811.91261/3–446: Telegram
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Kennan) to the Secretary of State
priority
[Received March 4—5:17 p.m.]
641. ReEmbs 566, Feb 27. New policy of censorship by Glavlit47 which began March 1 has so far been completely unsatisfactory to correspondents in Moscow. In four cases correspondents have been informed by telephone that stories have been killed but they have no way of learning whether other stories have been killed, partly censored, or sent in toto.
[Page 711]Correspondents are not certain whether they are receiving all incoming telegrams or whether their service messages to their offices are getting through. In one case Glavlit informed correspondent it had killed a service message in which he requested that his byline be removed because he could no longer be responsible for what was sent under his name.
Thus far no one at Glavlit has consented to discuss technique of new censorship with any correspondent. Glavlit secretaries have told correspondents to apply to Press Dept FonOff for all info but Press Dept replies that it knows nothing about new censorship. It may be that this is birth pains of new censorship but correspondents desire that their home offices be informed of present situation in Moscow.
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- Main Administration for Literature and Publishing, an organization of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union.↩