OVERT MONITORING SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP57-00384R000200150001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 29, 2004
• Sequence Number: 1
• Content Type: REQ

Approved For Release 2005/04/21 : CIA-RDP57-00384RO0b200150001-5
OVERT MONITORING SYSTEM
1. Its Mission
The Foreign Broadcast Information Branch of the Office of Operations
operates an overt monitoring system reporting the content of a significant
selection of broadcasts from foreign radio transmitters. This selection
provides radio coverage of approximately 2,000,000 words each day of the
10,000,000 words broadcast daily by foreign transmitters. The important
material contained in these broadcasts is made available principally to the
State, War and Navy Departments; but also to the Commerce, Justice, Labor,
and Agriculture Departments, interested members of Congress, and the Federal
Reserve Board. In addition to the distribution to government offices, the
FBIB Daily Reports are made available to representatives of the press and
radio and to various university libraries.
The use by government agencies of the foreign radio broadcast mater-
ial intercepted by FBIB falls into the following categories=
(a) Intelligence -- Research units of intelligence
offices utilize the content of foreign broadcasts for
the specific intelligence items contained therein. In
the Balkans, Eastern Europe, the Near East, Russia and the
Far East especially, foreign radio broadcasts contain in-
formation not obtainable from any other source with the
same speed and completeness, if at all.
(b) Propaganda -- Foreign broadcasts represent one of
the most important media of propaganda available to foreign
governments. The content of such broadcasts is essential
to officials responsible for the analysis of foreign propaganda
Approved For Release 2005/04/21 : CIA-RDP57-00384R000200150001-5
 Approved For Release 2005/04/24' CIA-RDP57-00384R0200150001-5
W NOW
and the preparation of counter-propaganda measures.
(a) News -- Policy-making officials who need to keep
abreast of day-to-day developments in foreign countries
obtain such information more rapidly and completely through
the monitoring of foreign broadcasts than is possible from
other sources.
31 Its Operation
(a) Collection= The Foreign Broadcast Information Branch inter-
caepte short and medium wave foreign transmissions
Each monitoring station contains engineers, linguists,
and editors who cover a definite schedule of programs each day. The hundreds
of thousands of words monitored daily at each field station are screened in
the field and the significant content is transmitted to Washington head-
quarters of FBIB by radio teletype.
(b) Processing and Distribution: Each day approximately 200,000
words of text is sent to Vaashiugton from the =field stations of FBI13.
This represents the important substance of the more than 2,000,000 words
monitored by FBIB linguists around the world.
The most urgent intelligence material is transmitted im-
mediately via a direct wire service to the State, War and Navy Departments.
This wire, which is known as the FBIB "A" wire, provides a running summary
throughout the working day of the most significant broadcasts received from
the field stations.
The urgent propaganda material from foreign broadcasts is
transmitted immediately by a separate circuit known as the FBIB "C" wire
to the State Department's International Broadcast Division in New York.
Approved For Release 2005/04/21 : CIA-RDP57-00384R000200150001-5
 Approved For Release 2005/04/223- CIA-RDP57-00384RO00Q200150001-5
This wire is operated around the clock and provides the State Department
with material for its counter-propaganda broadcasts to foreign countries.
Lass urgent intelligence and propaganda material is distributed
to interested government agencies in the form of a mimeographed "Daily Report
of Foreign Broadcasts". This report is sub-divided into a European Section,
Far Eastern Section, and Latin American Section, and contains on the average
a total of 65,000 words of text. Over 650 copies of the Daily Report are
distributed to government officials five days a week. This daily report is
prepared by a staff of editors in Washington from the material transmitted
to headquarters by the monitoring stations in the field.
Of the 200,000 words transmitted to Washington daily from the
field, approximately half is not put on the wire circuits or in the daily
reports because of physical limitations on the amount of wordage that can
be handled by the present FBIB facilities. This is not destroyed, however,
but is distributed by mail or courier to many different government offices
in accordance with their specific needs for information contained in foreign
broadcasts.
In addition to the above distribution of broadcast text, FBIB
prepares periodically special topical and regional reports. Such reports
condense all available information on foreign broadcasts pertaining to a
given subject or to a particular part of the world.
III. Proposed Changes in operations
During fiscal year 1948, it is planned to relocate some of the
existing field monitoring stations. These changes will be made in the
interest of more economical operation, better reception or both; so that
more and cheaper monitoring coverage can be provided without expanding existing
Approved For Release 2005/04/21 : CIA-RDP57-00384R000200150001-5
 Approved For Release 2005/04/A-: CIA-RDP57-003848000200150001-5
%W'd NOW
facilities. Present plans call for the relocation of the listening post at
STAT
STAT
It is hoped
that these moves will. be completed by the end of fiscal year 1947, but
unforseen delays may postpone the transfer of facilities until fiscal
year 1948.
In the Pacific, it is planned to construct a new monitoring
STAT station to obtain more complete coverage of medium and short
wave broadcasts from Siberia, Korea, China and other parts of the Far East.
ice this station is constructed and is operating satisfactorily, it will
be possible to discontinue the monitoring station
STAT
STAT
facilities would not only be made to obtain better reception, but also may
be necessary as fk result of the present political instability
Its Cost
The overt monitoring system planned for fiscal year 1948 will require
STAT
STAT
of which would be unclassified and filled by native
employees. It is estimated that the total cost of the FBIB operations will
approximate
It also may be necessary to move the existing monitoring station
In the estimates for the collection activities of FBIB, this request
STAT includes
employees with total annual salaries of
D
STAT
STAT
I In the STAT
general administration, processing and distribution activities of PBIB, this
STAT request includes
employees with annual salaries totaling
0
STAT
A detailed breakdown of personal services by organizational unit and of
other obligations by appropriation symbol are included in the attached table,
(AppenApvfd For Release 2005/04/21 : CIA-RDP57-00384R000200150001-5