RADIO
WAR
GUIDE

  OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION

Number 2

July 1, 1942

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suggestions to help you understand the
relative programming importance of

1		FACTUAL WAR INFORMATION
2		GENERAL PROGRAM IDEAS

1. FACTUAL WAR INFORMATION

WHAT IT CONSISTS OF

On the following page are the current rankings of the thirty-odd specific subjects on which Government departments or agencies are sending you announcements, transcriptions, scripts, etc., at the present time. In greater or lesser degree, all of these are related to the War effort. It has not been possible to include War information subjects issued by private organizations--however worthy.

HOW YOU MIGHT USE IT

The Office of War Information, serving as the coordinating agency, has met with the Information departments of the Government to determine the relative radio importance of these War information subjects. These rankings are of course temporary. (A new chart will be issued when changes in priority occur.)

The time and types of programs and spots available for Government messages vary from station to station. We have no intention of telling you when, where, or how to space these. However, we have indicated in the headings of the various classifications the relative proportion of emphasis which each deserves in the War effort.

CURRENT PRIORITY RANKINGS
	AA The material is "rush" and should be allotted about 40 percent of the total "program units you can use for war messages (a spot announcement or a 15-minute show are each considered one "program unit").	A This material is of major importance and should be allotted about 30 percent of your available "program units."	B This is supplementary material and should be allotted no more than 20 percent of your available "program units."	C This material should be used only if material in the preceding classifications has been adequately presented.
NATIONAL (This material is for use by all stations.)	Recruiting for Naval Services: Navy, Marines, Merchant Marine, Coast Guard Recruiting for Army Production drive information (WPB) Price control (WPB-OPA) Sale of War Bonds and Stamps (Treasury) U.S.O. (until July 4)	Automobile and truck pooling (WPB and department of Agriculture) Gasoline rationing (WPB-OPA) Labor recruitment and training for war industries (States and local offices of the U.S.E.S.) Need for nurses (Federal Security Agency) Civilian enrollment for voluntary service Office of Civilian Defense) Recruiting of shipyard workers (Maritime Commission; and State and local offices of the U.S.E.S.)	Salvage of rubber, scrap, metal, rags (WPB-OPA) National nutrition drive (Federal Security Agency First aid information (Office of Civilian Defense) Child welfare in wartime (Department of Labor) Information on the other American Republics (Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs)	Conserve electric power (WPB-OPA) Conservation of household equipment--refrigerators, stoves, etc. (Office of Civilian Defense and Department of Agriculture) WPA concerts (Federal Works Agency) Civil service war jobs (Civil Service Commission)
REGIONAL (This material is for use only by stations in indicated areas.)	Grain storage (Department of Agriculture). AREAS: Corn Belt, West Coast, Great Plains	Bureau of Reclamation (Department of the Interior). AREAS: West of Denver Farm labor shortage (Department of Agriculture). AREAS: to be indicated by State and locale offices of the U.S.E.S.) Increased supplies of farm products vital to war (Department of Agriculture). AREAS: All farm regions.	Bonneville power program (Department of the Interior). AREAS: Oregon, Washington, Idaho Forest fire prevention (Department of Agriculture and National Park Service). AREAS: Rocky Mountain, West Coast, and Appalachian region Victory fund specials (Department of Agriculture). AREAS: To be indicated by Department of Agriculture direct to stations concerned	Mine safety (Department of the Interior). AREAS: Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Idaho

2. GENERAL PROGRAM IDEAS

A. THE SIX THEMES

Many stations have developed programs based on the six basic themes contained in the speech of the President on January 6, 1942. OWI appreciates the efforts of local stations to further the understanding of these problems and urges their continued treatment. The themes are:

1. THE ISSUES--What we are fighting for . . . Why we fight.

2. THE ENEMY--The nature of our adversary . . . Whom we fight.

3. THE UNITED NATIONS AND PEOPLES--Our brothers-in-arms . . . With whom we are allied in fighting.

4. WORK AND PRODUCTION--The war at home . . . How each of us can fight.

5. SACRIFICE--What we must give up to win the fight.

6. THE FIGHTING FORCES--The job of the fighting man at the front.

Two of the most vital of the basic themes, however, have not received full radio treatment: The Issues and The United Nations and Peoples.

THE ISSUES

Virtually as important as war matériel is a nation which knows and understands what it is fighting for. (Another way of saying, "Morale is just as important as matériel.")

You, as a local station program director, can make clear to your community that we are fighting for the four freedoms . . . freedom from want and fear, freedom of religion and speech.

Through forums and talks by informed local leaders, through news discussions showing what less of these freedoms has meant in conquered countries; through dramatic programs highlighting the value of the four freedoms, you can make people realize that what we are fighting for is important to EVERYONE.

OWI Intelligence reports that people do want to know this . . . that when they do, it fortifies their desire for a determined 100% effort in the war drive.

THE UNITED NATIONS

One way to create unity is to make it absolutely clear that Chinese soldiers and civilians, British soldiers and civilians Russian soldiers and civilians, all the peoples of the United Nations, are fighting the same fight as U.S. soldiers and civilians.

Oceans and mountains are no barriers against aggressions. Wherever the enemy is . . . and wherever our allies fight him . . . America's battle is being fought. And being fought superbly.

But it must be made unmistakably clear at every opportunity  . . . by featuring the fight that our allies are putting up . . . that we are all in the war together; that there's a bond of unity between Chinese workers building roads and American technicians building airfields. It's our fight together, and our victory together.

