated by the International Information Administration
publicizes the work of MSA and TCA. It would seem, then, that if
duplication is to be avoided, either the International Information
Administration should minimize publicizing the work of these other
agencies or they should leave this responsibility to the IIA.
It is the view of the committee that neither the MSA or the TCA
should assume responsibility for the direct production or dissemination
of material abroad which publicizes their programs. There is no
convincing reason to believe that this responsibility cannot be per-
formed satisfactorily and with greater economy by the International
Information Administration.
With respect to the exchange of persons programs now operated by
MSA and TCA and other executive agencies, their purposes do differ
substantially, in some cases, from those envisioned under the Ful-
bright Act and the Smith-Mundt Act which are presently administered
by the Department of State. Mr. Francis J. Colligan, Deputy
Director of the Educational Exchange Service, in response to a
question by Senator Fulbright on the problem of coordinating these
various programs, testified:
* * * I am not at all sure * * * that one could completely merge them because
many of them grow out of pin-pointed needs arising out of the broader projects
which MSA and TCA may be conducting, for example, a public health project in
Bangkok, Thailand.
On the other hand, the subdivision of responsibility, once begun, is
difficult to check and genuine need for separate activity can easily
become confused with the individual agency's concept of what it
considers necessary.
The committee believes that the exchange of persons programs
should be continued as separate projects, pending further study.
There is, however, an immediate need for administrative arrange-
ments which will require all exchanges sponsored by the various
agencies to channel through and to have the approval of an appro-
priate division in the Department of State. Such a procedure should
help to prevent duplication in certain fields of study and an imbalance
of selections as among the different geographic areas of the world.
It should also be possible for anyone desiring information about any
aspect of the exchange program to obtain such information from a
central source in Washington.
(c) Give the International Information Administration greater autonomy
within the Department of State for a trial period of 1 year; or
establish it as a separate agency, except that the exchange of per-
sons program should remain in the Department
This recommendation was arrived at after exploration of all aspects
of the administrative problem. It was communicated to the Presi-
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dent on May 8 by the chairman, in the form of a resolution of the
committee.,
Much of the testimony received by the committee favored complete
severance of the entire information program from the Department of
State.
There is potential difficulty in coordinating information activities
with foreign policy. Such coordination depends on day-to-day con-
tact at all levels, not merely on occasional meetings of the heads of the
two bodies. One of the principal complaints in the past has been the
inadequacy of this contact. The committee also has taken into ac-
count the reports from the field which indicate that the relationship
is much improved. The difficulties which the program encountered in
working within the Department in the past might, of course, be elimi-
nated by providing the Information Administration with higher status
and greater autonomy. Regardless of where the program is lodged, its
Administrator must continue to use the facilities of the Department.
Against these considerations, the committee has weighed the argu-
ments for full separation which were summarized by Dr. Robert
Johnson, the Administrator, in this fashion:
* * * My personal opinion, in brief, is that the creation of a separate agency will
assure these things: (1) A greater flexibility, (2) a singleness of purpose, (3) a
sharper, faster approach, and (4) a better chance to attract highly qualified people.
New administration and greater autonomy for the information pro-
gram within the Department of State might make possible the realiza-
tion of the advantages of separation without the disadvantages that
separation involves. An additional year's trial, so as to avoid further
dislocation and the instability entailed in another major organizational
upheaval, might be defended. But the committee approves the
change, provided that the exchange of persons remains in the Depart-
ment of State. The committee notes that Reorganization Plan No. 8,
submitted by the President on June 1, conforms with this recom-
mendation.
MAY 8, 1953.
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: The Senate Committee on Overseas Information Programs of the United States
today adopted the enclosed resolution setting forth its views on the administrative location of the Information
programs in the executive branch.
As you know, the committee was created during the last session of Congress and operated under the
chairmanship of Senator Fulbright. It was continued this session by Senate Resolution 44. The members
are Senators Wiley, Mundt, Knowland, Green, Fulbright, Gillette, Ifill, and myself.
We respectfully submit these considered views.
Very sincerely yours,
BOURSE B. IrICKENLOOrER, Chairman.
