Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961–1963, Volume XXV, Organization of Foreign Policy; Information Policy; United Nations; Scientific Matters

146. Memorandum From the Director of the U.S. Information Agency (Murrow) to the Deputy Directors and the Deputy Assistant Directors of the U.S. Information Agency¹

Washington, February 28, 1963.

SUBJECT

• USIA Policies on Handling of Public Opinion Poll Data

Effective immediately, we will observe the following policies with respect to the handling of foreign public opinion polls sponsored by this Agency.

A. Availability Outside the Executive Branch

1. Foreign public opinion polls bearing the classification “Confidential” and the contracts under which such polls were taken will, upon request by the Chairman of the appropriate Committees or Subcommittees of the Congress, be made available to the requesting Chairman and the ranking Minority Member of such Committees or Subcommittees. This availability will be made with the understanding that the material furnished will not appear in the records of the Committees or Subcommittees nor in any way be made public.

2. Polls bearing the classification “Confidential” will be declassified automatically two years after their completion unless at that time the interests of national security require them to remain classified. The declassified polls will be available upon request of Members of Congress or the press.

3. Polls bearing the designation “Official Use Only” will, upon request by the Chairman of the appropriate Committees or Subcommittees of the Congress, be made available to the Members of such Committees or Subcommittees. This availability will be made with the understanding that the material furnished will not appear in the records of the Committees or Subcommittees nor in any way be made public. One year from the completion of these polls, they will be available upon request of Members of Congress or the press.

4. Poll results will be declassified at monthly intervals upon authorization of the Director, and will be made available to the Congress and the press according to the above formula on request.

5. Since USIA lacks authority to disseminate classified material originating in other agencies of Government, documents in which such classified material is integrated with our polls will not be made available. The polls contained in such documents will be isolated from the other classified material and treated in accordance with points 1–4 above.

B. Determination of National Security Interest

1. Thirty days before the scheduled declassification of “Confidential” poll data, the Deputy Director (Policy and Plans) and the Director of the Information Research Service (IRS) shall recommend to the Director of the Agency what portion of the data if any shall remain classified in the interests of national security, as per A. 2. above. The decision to retain security classification on any poll data shall be made by the Director or, in his absence, the Acting Director.

2. Normally, security classification will be retained only when one or more of the following circumstances prevail: (a) Release of poll results would embarrass the host country, and such embarrassment would be detrimental to U.S. relations with that country; (b) release of poll results would identify and embarrass the polling organization, making it difficult or impossible for it or other local polling organizations to conduct further surveys for USIA; (c) release of poll results would embarrass a third country, and such embarrassment would be detrimental to that country’s relations with the U.S. or its relations with the country in which the poll was taken.

3. Poll results involving the popularity of the United States or that of any U.S. political figure shall not, in the absence of circumstances listed in paragraph B. 2., be construed as involving national security and therefore will be declassified as per the formula in section A. above.

C. Policy Clearance of Questionnaires

IRS shall submit to the Office of Policy (IOP) for prior policy clearance all questions to be included in polls financed or sponsored, in whole or part, by the Agency.

Edward R. Murrow

1. Source: Department of State, USIA Historical Collection, DF: Murrow-IRS Archives. No classification marking. The memorandum was addressed to: Donald M. Wilson (Deputy Director), Tom Sorensen (Deputy Director for Policy and Plans), Oren M. Stephens (Director of the Office of Research and Reference), Lowell Bennett (Director of the Office of Public Information), Edward V. Roberts (Assistant Director, Africa), Morrill Cody (Assistant Director, Europe), W. Kenneth Bunce (Assistant Director, Far East), Hewson A. Ryan (Assistant Director, Latin America), William B. King (Assistant Director, Near East and South Asia), and Leslie S. Brady (Assistant Director, Soviet Union and Eastern Europe).