THE BBC's YUGOSLAV SERVICE is irneresting and even fascinating to
sec that Mr. D. Clarke, once assistant to the head of the BBC Yugoslav service and presumably still in close enough touch to know what goes on there, has not defended the broadcasts at all against Mr. Marn's quite specific accusations. He argues only that mere crude anti-Communism will not do—but no one has asked for such a substitute. All that is asked for is objectivity. the very quality for which the BBC was once so famous, There are some other points in Mr. Clarke's letter which require comment. Perhaps the British Embassy in Belgrade was beginning to feel that Mr. Clarke's broadcasts Were 'tactless and officious,' but a very large number of Yugoslav listeners did not share that view. Mr. Clarke would hardly be broadcasting today if he had stayed at the BBC; he 'silenced himself' long • before he left Bush House.
The fact that the West felt, at a certain time, that it was good policy to support and assist Tito, surely does not .mean that the BBC had to identify itself with the Yugoslav Communist point of view, and thus support and assist a Communist dictatorship. The West is also giving support to Franco, but 1 am not aware that the BBC's Spanish service is aS submissive and soft as it is towards the Yugoslav Communists, Neither am I aware that the Bulgarian and Rumanian sections of the BBC. for example, chUrn out 'elemen- tary anti-Communist propaganda.' What they broad- cast is the truth which is often ignored or glossed over in the broadcasts to Yugoslavia.
Mr. Clarke has come more to the point when he says that • those who have power and influence in Yugoslavia tie.. Party members and fellow-travellers) arc. in his opinion, a receptive audience! This is an excellent illustration of the type of mentality which Mr. Peter Wiles criticised when he studied and re- ported on the work of the Russian section—the mentality which believes in attempting to convert the Communist leadership. This is both futile and naive. The inevitable consequence of such an attitude is to soft-pedal anything which might offend the Com- munist susceptibilities. So in order. to keep the Yugo- slav Communists even-tempered one has to do what the BBC is doing now. No foreign service of the BBC is meant for this. Truth is indivisible .whether the audience consists of Communists or their victims.
What is needed is really good objective reporting and fair criticism where necessary of the abuses of the Communist regime. This would certainly keep millions of Yugoslays glued to their sets. It would also annoy the Yugoslav Communists; but is the fact that the Yugoslav Communists would be annoyed any justification for the continuation of' the present BBC policy?—Yours faithfully, 475/. George's Drive, SW! ANDREW Al .EXANDER
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