Office of the Historian

184. Memorandum From the Deputy Secretary of State (Irwin) to the Director of the United States Information Agency (Shakespeare)1

Washington, December 14, 1972
Dear Frank:

We have taken another look at a subject which, for some time, has been a matter of concern both to us in the Department and to you in USIA, “The US Image Problem in Western European Media”. I am pleased to send you a copy of a paper we have just prepared on this subject.2

As the paper makes clear, USIA as well as the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the Department have given a good deal of attention to this problem and have been working at it with some success. The paper does, however, offer a number of suggestions for further action by the Department, USIA and our Embassies in Western Europe. The recommendations, I am informed, have been cleared informally with appropriate elements of USIA.

I appreciate the considerable effort which USIA along with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs have already made in dealing with the problem. As the paper points out, we would be well advised to put additional resources into this effort if we wish to make more headway in coping with the situation. The recommendations strike me as being reasonable and constructive.

I have already requested the CU and EUR Bureaus of the Department to carry out those recommendations that are within their jurisdictions. Since some of these proposals necessarily involve action by your Agency, I hope that the Department and USIA can cooperate in putting them into effect.

I believe that concerted action by the Department, USIA and the Embassies, even if it may not completely eliminate the problem, can go a long way toward reducing its dimensions.

Sincerely,

John N. Irwin II3
  1. Source: National Archives, RG 306, Director’s Subject Files, 1968–1972, Entry A1–42, Box 28, 1972 OGA—State (Sept.–Dec). No classification marking. Towery and Hoffman initialed the top right-hand corner of the memorandum.↩
  2. Enclosed but not printed is a paper entitled “The U.S. Image Problem in Western European Media.”↩
  3. Irwin signed “Jack” above this typed signature.↩