124. Transcript of Interview With the Director of the Voice of America (Loomis) Prepared in the United States Information Agency1
MBS Reporter, Bill COSTELLO, interviews Henry LOOMIS, Director of the VOICE OF AMERICA, on “CAPITAL ASSIGNMENT,” broadcast Friday, May 10, 1963, MUTUAL BROADCASTING SYSTEM.
C. Mr. Loomis, do you think the American people ought to hear some of the broadcasts the Voice of America sends abroad?
L. Yes, I do. I think the American people are entitled to know what the Voice of America is saying in their name overseas.
C. Mr. Loomis, in a recent speech you suggested the domestic use of some broadcasts which are sent out by the Voice of America for worldwide consumption. Wouldn’t that be a radically new departure?
L. No, it would not. For several years we have made our material available to domestic stations, primarily educational stations. We made [Page 325] them available at no cost and at their request. Now, all such programs are attributed to us when they are played by the educational stations domestically. So this is not a departure from at least current practice.
C. Well, isn’t there a law forbidding the use of any kind of propaganda broadcasts here in the States?
L. There is a—the intent of Congress2 is clear that we spend our effort broadcasting overseas. On the other hand, the legislation does require us to make available to the press and other responsible U.S. citizens examples of our product, and we view that what we are doing comes under that latter clause. We are making available to domestic stations examples of what we are saying overseas, so that the American people can evaluate themselves on how we are performing.
C. What type of program do you make available to this, as you say, primarily the educational broadcasting stations?
L. In most cases it is material that is not tied to local, current events because this is all a tape network and it sometimes is many months until it is shown domestically. So this would be material like an educational lecture we did on American Law, or one we may do on farming, or economic system, or something of that nature. We made a series available on our tactics of Communism, which was a series we prepared for exposing Communism to overseas audiences. I would again like to point out that we prepare no program for a domestic audience. Everything that is played domestically was prepared for an overseas audience and is being used as an example domestically.
C. In other words, it’s just fair—it’s a rebroadcast here at home. Now I infer from what you say that the type of material which is requested by these local—domestic stations—does not deal with any current, political topics in particular.
L. That is true in most cases. There is one exception, which is the educational station in Washington,3 because it is physically close to us and it has communications with three other stations, I believe in New York, Philadelphia and Boston, and they take from us normally one or two commentaries a day. Now these are tied to current, political issues. They select the commentaries they wish, and every commentary is labeled “This is what the Voice of America is saying overseas” on the Laotian situation, or whatever it may be . . .
[Page 326]C. As I recall it, the intent of Congress when these restrictions were placed on Voice of America, the intent was to prevent the Government from embarking on a program of political propaganda which might affect party relationships at home here. Now I judge from what you say that you don’t even come close to that dangerous ground.
L. That is at least our view. Our commentaries are almost entirely dealing with international events. The only domestic events which our commentaries deal with would be major ones, such as race relations. But in at least every case to my knowledge, the ones that have been picked up for domestic use are dealing only with the international problems, such as Laos, Germany, and so forth.
C. Suppose the number of requests you receive for this type of program should increase. And, in fact, suppose it should become substantial, do you think Congress would want to review this practice and do you think it would be ready to change its attitude on the . . . and change the legislation?
L. Of course, whatever Congress may desire is its prerogative. I think myself, as long as the numbers . . . amount is kept within reason . . . but the thing that is most important, as long as each one is attributed so that there is no question in anyone’s mind what is the source of the information, I think that prevents the Government from doing any propaganda on its own people. If this material was done clandestinely so that it was snuck over on the American people without their knowledge—that in my judgment, is what is dangerous and wrong. But here, where you are saying “This is what your Government is saying to the audience in Asia” . . . I think this is a very proper thing.
C. The other day your superior, and the head of the USIA, Edward R. Murrow, complained that he has only about a thousand on the staff of USIA compared with 35 thousand missionaries overseas. And he thinks that this is pretty small staff with which to carry on American propaganda. Now, am I right in assuming that the money that is being spent to distribute programs domestically might better be used in overseas broadcasts?
L. Well, there is absolutely zero money being spent to distribute this material domestically. We send the tapes to the National Educational Broadcasters. We get back from them much more than we give and the only expense is the mailing of a tape—one tape. Any copies are made at the expense of the station requesting it. So that in this mutual relationship that we have with the educational stations, we get much more than we give.
- Source: National Archives, RG 306, Office of the Director, Office of Public Information, Speech Files, 1958–1971, Entry A1–20, Radio—TV Interviews, etc., 1963. No classification marking. Transcribed from the MBS tape by H.C. Fitzpatrick of I/R. Written in an unknown hand in the top right-hand corner of the transcript is a note regarding distribution of the transcript and tape. Copies were sent to Hamilton (with tape) and to IGC. ↩
- Reference is to the United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (PL 80–402), also known as the Smith-Mundt Act. See footnote 2, Document 1.↩
- Presumable reference to either the radio station WAMU, which was established in 1951 as a student radio station at American University in Washington, or television station WETA, which first began broadcasting in Washington in 1961.↩