MONTHLY REPORT - LONDON BUREAU - AUGUST 1986

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP87-01104R000100090005-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 26
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 21, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: September 5, 1986
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/22 : CIA-RDP87-01104R000100090005-8
5 September 1986
MLD-6040
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
FROM : Chief, FBIS London Bureau
THROUGH : Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT : Monthly Report - London Bureau - August 1986
1. At the request of BBC GMMS Eric Bowman the bureau agreed to turn
over cubicle space presently occupied by the Moslem World Review
writers who are to be relocated in the PMU portacabin.
Partitioned office space has been identified and the Monitoring
Service has agreed to fund all associated costs, including
partitioning, power points, rewiring, and relocation of heating
and air conditioning units. No disruptions to PMU or MWR
operations are anticipated. Completion of the move is scheduled
for mid-September.
2. According to a report in THE OBSERVER, a BBC world service
satellite television channel could be launched next year if
approved by BBC management and financing is available. A joint
project of the BBC World Service based at Bush House and the
television service, the channel could cost as much as 10 million
pounds a year to operate. Initially the service would be
available to other broadcasting organizations, cable operators
or businesses, broadcasting 6 to 12 hours daily news programs
containing 15-20 items apiece with bulletins being repeated and
updated every few hours. By the 1990's the service could be
seen by millions of viewers with their own satellite dishes or
on cable, according to the report. In direct competition is the
recently announced Independent Television Network's 20-million-
pound proposal to offer a 24-hour news channel to potential
operators of Britain's DBS service. The ITN plan offers news,
current affairs, Parliament reports, and some sport and would be
ready for the DBS service by about 1989.
A. Monitorial/Editorial
1. In a welcome modification of established reporting
procedures, Headquarters concurred in bureau/BBC proposals
to no longer provide the names of Soviet TV Vremya
newsreaders in subslugs of filed items and wirefiled
program summaries, discontinue including repeat patterns
for Moscow Radio's four Orbita services in the commentary
listings, and, for the first time, include items from
Soviet television in the consolidated commentary lists.
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2. The Monitoring Service was particularly appreciative of
Headquarters concurrence in a bureau/BBC proposal to
provide less-than-textual translation of mandatory Soviet
leadership statements in certain well-defined situations
such as the walking tours of General Secretary Gorbachev
when the remarks of Gorbachev and his interlocutors are
difficult to distinguish and appear to be a commonplace
exchange of pleasantries. Such comments will henceforth be
summarized or described within an editorial report, thus
relieving monitors and editors of time-consuming efforts to
provide text of insignificant comment.
3. On 18 August the pressfax produced a 3,000-word PRAVDA
prereleased text of the speech General Secretary Gorbachev
was to deliver later that same evening. PMU Russian
linguists finished the translation and filed the text
within less than 3 hours, thus providing a grateful
Monitoring Service with an English-language version to use
when monitoring the speech later on Soviet television.
B. Communications
Total bureau wordage for the month was 2,229,570 for an average
of 71,922 words per day, only slightly higher than the daily
average for August of 69,625 over the past 10 years.
C. Lateral Services
Early in the month Headquarters attention was drawn to a request
from the American Embassy in Moscow for a videocassette
recording of the 27 July Soviet TV Vremya program prompted by
the bureau's program summary filed to the embassy.
D. Technical
1. At month's end the Communication Unit's Commsec IBM XT had
to be removed for repairs by the bureau contract
maintenance company ISG. It is expected to be operational
again by 10 September. Meanwhile the unit continues to use
the remaining XT without backup.
Although an automatic numbering device for the
2
.
circuit traffic has been designed, constructed and
installed by bureau engineers, a possible coding problem
has developed which will require further work before the
unit is fully operational.
3. New, non-glare overhead light fittings have been installed
in the editorial and communications rooms, thus completing
the bureau-wide project to upgrade VDU work areas.
STAT
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/22 : CIA-RDP87-01104R000100090005-8
Personnel
1. Senior Associate Editor) Ihas been selected by
Headquartes to participate in the 1986 running of the FBN
Orientation Program to be held 8-12 September.
2. Bureau recruitment efforts continue, with PMU Arabic monitor
to EOD 15 October. PMU
primary and backup candidates for the third Arabic position have
declined employment, forcing PMU to renew recruitment efforts by
writing to local versities with Arabic study programs.
Russian candidate has received full clea ra and
will EOD in the September October timeframe, replacing
who
is t
will be placed on contract. Russian candidate
o be put into processing as replacement for
who will also be placed on contract or cony
Dart-time status. Former Gulf Bureau Persian monitor
has been hired on contract to translate Persian
newspapers. The Communications Unit continues active recruiting
for two operators to bring the unit up to strength.
AG Soviet analyst) ITDY'd the bureau 19-21 August for
orientation and briefings. Former bureau admin officer
F visited 25-26 August to brief the bureau's new a n o cer,
While on private travel, JPRS officer visited
the bureau for orientation.
