Warriors of disinformation : American propaganda, Soviet lies, and the winning of the Cold War : an insider's account by Snyder Alvin A

Author:Snyder, Alvin A [Snyder, Alvin A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: United States Information Agency, USA / Information Agency, Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan (1979-1989), Cold War (1945-1989), Propaganda, American, Cold War, Propagande américaine, Guerre froide, Koude Oorlog, Ost-West-Konflikt
ISBN: 1559703210
Publisher: New York : Arcade Pub.
Published: 1995-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Our top engineer/architect, Barry Malko, soon found shortcuts for building studios and offices. Normally it would have taken a year or longer to get construction permits, but Malko discovered that though he was dealing with a historical building he didn’t have to go through regular channels. Construction could be started immediately without the usual permits. The second he had finished the architectural and engineering plans, Malko began tearing down walls. Cameras, lights, videotape machines—everything had tobe purchased, but it was important to keep USIA’s bureaucracy out ofthe picture as much as possible to avoid costly delays. Malko contacted John Klein, the American Embassy’s chief business officer and a cracker jack operator who knew how to cut corners. Klein’s only request was that Malko keep Washington off his back. Malko called the USIA’s chief contracting officer in Washington, Phil Rogers, to tell him how many problems there were in Berlin, and how much of his time would be required to sort things out. Malko was trying his best to convince Rogers to give up control of the project. Rogers agreed.

German labor laws required that every office have an outside view and a large number of “tea kitchens” for staff use. Malko made sure all his bases were covered. Experience in managing large government projects had taught him that the first couple of months were critical and that before you started anything all of the key ingredients had to be gathered. He worked 16-hour days. Walls went up; crates of camera and editing equipment began to arrive. There was the problem of hiring a staff of some two hundred, then getting them to focus on the content of the programs. Gerhard Besserer felt that the material could be quirky but, above all, it had to be credible.“If anyone knows what propaganda is, it’s the people who live under communism,” Besserer pointed out. Although Besserer had done amazing things with RIAS Radio, he lacked TV experience, so we hired Peter Kendall as a consultant, and CBS News director Robert Camfiord was brought in to train the technical production staff.

German television was not known for its glitz. It was not uncommon for a German TV news anchor to stare blankly at the camera and say, “Where am I going next, to sports or weather?” Kendall felt it would be necessary to raise the energy level and to give things more polish. He therefore introduced the “telex,” a hidden earphone through which instructions to the anchor are barked from the director in the control room. Kendall looked at the cramped control room. He noticed there was no seat for Besserer, the broadcast’s producer. “Where are you going to sit during the news?” he asked Besserer. “In my office,” replied the young German. “No you’re not.You’re going to be in the control room,” replied Kendall, who then ordered that the control room be expanded in size.

A major dress rehearsal was scheduled for the weekend before RIAS-TV’s inaugural broadcast. A few days prior to the rehearsal, Kendall noticed that Besserer was not in his office.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.