RESOLUTION OF TILE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON OVERSEAS INFORMATION PROGRAMS OF THE UNITED
STATES CREATED BY SENATE RESOLUTION 74, 82D OONORESs
Whereas this committee has conducted a thorough and comprehensive study of the international infor-
mation and educational exchange programs, it feels justified in submitting to the President the following
views: -
The committee believes that the complete separation of all international information and educational
functions from the Department of State would be Inadvisable and would tend to give educational exchange
programs a propaganda flavor, nevertheless:
(1) In the event the executive department deems it advisable to separate the overseas information opera-
tions from the Department of State and vest them In a new, independent Information and propaganda
agency at the subcabinet level, the committee strongly recommends that the educational exchange programs
remain in the Department of State;
(2) If the executive department does not desire to separate the educational exchange programs from the
other information activities, then the committee believes that the programs should be kept together, within
the framework of the Department of State, for at least 1 year in order that the new management may have
an opportunity for more study before making final determinations of the disposition of these programs.
In this event, the committee recommends that the Administrator of the information and educational pro-
grams be elevated in his position, within the Department of State, so that he be given greater authority
and responsibility in administering the policies and personnel of the programs: It is therefore
Resolved That these views he respectfully transmitted by the chairman to the President for his considera-
tion.
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The committee notes that Dr. Martin McGuire, a member of the
Advisory Commission on Educational Exchange, stated:
* * * The Commission [on Educational Exchange] has officially expressed its
strong conviction that the administration of the educational program should be
lodged in and retained by the Department of State. *
It has also given careful attention to the views of Senators Mundt
and Fulbright, members of the committee, who have a long experience
with these programs. Both Senators have stressed the view that the
continued success of the exchange program rests on close ties with the
Department. They have pointed out the likelihood of the loss of
prestige and the nonpropagandistic reputation which now attaches to
the program if it is a part of an independent information agency.
These are essential attributes if the exchange program is to continue
to attract the type of distinguished cooperation both at home and
abroad which is necessary to its effective operation.
The committee recognizes certain administrative advantages in
retaining all the media in a block. If the net effect of such retention,
however, may be the undermining of the exchange program it cannot
advocate this course.
No matter where the information program is lodged, the committee
is convinced that in the operations of our missions abroad, there can
be but one source of authority; namely, the chief of mission. To that
end, there must certainly be the closest coordination between the
Information Administration and the Department of State and the
Secretary of State must lay down the policy directives for the Informa-
tion Service.
The ultimat? success or failure of the information program, irre-
spective of its departmental lodgment depends on skilled administra-
tion and personnel. With these, the program can succeed within or
without the Department of State. Without these, it will fail wherever
placed.
(d) Establish independent personnel system suited to the needs of the
overseas information program
The committee concurs with the many witnesses who testified to
the desirability of an independent personnel system regardless of
where the program is ultimately located. It believes that this
independence should be outlined in general as follows:
1. The num.ber of supergrades in the Information Administration
should be increased and be filled by outstanding specialists in
informational or related activities.
2. The interchange of select personnel between the Department of
State and the International Information Administration should be
permitted with the mutual approval of the Secretary of State and
the Administrator.
3. The Administrator should have broad authority to separate
unsuitable employees without, at the same time, subjecting the
individual employee to capricious or arbitrary treatment.
4. The principle of not expanding particular operations until
suitable employees are available should be observed.
5. More effective and extensive use should be made of well-screened
local employees at posts abroad, with a consequent reduction of
American nationals.
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6. Rotation policies now in operation should be reviewed and
revised to permit retention of employees with special aptitudes for
particular areas at the same post for longer periods of time.
7. The "hardship post" concept, under which special inducements
are given to personnel to serve in certain geographic areas, should be
abandoned wherever possible. Every effort should be made to secure
and assign to difficult posts personnel who are interested in the area
and who will make personal adjustments necessary for living therein
for prolonged periods.
8. Members of an employee's family accompanying him overseas
should be screened to evaluate their adaptability to official residence
abroad.
9. A regular basic training program for employees should be estab-
lisfied in this country geared to the specific needs of the information
program.
10. Training in the language, culture, and history of the area of
assignment, as a regular in-service training, should be continued by
all employees.
11. A realistic adjustment in representation allowances should be
made for key public affairs employees overseas.
12. The provisions of the Smith-Mundt Act for FBI checks of all
personnel should be continued and should be vigorously enforced.
The committee believes that the sooner these measures are carried
out the earlier the personnel policies of the Information Administra-
tion will begin to reflect the needs of the program.
(e) Consider establishing regional coordination of the program in all
areas of the world
As previously pointed out, the committee is in general agreement
with the present trend toward decentralization of responsibility to
the country post. It also warns of the danger of carrying this proc-
ess too far.
