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October 31, 1945
PALEY BACK AT CBS AFTER TWO YEARS’ MILITARY SERVICE ABROAD
Col. William S. Paley, having done his bit overseas, is back again in the harness as President of the Columbia Broadcasting System and like the humblest GI is good and glad that he is home. There had been considerable speculation about Mr. Paley’ s return, one rumor being that he was out of Columbia altogether. The report most frequently heard was that he would resume the presidency but soon thereafter would be elevated to Chairman of the Board with Paul W. Kesten, Executive Vice-President, succeeding him as Presi¬ dent and Frank Stanton, moved up to succeed Mr. Kesten.
On October 6, 1943, Mr. Paley asked for leave of absence to accept a special assignment from the Office of War Information that would attach him to the Psychological Warfare Branch of Allied Forces Headquarters in the Mediterranean. His first task, begun a few weeks later, was to supervise the Allies’ radio broadcasting activities in North Africa and Italy.
Shortly after General Eisenhower was given supreme command of Allied Forces in Europe, Mr. Paley followed him to London to be¬ come Chief of Radio at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces. All military broadcasting to enemy and enemy occupied terri¬ tory, as well as control of radio units and public address systems in our own combat and consolida t ion zones were under his direction. The American Broadcasting Stations in Europe (ABSIE) were also made part of his responsibility.
Transferred from OWI to the Amy in March, 1945, Mr. Paley was commissioned a Colonel and made Deputy Chief of all activities within the Psychological Warfare Division of SHAEF. He served in tnis capacity under General McClure in both liberated and occupied territories until his return to the United States.
In his first statement last Monday since resuming civilian status, Colonel Paley said that utilization of wartime technical advances in radio broadcasting calls for "careful planning, intens¬ ive research, the highest degree of creative effort and a good deal of all-* round ingenuity."
"We also face the world-wide problems of peace, which no one can say are less serious than the problems of the war", he con¬ tinued. "Never was it more important to furnish a people with all the facts, ideas and opinions as they emerge; to furnish them in a responsible, courageous and fair manner.
"Now that the war is behind us, we in broadcasting face new problems. Technical advances made in our field, under the
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