Millions Hear Voice of America at 50 : Radio: The agency’s first broadcast in 1942 went to Nazi Germany. Now it teaches democracy to listeners in the dismantled Soviet empire.

When Voice of America delivered its first broadcast to Nazi Germany in 1942, the news was dramatically delivered by professional radio actors, led by the U.S. government-run agency’s director, John Houseman.

The international broadcasting agency that celebrates its 50th anniversary today is now heard around the world in 47 languages by an estimated 127 million people, and its reports are presented in the straightforward, balanced style typical of American news broadcasts.

Its goals have also changed.

While the Voice of America’s mandate “to give the news accurately, comprehensively and objectively” remains intact, its broader aims have been revised to accommodate the massive reforms in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The broadcasts heard now in formerly Communist countries provide information on the mechanics of establishing a democracy.

“There is definitely an increased emphasis in the post-1989 VOA on specific ‘how-to’s,’ ” said Chase Untermeyer, executive director of Voice of America, which has an annual budget of $365 million and operates within the United States Information Agency. “People think that our mission ended because the Berlin Wall came down and the hammer and sickle came down, but just looking at the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe and the old Soviet Union, things are far from settled as far as their political future. Those people are in particular need of information on how to put together a democracy, how to encourage a free market, and they need encouragement and solidarity from the rest of the world in sticking to that noble mission: to convert an entire society.”

To that end, VOA developed a series called “Democracy in Action” and has produced more than 100 programs on a range of topics--from the somewhat esoteric, such as lessons of “The Federalist Papers,” to the more practical, such as how to organize a school system and how to get a bank loan.

“The VOA has actually adapted reasonably well,” said Jonathan Aronson, a professor of international relations at USC. “Their broadcasting of information is perceived to be pretty useful by the people who receive it, though I don’t think it has quite the cachet of the BBC (World Service).” Untermeyer acknowledges that many people have tended to view Voice of America--along with such other international broadcast agencies as Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty--as a propaganda tool that preaches the wonders of democracy and warns against the ills of other governmental systems, but he terms that notion a misconception.

“It was never intended to be an anti-Soviet or anti-Communist tool,” Untermeyer said. “In fact, when it was set up to broadcast in Nazi Germany, even then it was not anti-Nazi so much as it was (attempting) to tell people in occupied Europe and Asia the truth of what was going on in the world, the bad news and the good news, as well as telling about the American institutions, American ideals and way of life.”

During times of upheaval abroad--such as the Tian An Men Square massacre in 1989 and the unraveling of the Soviet Union last year--Voice of America broadcasts are widely considered to be vital informational links to the populace, disseminating credible news reports when local channels had been shut down or were broadcasting false reports. Like most international broadcasts, Voice of America is still heard primarily on short-wave radio, though some of those broadcasts are picked up via satellite on AM and FM stations in Western Europe. Untermeyer said that the agency hopes eventually to utilize the still-fledgling technology of direct broadcast satellites, which would allow for better reception and less possibility of interference from jamming or sunspots.

There was some discussion earlier this year among officials in the Bush Administration about phasing out international broadcasts--particularly those of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty--due to the end of the Cold War, but Untermeyer said that he has not heard any rumblings to that effect about Voice of America, though he admits he is bracing for coming congressional hearings.

“There is legitimate interest on the Hill as to the future of international broadcasting, and we may well see lots of questions on that during the budget hearings this spring,” he said. “But I’m confident we’ll be able to make the case for our mission.

“It would be nice to believe in the space of the next 50 years that the entire world would achieve a state in which people of all countries were free and there would be strong local news media such as we have in the United States,” he said, “but I tend to think that over the next 50 years, as in the past 50 years, there will always be some despot who will oppress his own people or the neighbors, and these people will need to know what’s happening in the rest of the world.”