Reaching the Rus,siguis
One of the by-products of the Foreign Ministers' meeting in London is understood to have been a review of the means by which the Western Powers can attempt to make their point of view known behind the Iron Curtain, and in particular in Russia. Two methods of propaganda are available ; the first is by means of printed material and the second is by broadcasts. Of the two only the second offers much hope. That the Russians fear the effect of outside thoughts on a population unaccustomed to independent thinking is obvious from the efforts (mainly successful) which they have made to jam Russian-language broadcasts from British and American stations. Apparently, however, the two Governments intend to go on with the costly struggle to overcome jamming, which implies the use of more and higher-powered transmitters and almost continuous programmes. It is a losing battle. Russia is miserably equipped with suitable receiving-sets, and most of them are not privately owned. From time to time, maybe, Ivan Ivanovitch will twiddle the knob of the communal set and hear the insidious whisper of an alien idea. If he does, he will probably be profoundly shocked ; if he is not shocked, he will probably be arrested. Broadcasting to the satellite countries is another matter. Here the technique of clandestine listening is more established, reception on the whole easier and counter- measures less advanced. But it is doubtful whether the huge sums spent on broadcasting to Russia pay any worth-while dividends.
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