Reconciling the responsibility of Washington with an effective
degree of autonomy in the field is the responsibility of the Adminis-
trator. There may be a need for regional coordinators in some parts
of the world to serve as a midpoint in authority between headquarters
and the local posts. These regional coordinators could serve to
channel efforts within the framework of regional policies. In this
fashion, they could act as a restraint on unwarranted and costly
variations and potentially dangerous conflicts in the program between
posts. They could also encourage cooperative study and action
within the region on common informational problems.
(f) Explore ppossibilities of increased cooperation and coordination with
friendly foreign governments and groups
Many of the public affairs officers abroad recognize the need for
more realistic cooperation and have worked closely with other foreign
information offices and private groups at the local level. It is sug-,
gested that the Administrator explore fully the possibilities of coor-
dinating our program with that of other friendly nations and organ-
izations and that he recommend to the Secretary of State ways and
means of increasing their participation in propagating common ideas
and ideals.
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(g) Encourage gre V&",Ftgnl lppfiV2QQ3jA oi1AvRDPWRO1731 ROM300260002-0
and individuals in the program
The committee commends the efforts to enlist nongovernmental
interest in the information program. However, most of the witnesses
who testified on the point felt that much more is needed in this
respect. Dr. Wilson Compton testified:
A great fundamental handicap to this program is the limitation by law of the
authority of the International Information Administration to tell its own story
to the American people for whom it undertakes to speak.
The committee believes that reasonable publicity about the pro-
gram in the United States should be available to encourage the
participation of the American people. Publicizing in the past was
halted by legislative action because of the feeling that it was being
used primarily for self-glorification and as a means of promoting
higher appropriations.
It is of particular importance that the Information Administration
take the initiative in establishing continuing liaison with the motion
picture industry, press and publication industries, the overseas trans-
portation industry and other large private organizations with exten-
sive foreign interests, contacts and influence. Through voluntary
cooperation with these. organizations, it should be possible to make
more truly. representative the total picture of this country that is
commercially distributed abroad.
Finally, the committee wishes to reiterate a recommendation which
has been made many times since it first appeared in the Smith-Mundt
Act 41 1948. To the greatest practicable extent, private commercial
channels of communication should be used in carrying out the purposes
of the program, provided security is insured.
(h) Consolidate all evaluation functions of the IIA in an independent
evaluation and inspection corps responsible directly to the Admin-
istrator, with records of the corps accessible to appropriate
congressional committees and the Advisory Commissions
Consideration was given to the question of the removal of the evalu-
ation function from the Information Administration and assigning it
to the Advisory Commissions or to a joint committee of Congress as
was suggested by some witnesses. The committee felt, however, that
continuous evaluation and inspection is a responsibility of manage-
ment. Except for periodic outside audits, the Administrator should
have the responsibility for realistic evaluation of the needs and the
effectiveness of the various aspects of the operation.
The committee recommends that the Administrator consider the
practicability of a small evaluation and inspection corps competent
to utilize modern scientific evaluation techniques. This corps might
well replace the present scattered evaluation groups. To be effective,
the corps would have to be independent of the chain of command
and responsible only to the Administrator. To insure their inde-
pendence employees of the corps should not normally be subject to
reassignment elsewhere in the Information Administration.
The complete records of the evaluation corps should be available at
all times to proper congressional committees and the Advisory
Commissions.
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NDATIONS-THE MEDIA
(a) Strengthen overseas libraries and exchange of persons programs
The committee believes that these media merit strengthening.
Additional use of our foreign currency funds should be considered for
this purpose. Expansion could be projected over a period of years on
the basis of the capacity of both programs to expand without stretching
their functions impairing adequate screening, or altering their funda-
mental character.
With respect to the libraries, the committee is of the opinion that
an increased allocation of funds could be utilized most effectively to
enlarge collections, particularly of technical books and to expand the
translations program. In some countries, there is also a need to
improve working quarters.
On the issue of selection of controversial books, the committee
feels that the Administrator must establish the specific criteria to
guide his subordinates and be prepared to explain these criteria. He
cannot delegate this responsibility to others. The committee is
convinced that if clear-cut, commonsense criteria, based on what is
useful in terms of the objectives of the information program, are set
down and properly explained, they will find general acceptance on the
part of all who seek to protect and to advance the interests of the
United States.
In recommending an expansion of both educational and other types
of exchanges, the committee has taken into consideration the great
weight of favorable testimony and other opinions of its effectiveness.
