VOICE OF AMERICA COMPLAINTS CREATE 'FUROR', MEMO SAYS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000201170005-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: September 11, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/23: CIA-RDP90-0
A::TICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE_ g~
THE BALTIMORE SUN
11 September 1981
?
of America Cm 'lain S create
memo says
By Ernest B. Furgurson.
'Washington Bureau of The Sun
Washington-Complaints from U.S. officials
about Voice of America broadcasting have
"created a difficult psychological atmosphere
which increases the danger of, self-censorship,"
according to an internal newsletter circulated
this week.
It cited a resulting "almost selfconscious
tendency to avoid the controversial, to play.it-
safe, to lay low until the furor blows over." .
That "furor" is an "open debate on VOA's pur-
poses and methods," which the newsletter. says
has been prompted by a series of protests.about
minor errors and larger policy questions at the
government radio service. James Conkling, a California entertainment
executive who became . VOA director three
months ago, told a staff interviewer that the com-
plaints did not add up to "a concerted effort" to
limit the Voice's independence.
Rather, he said, they are partly attributable to
"new ambassadors ... often unknowledgeable in
the beginning. They're sensitive to criticism
themselves, so if they see anything that's sensi-
tive, they will complain about it so they are pro-
tected." . .
Partly, Mr. Conkling said, "it is the pressure of
.a new administration." And "part of it is uncer-
tainty on what this administration is."
. The ruckus has restarted a long-running con-.
troiersy about whether the Voice should operate
more like an independent news station or like a
government propaganda medium.
VOA professionals have insisted that loss of,
objectivity would mean loss of credibility for
their worldwide broadcasts. But some officials in
a series of administrations have maintained that -
there is no reason to run- the service if it does not
hew to the current version of U.S. policy. T
Nervousness started rising at VOA before the?
latest administration moved in,. when close Rea-
gan insiders said a more assertive ideological line:
would be pushed to parallel the change in foreign
policy. .'--
The staff: newsletter, distributed Wednesday,
pointed to half a -dozen examples of the com
plaints that have elevated that nervousness into a
"difficult psychological atmosphere." It said:
The White House and some U.S. embassies ro--
tested a July broadcast citing ercan m is
reports saying the CIA Led arms to Afghan
re ? . _ . _ , ........., . - --
The Geneva . Embassy protested ? that VOA
called Afghan nationalists "anti-government
guerrillas," apparently because that implied the
Soviet-supported regime is the legitimate govern-
ment in Kabul.
The embassy in Sri Lanka complained that a
plane," saying the word put this country in a bad
And also last month, VOA's news division was
asked to provide an open microphone fora State
Department. official to comment on El Salvador.
The division refused and later interviewed the of-
ficial on the condition that the news branch retain
editorial control.
This week's newsletter did -not mention other
incidents, including the reported killing of an
analysis on the neutron bomb debate that was
considered too realistic in describing the bomb's
effects. Nor did it say that Richard V. Allen, na-
tional security adviser, reprimanded Mn Con-
kling and his boss, Charles Z. Wick, director of the
International Communications Agency, about a
story on Afghanistan. .
Mr. Conkling was president of BEI Produc-
tions, Inc., which develops "motion picture and i
television concepts," before coming to VOA. He is
-a longtime friend of Mr. Wick, a California busi-
nessman who is in turn a close friend of the presi-
'dent. Mark Willen, a VOA editor, interviewed him
for the news division's house publication, News-
Room.
The director conceded that he did not yet have
a clear statement of VOA's purpose, but that "we
are one of the few voices of truth that exists and
we have to keep it a voice of truth. We're going to
have problems once in a while."
He said that giving Soviet spokesman Arbatov
a disproportionate share of time on a program
that also carried President Reagan's comments
on the other side of the issue was one serious com-
plaint..
Another, not previously mentioned by the,
newsletter, was VOA use of- hh phrase "two coun-
tries" to describe China and Taiwan. While that
might not be a mistake, he said, "It's a matter of
.taste. There's no sense going out and offending
:people."
Mr. Conkling also brought up a complaint
from the ambassador of El Salvador after a
broadcast referred to a transport helicopter used
there as a "gunship." He said the envoy claimed
that "it offended the people in power who sent the
helicopters out."
Admitting that "I've got to learn the news end
of the business," Mr. Conkling said that in non-
news VOA programming he sometimes heard
"triviality" that should be changed.
Programming should be modernized to attract
16-to-32-year-old listeners who are "going to be
the leaders some day," he added. -
The director said he withdrew his request for
the names of people who worked on the Arbatov
show after his acting program manager, Cliff'
Groce, a 30-year VOA veteran, said it "sounds
LPN much l: 6.. ? L _ ~ ? _ n ..
tinned the late Senator Joseph R. McCarthy in a
memo, warning of what could happen in the fu-
ture. (The senator inspired a hunt for Commu-
nists in government in the early 1950s.)
Mr. Conkling said he understood that VOA
staff might have taken the request that way. But
he'said that "in the business I [was[ in, you do it'
all the time. You don't mean 'I'm going to go out
and cut that guy's throat.' You may say, 'I'm not
going to use him for rhythm tunes anymore.' "
The director denied knowing anything*
nything about
any move to change the 1976 VOA charter, which:
calls for "accurate, objective and comprehen-
sive" news and a "balance" of opinion.
Asked whether he liked his job, he said, "Not
yet. I like some of it. I would like it to be a friend-
lier atmosphere, a less suspicious atmosphere, an
area where people are happier for a change, and
mostly where they feel encouraged....
Last month, the Manila Embassy expressed
concern over broadcasts about refugees - depart-
ing Vietnam. It recommended that Indochinese
not be encouraged to flee theirhonnelands: ?
The Moscow Embassy complained in August
that VOA English-language programs gave air
time to Soviet. spokesman Georgi_ Arbatov. Th .
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