Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XXX, Public Diplomacy

122. Circular Telegram From the United States Information Agency to all Principal USIS Posts¹

Washington, March 16, 1978

USIA–7520. For PAOs from Director Reinhardt; Pass also all Branch Posts and Media Extension; CINCPAC for USIA Advisor.

As we move toward establishment of the International Communication Agency on April 1, I am deeply grateful to those of you who, over the past several months, have given us the benefit of your ideas, thoughts and suggestions with regard to the new Agency. I have appreciated particularly your helpful comments on what the new Agency should be called abroad. Your perspectives have been considered at great length and with great seriousness.

Very shortly, I shall be forwarding substantive thoughts, views and guidelines which, I trust, will be of help to you as you set about your work in the new Agency. In the meantime, there are certain administrative and logistical matters which must be attended to immediately. I would, therefore, appreciate your prompt attention to the following:

1. Effective April 1, the International Communication Agency will be known abroad as “International Communication Agency, United States of America.” You should not, repeat not, use the terms “United States Information Service” or “USIS” to identify any part of your activities. These names will cease to exist on April 1, as USIA and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will cease to exist.

2. Any element of an overseas mission now called “United States Information Service” or “USIS” should be identified as “International Communication Agency, Embassy of the United States of America.”

3. Elements of your post which are institutional in nature (e.g., libraries, BNC’s, Centers, etc.) may continue with their current names, except in those cases where institutional names contain the terms “United States Information Service,” “USIS,” “U.S. Information Center” or any variation or translation of these terms. The latter names must be changed on April 1. Where name changes are required, you should select a preferred new name and forward it soonest by cable through your area director for approval. Names such as “American Cultural Center,” “Thomas Jefferson Library,” “Benjamin Franklin Center,” “American Center,” etc. are entirely acceptable.

4. Within a matter of weeks, you will be receiving information and guidance by pouch on new stationery and other printed materials. In the meantime, you are to make temporary, interim arrangements so that, effective April 1, your post activities are identified either as “International Communication Agency, Embassy of the United States of America” (non-institutional presence), or, for example, “Benjamin Franklin Center, International Communication Agency, United States of America” (institutional presence). In all instances, you are to spell out the words “International Communication Agency”; you are not to use the initials “ICA” or “USICA” in printed form. You should use no stationery or other printed materials on April 1 or thereafter which refer to the “United States Information Service” or “USIS”. Pending further guidance, you should likewise make arrangements to remove, effective April 1, any signs bearing these terms and substitute interim signs identifying your post with the new Agency name.

5. There is a preference for using “International Communication Agency,” wherever possible, in English. However, where you feel it is essential or desirable to translate the name, your recommended translation should be forwarded immediately for approval through your area director. An official Agency translation in each language will then be decided upon for coordinated Agency-wide use.

6. All posts in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, excepting only those in Yugoslavia, are specifically excluded from the above decisions. These posts will be handled as a separate matter and should continue to operate for the time being under the “P&C” designation.

7. I trust you will do everything possible to insure that these and other changes in the weeks ahead cause minimal disruption to your programs and activities. In launching a new organization, we must all exert extra effort to maintain program continuity and effectiveness.

I appreciate fully the strong feelings many of you have expressed about retaining the “USIS” name used for many years overseas. I share a certain emotion that, for us and our colleagues in CU, must inevitably accompany the passing of two old and beloved organizations which have commanded so much of our professional lives and energies, and which, I am convinced, have contributed far beyond popular recognition to our interests and well-being as a nation. I realize, too, that this change may cause you some short-term difficulties in your work.

Nonetheless, the President has made it clear that the establishment of the International Communication Agency is an act of creation. I subscribe fully and enthusiastically to this view. As I have said repeatedly, I am firmly committed to the notion that the new Agency be more than the simple sum of its constituent parts, that it be a truly new Agency with new visions, new structures, new relationships, new thought patterns and new objectives, all pursued with renewed professional commitment.

Our name—at home and abroad—must reflect this transition, this act of creation. I warmly commend the dedication and the skills you have displayed in behalf of USIA, the American Government and the American people. I look forward to your even greater contribution, to your full cooperation and support, as a part of the International Communication Agency.

Any questions you may have about our name abroad or the logistics of carrying out the decisions outlined above should be directed to IOM through your area director.

Reinhardt

1. Source: National Archives, RG 306, USIA Historical Collection, Subject Files, 1953–2000, Entry A–1 1066, Box 43, United States International Communications Agency Reorganization, 1977–1978. Unclassified; Priority. Drafted by Cohen on March 15; cleared by Jacobs on March 16; approved by Reinhardt. Sent Priority to CINCPAC. Sent for information to Vance. There is no time of transmission on the telegram.