MY ONLY CRITICISM of Britain's Voice Abroad, the latest in
the Daily Mirror 'Spotlight' series, is that it does not go for enough—possibly because the Mirror's foreign correspon- dence is so slight that it has relatively little first-hand experience. Nevertheless the authors make their point that the British propaganda machine is old-fashioned, rusty, and utterly unfitted for its purpose. One reason is that the various bodies concerned never know from one day to the next whether their funds are going to continue or whether some Government economy drive is going to cut them off at source. But the other is perhaps more serious : that no Government department can disabuse itself of the notion that its members are perfectly capable of handling publicity, even if they have no experience. The result is that the information officers employed abroad, say, by the Foreign Office are usually appointed either as a routine step in their career Or the good jobs) or as a warning (in the less good jobs).
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