B. THE "ANTI-INFLATION" PROGRAM

HOW YOUR STATION CAN HELP FIGHT INFLATION

The Problem

The United States has begun an all-out war on the home front. It is a war against inflation--against the rising cost of living.

If left uncontrolled, inflation can wreck our way of life. It can literally lose the war for us.

It is, therefore, imperative for the people of the United State, working with their Government, to stop inflation and stop it as soon as possible.

What Can Be Done To Stop It

To stop inflation, President Roosevelt on April 27 of this year, suggested a seven-point program to the Nation. These points were:

1. We must, through heavier taxes, keep personal and corporate profits at a low reasonable rate.
2. We must fix ceilings of prices and rents.
3. We must stabilize wages.
4. We must stabilize farm prices.
5. We must put more billions into War Bonds.
6. We must ratio all essential commodities which are scarce.
7. We must discourage instalment buying and encourage paying off debts and mortgages.

In brief, all of us on the hone front must do with less so that the men on the fighting front will have more--more of the tools for victory.

The Need for Presenting This Plan via Radio

This seven-point plan will work only if the American people are willing to accept the sacrifices it entails. We know that Radio will, as usual, accept the responsibility of clarifying those of the seven points which it is capable of handling.

Specifically, Radio can help in the anti-inflation drive by telling people:

1. In general, what they should know.
2. Specifically, what they can do.

1. IN GENERAL WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW

1. This seven-point "anti-inflation" program is the most drastic and far-reaching economic program ever adopted in the United States.

2. It is already changing the daily lives of every man, woman and child--the routine of every farm, home, factory and retail shop. No person, no thing has been left untouched.

3. No one of the seven points can succeed alone in this war against inflation. Unless all seven points are successful, the fate of the whole plan is in jeopardy.

4. Specifically, these price ceilings cannot be held unless the public pays the stiff taxes and steps up its purchases of War Bonds. But taxes and Bond purchases will not siphon off the surplus spending power in the pockets of the public if wages are not stabilized. Wages cannot be stabilized if food prices continue to mount, boosting living costs. Farm prices cannot be stabilized if the costs of the things that the farmer buys are allowed to go up. And so it goes--very thread of the national economic policy weaves together in a single pattern.

5. This pattern necessarily means our normal ways of living and business will be disrupted--but certainly no one will flinch for a moment at these self-denials when they are necessary to win the war.

6. Hitler and the Japanese war lords would, of course, like us to flinch at these self-denials, forget the over-all pattern of equality of sacrifice, and divide ourselves in arguments over one or more of the seven points.

7. Splitting us in this way would be the military equivalent of setting the infantry against the artillery, setting our tank brigades against our air forces, our fighting forces against our supply forces.

8. In the battle against inflation, the same thing happens when one individual--whether housewife, farmer, factory worker, or whoever--sets his or her personnel interests above the interest of the country as a whole.

9. In other words, each of us is right now actively engaged in the battle against inflation. What each of us buys--what each of us does not buy--affects everyone else and everything else. That's way this is literally "total war on the home front" and why the President's "anti-inflation" program is so important in winning that war.

2. SPECIFICALLY, WHAT PEOPLE SHOULD DO

After presenting some of the foregoing to suggest the magnitude of the program, then follow up by telling people in concrete terms what they must and must not do. These include the following:

BE THRIFTY AND DON'T ANYTHING YOU DON'T NEED
BUY WAR BONDS. PUT AT LEAST 10% OF YOUR INCOME INTO BONDS AND STAMPS
MAKE WHAT YOU HAVE LAST LONGER
DON'T HOARD
PAY OFF DEBTS AND MORTGAGES
COOPERATE WITH GOVERNMENT ON PRICE CONTROL:
(a) Know the prices that you should pay
(b) Learn the items that are not controlled
(c) Be tolerant. If you don't understand prices, ask your shopkeeper for an explanation

HOW DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROGRAMS CAN DO THIS

In Radio there is an abundance of ingenuity and imagination. We do not wish to suggest in detail the many ways this battle against inflation can be presented--but we do offer a few general "springboard" ideas for different types of programs:

Forums, Roundtables, and Discussions.--Efforts should be made to schedule many of these programs, covering the whole seven-point program. Local speakers (possibly the mayor, a leading banker, a clubwoman) who hold responsible positions in the community can be urged to participate.

Consumer, Farm, and WOmen's Programs.--Specialized programs appealing to different groups such as housewives, farmers, labor, etc., can discuss the benefits of the President's plan as they apply specifically to these groups. Participants can talk about things they have see and heard which relate to the fight against inflation. Housewives, grocers, farmers, shopkeepers, etc., can be interviewed to give hints on how to save, how to buy, how to make things last, etc.

Domestic Programs.--Since this seven-point program will change everyone's way of living, it offers large scope for dramatic investment. Characters on dramatic programs can illustrate what people must and must not do if the anti-inflation program is to succeed. They can be shown patching articles, making possessions last, buying Bonds, paying off the mortgage, talking against hoarding, putting aside money for taxes, discussing fixed prices with shopkeepers, etc. Plot lines based on the seven points also can be developed, such as the story of a shopkeeper cooperating with the price control act, a community Bond-buying club, a conservation society, a patriotic group which ferets out "black markets." Realistic, human and sympathetic treatment of the readjustments which everyone must make is one of the most valuable services which Radio can render during this difficult transition period.

The important thing to remember in all programming on the anti-inflation plan
is

WE MUST KEEP THE HOME FRONT STRONG,
AND THE SEVEN-POINT PLAN CAN DO IT

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE-O-465167