Among these is a letter from General Eisenhower to Kenneth Holland,
dated October 16, 1952 which was inserted in the record. It reads in
part:
I firmly believe that educational exchange programs are an important step
toward world peace.
It is very heartening that so many thousands of students, teachers, specialists,
and trainees from abroad will have an opportunity this year for advanced study
in our colleges and industrial plants, and that equally large numbers of American
students will study abroad.
* * * * *
It is my personal hope that this activity, so important in the future of the world,
will continue to expand in the coming years.
In a survey of Cabinet officials of membe
t
i
f
r coun
r
es o
the United
,1 Nations conducted by International Public Opinion Research, Inc.,
for Time ma
azin
it
g
e,
was reported that among media of information
"the largest vote was given to the `exchange of students and visitors'
as the most effective means for increasing the flow of information
between nations.. Such exchanges were far out in front on every
continent. In fact, running throughout most of -the questionnaires,
there was a constant theme that face-to-face contacts are the best
way to gain greater understanding around the world."
With respect to the administrative shortcomings in the exchange of
persons program, the committee makes the following specific sugges-
tions:
1. Foreign currency funds applicable to the Fulbright program
(Public Law 584, 79th Cong.) should be exempt from the Rabaut
amendment (Public Law 547, sec. 1415, 82d Cong.). In its limitations
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on the use of local currency funds, the amendment has hampered
effective programing.
2. The Commission on Educational Exchange should establish the
criteria for selection of educational exchanges provided for under the
Smith-Mundt Act (Public Law 402, 80th Cong.).
3. Wherever practicable, the binational commissions abroad
functioning as. part of the Fulbright program shall also make selections
of educational exchanges under the Smith-Mundt Act.
4. Consideration should be given to alleviating unusual or emer-
gency financial expenses incurred by exchanges during the period of
their participation in the exchange program.
5. Provision should be made for broader orientation of foreign
students on all aspects of American life.
6. It is of the utmost importance that exchangees are selected with
the greatest prudence, and plans for their training carefully formulated.
(b) Continue the motion picture program
The committee is of the opinion that the motion-picture program
should be continued. The Administrator must exercise close super-
vision in order to make certain that the program remains closely
tied to the purposes of Public Law 402 (80th Cong.). In this con-
nection, the committee suggests that wherever practicable a nominal
rental fee be charged for the use of films, a practice which is extensively
employed in the British information program.
With respect to the mobile motion-picture units, the committee
recommends their limited use where they are clearly beneficial to the
program. It believes that local channels of distribution may fre-
quently be substituted for the units.
The Administrator should consider the advisability of establishing
a.motion-picture advisory group especially with a view to minimizing
further the number of objectionable commercial films which, when ex-
ported, tend to give a distorted picture of the United States. Mr. Eric
Johnston, in testimony before the committee, expressed the willingness
of the private motion-picture industry to cooperate with the Govern-
ment. This is an offer which the committee believes should not be
ignored.
(c) Reappraise the press and publications service
While the press and publications program, taken as a whole, is a use-
ful instrument in furthering the purposes of the information program,
parts of it should be revised, reduced, or eliminated. A prerequisite
to valid judgments on what specifically should be done, however,
would be an expert investigation of the entire operation as well as
an authoritative evaluation of the content of the materials. The
Administrator is urged to conduct a full efficiency and effectiveness
audit of the International Press Service including an analysis of the
desirability of continuing certain newspapers and periodicals as quickly
as possible as a preliminary to making adjustments in the program.
The committee believes it desirable in this connection to explore the
possibilities of selling some of the publications. This practice is
followed at a few American posts abroad and is a regular policy of the
information programs of certain countries. This would be one method
of proving the attractiveness of such publications.
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 Approved For Releadd)2 ?b&07 ;tkIAtRDP8O95fq'473~9@O8 iGb2 22Od explore the
posse ilvties of more e ectwve use o to ecommunications, including
television, in the program
The Voice of America is more effective and more useful than some
of the public criticisms in recent times would suggest. The fact
remains, however, that there have been serious shortcomings in this
operation. The time has come to face these shortcomings and to
correct them. It is a task that is essentially administrative in nature
and the new leadership should move promptly to tackle it.
The Administrator must reappraise the entire structure of the
Voice of America. In matters of administration, such problems as
relocation of the Voice either in one building in New York or Wash-
ington, fiscal procedures, inadequacies of budgetary and accounting
systems and personnel, require immediate attention. Many of these
matters have been the subject of costly and detailed management
surveys by outside experts. The need now is to put their relevant
recommendations into practice.
