THE TRUTH HURTS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 11, 14 January 1944, Page 2

THE TRUTH HURTS

REACTIONS OF NAZIS ALLIED BROADCASTS JAMMED (0.C.) SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 10. Fearful of the inroads of Allied radio propaganda programmes, the jittery Nazis are attempting to "jam" all broadcasts beamed to Germany and her satellites. "If our propaganda broadcasts were not proving effective," reported Robert Morris Pierce, chief radio engineer for the psychological warfare branch of the Office of War Information in North Africa, who arrived in Los Angeles, "the Germans would not bother to spoil the reception." Pierce disclosed that there is no pre'pared propaganda in Allied programmes directed to the German people, the only material used being straight news programmes, truthfully told. "We feel the truth alone is a powerful weapon," ho said. As another example of the seriousness with which Allied broadcasts are taken, Pierce pointed to the immediate replies made by the Germans in their own programmes to claims made in the Allied newscasts. "We make no attempt to jam the German broadcasts," he declared, "because we feel our people have enough common sense to evaluate them properly for themselves. They have nothing to say that we are afraid of." The Allied broadcasts are made in German, French, Italian and English and are aired daily from 1 p.m. to 3 a.m. from powerful transmitters in the North African area. Pierce, who in civilian life was affiliated with a Los Angeles radio station, is credited with the feat of getting the Allied message to the Italian Fleet urging its surrender. He converted existing transmitting apparatus to a special wave band permitting the broadcast to be sent directly to the Italian ships.