811.42700(R)/12–2747
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Smith) to the Secretary of State 1
No. 1973
The Ambassador has the honor to submit herewith a report of a recent conversation between a Soviet citizen and a member of the Embassy staff ….2
The informant stated that the “Voice of America” programs had a large and enthusiastic audience in Moscow. He did not have a radio set of his own and had not listened to the program enough times to comment upon its content himself, but his friends who had heard the broadcast apparently thought that the programs in general were of a very high quality. He stated that the news broadcast over the “Voice of America” reached a tremendous number of people merely by word of mouth, and that such word spread rapidly. As an example, he mentioned Secretary Harriman’s speech in Seattle, in which the Secretary spoke frankly with regard to the basic conflicts existing between the United States and the U.S.S.R.3 The visitors said that the speech, which was reported over the “Voice of America”, was known all over Moscow the following day, and that he was asked by friends at several printing establishments what his opinion was concerning the implications of Secretary Harriman’s speech—which they stated they had learned about through the “Voice of America” broadcast. The informant stressed that the people in the Soviet Union were hungry for “real news” and that he thought the “Voice of America” was one of the few channels through which they could receive such information concerning the outside world.
The magazine Amerika also received his enthusiastic praise. As a professional journalist with a knowledge of the technical side of publication, he particularly appreciated the magazine. The fine paper, the color pictures, the typography, everything about the publication struck him as being “first class”. The visitor had no criticism of the literary [Page 648] style, saying that he considered it to be very good and that he was surprised that the Americans could publish a magazine in which such excellent Russian from a stylistic standpoint was used.
The informant stated that it was very difficult to obtain copies of the magazine in Moscow, since its sale was extremely restricted. He had attempted to subscribe to Amerika, but was informed that it was available only on the newsstands.…
With regard to the content of the magazine, the caller thought that, in general, it was excellent, and he hesitated to make criticisms of things which might subsequently have been corrected since he had, unfortunately, not seen the last two numbers. However, he did mention that he sometimes had the feeling in reading Amerika that the magazine made too much of an attempt to whitewash the United States and paint a completely “good” picture, in contrast to the completely “bad” picture contained in the Soviet press.…4
Turning to the question of anti-American propaganda in the Soviet Union, the caller stated flatly that the majority of the people in the U.S.S.R. does not believe what is stated in the Soviet papers. He said that good will towards the United States is still at a high level, but that the overpowering fear engendered by the Soviet police state is such as to intimidate anyone from publicly expressing any views contrary to the Soviet propaganda line. He spoke many times of the “tragedy” of the Russian people—saying that their natural inclinations towards true democracy, peace and friendship were completely stifled by the Communist dictatorship. In their homes and with their own friends, the informant said, Russians today speak with genuine admiration of America, and envy those fortunate enough to live there.
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- This despatch appears to have been written by Walter J. Stoessel, second secretary of Embassy, and initialed by Foy D. Kohler, first secretary of Embassy in the Soviet Union.↩
- The anonymous visitor was described as being a journalist by profession, “obviously intelligent and well-educated.”↩
- Secretary of Commerce W. Averell Harriman made a speech on August 18 before the Chamber of Commerce in Seattle, Washington, which was subsequently attacked by Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg as an “incitement to war” in an article entitled “The Voice of a Writer” published in Pravda on October 4, 1947. Significant selections from this article were reported by Chargé Elbridge Durbrow in airgram A–1016 from Moscow on October 7, not printed.↩
- For earlier thoughts on this subject, see telegram 563 from Moscow on February 27, p. 537.↩