With respect to broadcasting facilities of the Voice, the committee
feels that the Administrator should reorganize the engineering section
of the Voice of America from top to bottom, and to this end should
secure the best available assistance from the telecommunication
industry. The committee has been told that the American electronic
industry is anxious to further this effort of our Government, but it
has never been invited to do so and, in fact, has been alienated because
of the treatment it has received from the persons in the Voice in charge
of engineering.
In undertaking a reappraisal of the Voice, the committee believes
the Administrator must do battle with entrenched incompetence wher-
ever it is found. He must deal realistically with claims of broadcasting
success which are supported by impressive but sometimes misleading
statistics. He must weigh the present cost of communication by
radio against the cost of other media, making due allowances for emer-
gency situations or future technological improvements in which the
importance of telecommunications might be greatly enhanced.
rho committee suggests that the Administrator realistically review
the relative importance of all foreign broadcasts. It may be that
some could be limited-others strengthened. Retention of frequencies
must over be considered. It is unwise solely for economic purposes
to abandon friends or potential sympathizers. It may be that certain
of the recent curtailings have been more arbitrary than wise.
While the subcommittee is anxious that inefficiency and waste be
eliminated from the broadcasting service, it has no desire to see this
operation discontinued or crippled. There are many millions of people
presently under Communist control. Radio broadcasts are our sole
information contact with these people. The job of the Voice of
America is to reach them and to tell them the American story-a story
based on truth and liberty. To reach these people continually and
effectively the Voice must overcome jamming techniques and must
keep apace with technological advances which will enable it to pene-
trate the iron curtain.
The world is under great political stress and many people have been
strengthened in hope and conviction by listening to the Voice. This is
not an opportune time to abandon these listeners. The Voice of
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America can be strong in both signal and message. The program can
also be economical and effective at the same time if the Information
Administration is adept in the handling of the operation.
Telecommunication is an essential medium in reaching other nations.
The developments in television and other techniques have immense
potentialities as yet scarcely recognized. The feasibility of linking the
Atlantic nations and much of the non-Communist world with this
media in vast television networks is established. It could become a
reality in a comparatively short time. Other nations are already
expanding rapidly in this field and it is essential that the United
States, whose technical accomplishments have speeded the develop-
ment of telecommunications, remain in the vanguard.
The subcommittee suggests, therefore, that a national commission
be established; composed of representatives from the Government,
the telecommunication industry, education, and other appropriate
groups. It should be directed to study the present status and the
potentialities of the international use of all forms of telecommunica-
tions and it should report its recommendations to the President and
to the Congress.
(a) Avoid drastic cuts in appropriations for the information program
Recognition of the importance of the information program is general
and is characteristic even of .those witnesses who were highly critical
of certain aspects of the program. The committee is unanimous in
endorsing the continuance and the strengthening of this program. It
has given careful consideration to the views of many who like Dr.
George Gallup, director of the American Institute of Public Opinion,
advocated a considerable expansion of the operation. Dr. Gallup
testified that-
It is almost * * * ridiculous * * * to attempt to win the people of this world
to our point of view with the present amount of money, which is only a little bit
. one or two companies, incidentally, spent in reaching the people of this
country through advertising.
* * * * * * *
* * * One or two companies in this country spend as much as we do [on the
information program] just to sell soapflakes and soap products to the American
public. We find that they have found it necessary to spend that much money to
sell products that everybody regards highly.
For the present the committee believes, however, that an enlarge-
ment in total expenditures for this service is unwarranted. The infor-
mation program has grown rapidly and further expansion now might
prove wasteful. The present need is for a revamping and coordination
of activities. Few public affairs officers at the posts abroad indi-
cated a need for additional funds. Reports have been received,
moreover, which suggest that some areas of the world have already
been oversaturated with propaganda. This again is an administrative
problem.
Budgeting for the information program should not be be based on
past expenditures, but funds should be apportioned among the various
media. and to the posts in accordance with present needs. The Ad-
ministrator should also be given as much flexibility as feasible to reallo-
cate funds during a fiscal year, if shifting circumstances make changes
desirable.
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 32 OVERSEAS INFORMATION PROGRAMS OF THE UNITED STATES
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It is easy to devise projects which will absorb increased appropria-
tions. This program could operate at many times the present level,
if the only test for appropriations were: How many projects can be
developed? This criterion should read: How many effective projects
can be developed within reasonable financial limits?
