Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

The cost of doing this job ef- fectively is quite likely to be $20,- 000,000 a year. This figure is less than the amount spent yearly and individually by the British and the Russians. Indeed, as time goes on, the United States may find it neces- sary to raise this figure substan- tially, if we are to match their world coverage. A Plan for the U. S. In an effort to stimulate discus- sion of the problem and to help solve it. I presented on January 9, 1943. to the Secretary of State, a tentative plan, the principal feat- ures of which are as follows: 1. That the United States Gov- ei'nment and the American broad- easting industry cooperate on a public service basis. Only the Gov- ernment can make known to the world the Nation's foreign policy, or provide the financial means com- mensurate with the task. On the other hand, private industry is needed to lend its initiative, in- genuity and experience to make this exposition eflfective. 2. That a public corporation be organized for this purpose and that it be charged with the responsi- bility for doing the job. The cor- poration might be owned jointly by Government and industry. 3. Such a public corporation should derive its legal authority from Congress through enactment of a bill that would define specifi- cally the purposes and scope of the organization, representing, as it would to the rest of the world, "The Voice of America". The organiza- tion should be removed as far as possible from political influence and domination. Its Board of Directors should be composed of representa- tives of the public, of industry, of labor, and of governmental depart- ments most directly concerned with our foreign policy and with other phases of our foreign relations. Such a Board would assure freedom for the presentation of non-partisan views of American life. 4. The Board of Directors shall select the managerial and operating staffs of the organization and be charged with the responsibility for its programs and activities. 5. The corporation would be the agency to establish direct relation- ships with the other international broadcasting organizations of the world, and would thus provide fa- cilities for inter-change of pro- grams, to be relayed and broadcast through local station tie-ins. Let me make it clear that my proposals relate solely to interna- tional broadcasting. They do not deal at all with the subject of do- mestic broadcasting, where the same problems do not exist. There is no need and I know of no inten- tion to depart from the American system of domestic broadcasting which, as a private enterprise, has found the way to support itself and to render a finer and freer broad- casting service to the American public than can be found in any other part of the world. A Plan for the U.N. In considering the subject of in- ternational broadcasting, I wish to stress the fact that if it is to be eflfective, the principle of Freedom to Listen must be established for all peoples of the world. This is as important as Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. People everywhere must be able to listen without restriction or fear. In the light of present-day world develop- ments, it would seem highly im- portant that the U.N. should be able to reach directly all people of the world so that they in turn may impress their thoughts and desires upon their leaders. In this way, the danger of the people being kept uninformed by their leaders would be overcome. One effective way to achieve this is for the U.N. to provide an effec- tive world-wide system of broad- casting that can reach all people of the world freely and simultaneous- ly. That system would supplement the plan I have outlined for inter- national broadcasting by the United States. To further this idea, I submitted to the oflScers of the United Nations, on April 4. 1946, a two-point plan, as follows: 1. Establish the principle of "Freedom to Listen" for all peo- ples of the world. 2. Establish an independent international broadcasting sys- tem to be known as "The Voice of U.N." This system should be owned and operated by the U.N. It should have a world-wide range and be used for broadcast- ing the public proceedings of the United Nations, for disseminat- ing its information to listeners everywhere and for spreading knowledge and understanding among the peoples of the World. "The Voice of U.N." should broadcast in the principal lan- guages employed throughout the World. The U.N. should continue to afford to other broadcasters and to the press the privilege of broadcasting and publishing its proceedings and information. I realize that many practical problems are involved in adopting and executing such a plan, techni- cally, politically and financially and that it will take time to achieve it. The technical problems can be solved by technical experts. The political problems can be solved by the membership of the United Na- tions. Financially, the problem is certainly not a serious one for the total number of nations comprising the U.N. The cost of erecting such a supplemental broadcasting sys- tem would be no greater than the cost of building one modern battle- ship. The potentialities of such a service for helping to preserve the peace of the world would seem greater than that of any single ship. These two plans for international broadcasting — one by the United States and one by the United Na- tions—are based upon the Ameri- can tradition of freedom. I submit them as a joint "Voice of Peace" that can speak around this planet and be heard by all the people every- where no matter what their race or creed or political philosophies. "Man of Science" General Sarnoff was selected to receive the first "Man of Science" award established by Science Illus- trated magazine in recognition of his contributions in building the radio industry and for his vision and imagination in developing re- search as a keystone of the Radio Corporation of America. The gold medal and scroll com- prising the award were presented to General Sarnoff by Dr. Gerald Wendt, editorial director of the magazine. RADIO AGE 27]