The Blies Y ugoslav Service
H. Carleton Greene, Derick Mirfin What For? Lt.-Col. Patrick Lort-Phillips
The Damnation of Faust Gabor Cossa IM m Unnatural Childbirth Cecilia Chance, Greif(' Smith Girl on the Highway Ernest Bornean Ai Raspberry for the Teacher
Miss. Georgina Baker, H. M. Dowling American Attitudes
Rhyming • Penelope Balogh
Slang Christopher Hall
THE BBC's YUGOSLAV SERVICE
am sorry to see the Spectator apparently falling into a trap which the BBC, with its long experience of broadcasting to Nazi, Fascist and Communist countries, has, I think, learnt to avoid.
The memorandum which you publish in your issue of March 11 is based on emigre resentments and faction squabbles, and is an extraordinary mix- ture of untruths, half-truths, trivialities and a few, a very few, valid points on which it would be possible to argue that the BBC had made an error of judgment.
As a former Head of the BBC German Service during the war, and of the East European Service between 1949 and 1950, I have had personal experi- ence of the bitterness.of German, Austrian, Russian, Rumanian, Bulga'n'thi and Yugoslav emigre politics, and of the wild accusations which factions from all those countries have made from time to time against t."BBC (and against each other). One lesson I learnt ,111 the jobs I have mentioned is that tl1e policy of our torei..n broadcasts, particularly to countries under a, nY form of dictatorship, must be firmly in British /lands, As indeed it is. Nothing that I have said should be interpreted as ,applying in any way to the people of many nationali- ties who, often in very difficult circumstances, have Worked with loyalty, devotion and great ability in the foreign services of the BBC. They too, with remarkably few exceptions, have been wise enough lo keep clear of emigre factions.
It is only a sense of obligation to the staff of the ,
ilgosIztv Service, in whom the BBC has complete confidence, that now leads me to comment on the curious campaign of misrepresentdtion to which the Spectator has lent 'itself for so long. To deal in detail with the allegations made in the 111. ernorandum in the Spectator of March 11 requires time and space. I hope you will provide the latter in Your next issue.—Yours faithfully,
II. CARLETON GREENE
Broadcasting House, W/ Director-General
[We will be glad to. —Editor. Spectator.]
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