"Voice" Tells of Lynchings -- June 12, 2023

San Francisco Examiner, 04-June-1923

The Voice of America has been broadcasting overseas since 1942. During the Cold War, it focused on countries behind the Iron Curtain. A Congressional study during the Red Scare raised questions about the VOA. I imagine Southern legislators asked why the Voice reported on all lynchings in the US. Here is a section of the article.

'VOICE' TELLS OF LYNCHINGS

WASHINGTON, June 3. -- (AP) ... As for lynchings, Charles W Thayer, head of the "Voice's" New York office, testified that "every time there's a lynching in the United States, we broadcast it to Russia."

REPORT LYNCHINGS 

He explained that lynchings are mentioned "to put the news in its proper perspective." 

Thayer explained that unless such items are included in the broadcasts, Moscow radio would give "distorted versions" of life in the United States. 

He said that approximately 2,000,000 short wave radio receiving sets in Russia, and he added: 

"When we don't mention a lynching, they (the Russians) know there isn't any."