If the recommendations contained in this report are put into effect
the committee is of the opinion that a far more effective overseas
information program can be developed. In the first place, consider-
able savings should result from consolidation of the MSA and TCA
information programs under the International Information Adminis-
tration. Secondly, a reduction in American personnel abroad im-
plicit in recommendations 6 (d) and 6 (f) should lead to lower operating
costs. Finally, a continuing appraisal of all operations by an evalua-
tion corps such as envisioned in recommendation 6 (h.) should lead to
a tighter, more efficient and more economical organization.
(b) Adhere to the terms of Public Law 402 (80th Cong.) and maintain a
tone in the program worthy of the United States and its citizens
Public Law 402 (80th Cong.) states that the objectives of the act are
to promote a better understanding of the United States in other
countries and to increase mutual understanding between the people
of the United States and the people of other countries. These are
clearcut purposes and the committee sees no reason for alteration of
them. The difficulty in the past has not been with the purposes but
,rathor with the means which have not fully served these purposes.
It should be borne in mind that the opinion of the world regarding
the United States and its objectives is being affected continuously
by news developments in the United States. In that news, the official
efforts of the International Information Administration play but a
relatively small role.
Infinitely larger is the role played by Congress, by the executive
branch, the judicial branch, and by the organizations and individuals
on the American scene acting on issues which might once have been
considered "domestic" but which are now of deep international sig-
nificance. A single action by an American organization, a speech by
a Member of Congress or by an official of the executive branch, or
an Executive order, administrative regulation or law, can produce-
in and of itself-an impact throughout the world of vast and enduring
proportion.
Similarly, the words and deeds of America's citizens abroad, whether
they be members of our Armed Forces, tourists, businessmen, clergy-
men, students or officials of the Government, can accomplish profound
and lasting results.
As chief of mission in a country, the United States Ambassador is
in a particularly potent position to contribute formally and informally
to the objectives of the information program. Wholly aside from the
!ordinary type of media releases, a well-directed impromptu comment
bn the part of the Ambassador, a meaningful gesture, can cause a
s~gnifrcant impression throughout the length and breadth of the
country to which he is accredited.
We must not, therefore, become so preoccupied with organizational
f *ms, procedures and programs that we fail to take due cognizance
o' the spontaneous activities of Americans-individually and collec-
t ely-in their words and deeds-in helping to affect the thinking
o o the world.
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Finally the conAppmVethFyobdReiea$ba20O3IOWiO&otC IAef PBOR01731 RO 300260002-0
make other nations over in our image. Most of them have cultures
and traditions much older than ours and we have much to learn from
them.
9. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
(a) Accomplishments of the investigation
This committee has spent almost a year in this investigation of our
overseas information program. The objectives, methods, effective-
ness, and utility of overseas information have been extensively
explored.
This report and the records of the investigation, the committee
believes, identify the principal weaknesses of the overseas informa-
tion program and point the way to a realistic strengthening of the
entire operation. Experience will undoubtedly bring to light addi-
tional weaknesses and indicate the desirability of further changes and
adjustments. The committee feels, however, that the results of the
investigation can prove helpful for the effective future development
of the program.
(b) Limitations of the investigation
The committee should like to make clear what it has regarded as
the,limits of its responsibility in the investigation. This report con-
tains recommendations which may require legislation.
The report also contains recommendations which are administra-
tive
in nature. The committee has set them forth because it feels
that the Congress and the Administrator should have the views of a
senatorial group which has made an intensive study of the program.
The committee believes however, that it should not intrude upon the
administrative responsibilities. In matters which lie within his
'province, the Administrator of the program has the responsibility
and must have the authority to discharge that responsibility.
The principal role of a senatorial investigation of this kind is in the
nature of a post audit of an operation which is carried on by the
Government and also for the purpose of proposing corrective legisla-
tion if that is indicated.
(c) Remaining tasks
A substantial portion of the committee's responsibilities under
Senate Resolution 74 and Senate Resolution 44 has now been dis-
charged. There remain two major tasks: (1) Examination of the
operation and effect of the program in the American Republics; and
(2) a test-check of such action as may be taken on the committee's
recommendations.
The committee proposes, therefore, the extension of its authority
until January 31, 1954, without additional funds. During the ensuing
period, any necessary legislation can be prepared for the consideration
of Congress. The committee anticipates making a field study in Latin
America as provided for in Senate Resolution 44. Such a study will
also make possible observations of the effect of its recommendations
and a firsthand investigation of the recent cutbacks in Voice of
America broadcasts to that area.
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