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
SIAM
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
cc: Chief, Austria Bureau
Chief, Cologne Unit
Chief, Islamabad Unit
Chief, Okinawa Bureau
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/22 : CIA-RDP87-01104R000100090005-8
TOTAL PURL" I SHA BL"E WORDAGE FILED DURING MONTH: 1 , 802 , 290
TOTAL NON--PURL 1 tSHABLE WOF DAGE FILED DURING I111ONTH .- 426 , 280
TOTAL NUMBER OF PUBLISHABLE ITEMS FILED DURING MONTH: 4,254
BROAD- PRESS F'UL;I.. 3: --
CASTs AGENCIES CATIONS
I .T. I NF'UT OF- REGUI....AR C:OVE::RAGE w 72!. 690 146,796 577.64
(m].)")utes or issues per week:) min. m.ln.. issues
l I I . OUTPUT FROM Al .".L SOURCES :
(publishable words per month
AFGHANI STAN
bu1
in
Eng.1. i.sh to Europe?
0)
!,:'a b u l
i. n
F'asht(:, and Dar i to Europe
0
Domestic Service in
Dar i
2i2 , ;3r:3C)
Kabul
D o m e s t: i. c Service in
Pashto
5, 150
Kabul
Domestic Service Ln
Pashto and Dar i
31 c~)
Kabul
SAF-::HTAR in
Dar i
1 2120)
F::~;bu.l
BAK.HTAR i) n
E.ng1. i sh
9,73()
}:::abt. l
F:{AK::HTAR in
Pashto
1,990)
ALLAN I A
r a n a AT A i. n
Eng1 i.sh
Tirana ABTA in
French
ALLiER I A
Algiers. Voice of Palestine, in
Arabic
Algiers Domes tic Service in
Arabic 1,410
Algiers Domestic..: Service in
French 1. . ,550
Algiers Al'S in
Arab i
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Aigier' AAAF,' in
Enq i i. sh
FAtigiers APS in
F'r'ench
Algiers E:L_ M('-')Ur]J'AHID i.r..l
f= ench
ARGENT' 1: NA
BLIE'rIC}s Aires. Internet io7nait. Service in
E:.ngi ish
AUSTRAL I A
Me1.bourne !:::lverseas Service in
Enq 1. i. sh
AUSTRIA
Vienna OPE:CNA in
E:nq 1. i sh
BAHRAIN
*Manama WAV%*H in
Arabic
BELGI UM
Brussels Domestic Service irni
E ?r enc h
Brussels L_EE SOIR in
French
BULGARIA
S o f i. a in
E,'(..tss i art to the USSR
Sofia HT'A in
Ewnq l ish
BURUNr) I
BUjUmburzt Domestic in
F r e rn c h
ri(..(j(..(m (..(ra ones ;ic Service in
E::: i t u n d i
CANADA
Mcntneal Intern t:iorlai Service in
Engl. i. cl?i
BROAD- PRESS PU13L. I --
CASTS Ai-3ENC .1: E:S CAT IONS
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/22 : CIA-RDP87-01104R000100090005-8
CH 1: NA
Beijing X I !\f H U A in
i
E n g 1. i.sh
CLANDESTINE (AFRICA)
(Clandestine-0
Radio Halgan in
Somali to Somalia
1. 320
(Clandestine) Radio of the Sudanese Peciple''s
Liberation Army in
Arabic
0
(Clandestine) Radio of the Sudanese People's
Liberation Army in
EngI ish
14,41(D
(Clandestine) Voice of Western Somalia and
Abo Liberation Fronts in
Soma1. i
0
(Clandestine)
Eritrea in
Amhar i c
Voice of the Broad Masses of
0
(Clandestine)
Eritrea in
Voice of the Broad Masses of
Tigr" ir"nye..
410
(Clandestine)
i. n
Amharic
(C;landestine)
i n
Tigrinya
(Clandestine)
i n
Voice of the Tigre Revolution
to Ethiopia
Voice of the ?1"igr-(r:Revolution
to Ethiopia
Iiardai Chadian National Radio
CLANDES?T I NE (MIDDLE EAST. )
(Clande-sti.ne Radio of the Iranian Toilers
in
COMOROS
Moroni Domestic Service in
French
C4 ECHOSLX.)VAK:" I A
~'ragt. e Int? rr~at~.ona1. Service in
Czech
BR OAtiD- PRESS PUBL.I -.-
CASTS AGENCIES CATIONS
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/22 : CIA-RDP87-01104R000100090005-8
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/22 : CIA-RDP87-01104R000100090005-8
BROAD.- PRESS PUBL I --
CASTS AGENCIES CATIONS
Prague International. Service in
English U
Prague International Service in
SlcvaEc 0
Prague in
Czech to Europe 33..1
Prague in
Russian to the USSR C)
Prague ue in
Slovak to Europe r~1
Prague Domestic Service in
Czech 1c?,620
Prague Domestic Service in
Slovak: 2,420
Prague Television Service in
Czech 2, 230
Prague Television Service in
Slovak: 0
Bratislava Domestic. Service in
Slovak: 4,800
Prague Cin
English
DENMARKK*"
Copenhagen Ak::'T't.JEI._T in
Danish
Copenhagen BERLINGSI