The Home Front
BOHN, WILLIAM E.
THE HOME FRONT By William E. Bohn The Loud and Clear Voice of the U.S. BOHN THERE IS not a spot in our Federal Government where the taxpayer gets a better run for his money than in the Voice of...
...He is a combination of scientist and businessman, having studied at Harvard, the University of California and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he served as assistant to the President...
...Add to all this experience Loomis' native energy and he seems to have been specifically designed for his job...
...When you enter the quarters of the VGA in the Department of Health...
...It is called America Illustrated and is sold on newsstands everywhere for about 20 cents...
...Since the chief activity of the Voice is radio broadcasting, another big man is the Radio Manager, Barry Zorthian...
...Some Near East country may show signs of slipping...
...Many of them—perhaps most—have met Communism face to face, have suffered because of it, and hence have a deep-down and practical understanding of it...
...They are against it because they know it...
...In the end it will not be bombs or rockets that will win...
...Enormous sums are spent on it...
...Each day he has charge of 100 separate broadcasts in 39 Ianguages...
...In the world-wide field something changes practically every day...
...BOHN THERE IS not a spot in our Federal Government where the taxpayer gets a better run for his money than in the Voice of America...
...But the Voice never gives up...
...Employees are sitting virtually in each others laps...
...There is no spot in the U.S...
...Under this sort of leadership, the VGA is constantly prepared to jump in quickly and take advantage of any new situation which may develop...
...People, desks, filing-cases, typewriters, broadcasting equipment, telephones elbow one another...
...Before you have talked with him five minutes, you come to the conclusion that he is a born administrator...
...There is no loafing, feet-on-desk, as there is in some other departments...
...This is a struggle of ideas...
...Education and Welfare, in Washington, the first impression is of crowding...
...But among those who suffer from the lack of elbow-room, you never hear a complaint...
...This is one proof of our effectiveness, Moscow would not spend hundreds of millions to keep us out if we were not getting in...
...Violence may break out somewhere...
...When the present Polish Government took over, it found that its predecessor had been spending 27 million dollars a year on jamming and decided that it did not pay...
...I suppose that when the executives of the Voice go before the appropriation committees of the House and Senate they ask for more space...
...Russian jamming, of course, grows constantly more effective...
...The Director is Henry Loomis, a lively chap who radiates vitality...
...A new broadcast may be called for...
...Mikoyan," February 2)—and this hot stuff was quickly beamed out over the world and, especially, into Russia...
...And these broadcasts are now supported by a monthly magazine in the Polish language...
...For example, when Soviet Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan had dinner with American trade union leaders, Liston Gak, Labor Editor of the Voice, prepared a summary of what was said which took in the main points covered by John Herling in his NEW LEADER article ("U.S...
...The world is its parish...
...When you read his biography, you learn that he has been trained for leadership in the most modern way...
...The Russians may move into a new spot...
...Perhaps a wave-length must be changed or a broadcast in a new language undertaken...
...Zorthian reports that the satellite countries are comparatively easy to penetrate...
...This brings me to two of the men at the head of the organization...
...These people are not against Communism just because they are paid to line up that way...
...The land of the Soviets is tougher and more expensive...
...Its lively and well-illustrated articles about life in the U.S...
...have roused so much interest that it is rapidly bought up wherever it is displayed...
...You soon get at the secret of this busyness...
...I am not saying that we should spend less on submarines or airplanes or rockets...
...Labor vs...
...James R. Killian, Special Assistant to the President for Science and Technology...
...Before coming to the Voice, Zorthian got his training as a newspaper man and as news editor of the International Section of the Columbia Broadcasting System...
...The Voice must be on its toes every minute, ready to throw overboard old plans and adopt new ones...
...Their earnestness sets the tone of the place...
...In the great war which divides the world, the experts who operate the VGA hold our most vital point...
...The purpose of the Voice is to fight Communism...
...What matters is how peoples line up for or against democracy, for or against dictatorship...
...So now our messages go into Poland unhindered and are widely listened to...
...What strikes an outsider about the executives, researchers, writers and broadcasters of the VGA is that they are not just Federal jobholders...
...where this battle is carried on more consciously or with more definite motive...
...There may be spots in our defense appropriations where we can save money, but I don't know where they are...
...He was brought to Washington by Dr...
...What I am maintaining is that we should give complete and enthusiastic support to our men who are directing the American forces in the war of ideas...
Vol. 42 • March 1959 • No. 9
