Foreign Relations of the United States, 1917–1972, Volume VII, Public Diplomacy, 1964–1968

117. Minutes of a Meeting¹

Washington, undated

White House Task Force on Educational Television in Less-Developed Countries

Report of Organizing Meeting

The first meeting of the Task Force was held in the West Wing second-floor conference room on December 6, 1966 at 11 A.M. Those attending were:

Hon. Leonard H. Marks, Chairman

Hon. Douglass S. Cater, White House

Hon. Paul A. Miller, HEW

Ambassador Sol M. Linowitz

Mr. Douglas Batson, State

Dr. A.H. Moseman, AID

Dr. Bascom Story, AID

Mr. Tedson Meyers, Peace Corps

In his opening remarks, Chairman Marks noted that the President has requested a preliminary report from the Task Force within ninety days and a final report by July 1, 1967.² The report, Mr. Marks said, should be centered around three major points:

1. The effectiveness of television as an educational and nation-building tool in less-developed countries.

2. Present resources and future needs for utilizing ETV effectively in these countries.

3. The specific role the United States should play in providing assistance to meet these needs.

Messrs Moseman, Meyers and Miller reviewed the activities of their respective agencies in educational television. In the ensuing discussion, particular attention was paid to the question of making available to the Task Force whatever research has been done on the effectiveness of ETV in developing countries.

Ambassador Linowitz expressed his particular interest in educational television as a subject for a possible inter-American cooperative effort which might be proposed by the President at the OAS summit³ meeting next Spring. It was agreed that this possibility would be explored actively by the Task Force as part of its study.

The Task Force members agreed with the Chairman’s proposal that backstopping assistance for the Task Force would be provided by individuals from agencies on the Task Force, but that an executive secretary should be recruited as soon as possible to handle the overall affairs of the group. It was agreed that the executive secretary could be employed as a consultant by AID and that he could call on staff members from each of the agencies represented on the Task Force. Mr. Marks suggested that, until the executive secretary began his duties, any questions about the Task Force from the agencies involved should be referred to Mr. Wilson Dizard of his office. (Code 182, Extension 5330)

The following action assignments were agreed to:

1. Dr. Miller would provide the Task Force with the results of any studies made by HEW in connection with the American Samoa ETV project.

2. Dr. Moseman would supply the Task Force with a listing of overall AID activities in the educational field abroad.

3. Mr. Marks will keep the Task Force members informed on his attempts to recruit a qualified executive secretary for the group.

1. Source: Johnson Library, Office Files of the White House Aides, Files of Douglass Cater, Box 40, Cater, Douglass: Material on the Task Force on Education Television in Less-Developed Countries. No classification marking. No drafting information appears on the minutes. Marks sent the minutes to Cater, Linowitz, Miller, Moseman, Meyers, and Frankel under a December 9 memorandum, indicating that since the meeting he had interviewed Nelson “who was much attracted by the possibility of working with us.” (Ibid.)
2. See Document 114.
3. The OAS summit was held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, April 11–15, 1967. (Max Frankel, “Johnson and Other Chiefs Gather Without Fanfare,” New York Times, April 12, 1967, p. 1; and Russell Freeburg, “Lyndon Lauds Plan to Form Latin Market,” Chicago Tribune, April 15, 1967, p. 1) For further information about the summit, see Foreign Relations, 1964–1968, vol. XXXI, South and Central America; Mexico, Documents 50 and 51.