103.9166/6687: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman)
1190. Personal from Sherwood, OWI. Your 1760 from Spewack very helpful, thanks. Your plans dovetail in general with ideas we discussed here in October.
The magazine project involves many difficulties, however. Transportation which is so uncertain and slow is the main obstacle. Is it possible for the Embassy to give us any assurance of being able to ship such a magazine? Suggest you reexamine possibility of printing deliberately unpretentious illustrated weekly or bi-weekly in Russian as a possible alternative, using radiophoto material and cable.
The suggestion made by you of a daily news bulletin for officials is excellent and in order to make news service useful to you we are doing our utmost here. We are striving toward the goal of prompt delivery of eight to ten thousand words daily consisting of full texts of important documents or speeches, confidential summary, flash news and roundup of editorials. The elapse of some weeks or even months may take place before we can get adequate relay time over Algiers radio and we are able to build up adequate communications.
[Here follows discussion concerning personnel possibilities.]
- [Sherwood]
- Stettinius