RADIO MONITORS

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 January 1941, Page 9

RADIO MONITORS

AUSTRALIAN GIRLS’ WORK Half a dozen people in Melbourne are spending 24 hours a day, between them, listening in to the world s news from Berlin and Barcelona, London and Los Angeles, Moscow, Ankara, Tokio, Rome—and from many other sources. Their job is to compile bulletins for official and semi-official use all over Australia. These radio monitors, among whom are girls, work in the broadcasting section of the Department of Information in Melbourne. They know about as much of international affairs as anyone in the country, and their work forms the basis of a big part of the news comment broadcast daily fiom Australian shortwave stations to foreign countries. It enables Australia to deny, without delay, many false and damaging statements broadcast by Berlin and Rome. It also provides, for local commentators on the news, a broad, balanced and reliable background of information on contentious matters. All the monitors are British people who have graduated, from a University, and all have lived for long periods in foreign countries. The foreign languages they speak are French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian Most accomplished linguist is a girl who speaks Russian, German, French and English with equal fluency. All of them can speak at least three languages, including Gernian and French, and most of them have at least a smattering of Italian and Spanish as well.' There is only one specialist in Russian. ' , By disposing its monitors thiough the day and night according to their linguistic attainments, the department is able to keep a watch on all the important broadcasts from the chief centres of news. In addition to maintaining a constant watch on these centres, it keeps an ear to other places, such as Tokio, Ankara, Belgrade and Budapest, through their broadcasts in English. When the war started, the department’s monitoring staff was all voluntary helpers.

Later, a permanent staff was appointed, all of whom had a wide knowledge of international affairs as well as considerable ability in shorthand and languages. A knowledge of international affairs was essential, so that they would use some discretion in taking notes.' Their knowledge of languages was more than academic.

Principal activity is the recording each day of a complete broadcast from Berlin in German. This is played back, and one of' the monitoring staff translates and types the broadcast for comparison with other world broadcasts from many countries. From this record many ludicrous discrepancies in German propaganda are discovered, and relayed to the Australian short-wave studios for apt comment. Receiving sets are at the Postmast-er-General’s radio station near Melbourne. Three land-lines from these sets are available at all times of the day or night, so that, if necessary, monitors ban take notes of broadcasts from three oyerseas countries simiiltahedusly.