Editing Voice of America (section)

===American private shortwave broadcasting before World War II===
[[File:Voice of America headquarters and United States Capitol.jpg|thumb|280px|Voice of America headquarters]]
Before World War II, all American [[shortwave radio]] stations were in private hands.<ref name="Berg, Jerome S. 1999, page 105">Berg, Jerome S. ''On the Short Waves, 1923–1945: Broadcast Listening in the Pioneer Days of Radio.'' 1999, McFarland. {{ISBN|0-7864-0506-6}}, p. 105</ref> Privately controlled shortwave networks included the [[NBC|National Broadcasting Company]]'s International Network (or White Network), which broadcast in six languages, the [[CBS|Columbia Broadcasting System]]'s Latin American international network, which consisted of 64 stations located in 18 countries, the [[Crosley Broadcasting Corporation]] in Cincinnati, Ohio, and [[General Electric]] which owned and operated WGEO and WGEA, both based in [[Schenectady, New York]], and [[KGEI]] in [[San Francisco]], all of which had [[shortwave transmitter]]s.<ref>Chamberlain, A.B. "CBS International Broadcast Facilities". ''Proceedings of the IRE'', Volume 30, Issue 3, March 1942 pp. 118–129.</ref><ref>Library of Congress. "NBC Resources Held by the Recorded Sound Section." [https://www.loc.gov/rr/record/recnbc.html Library of Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702121133/http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/recnbc.html |date=July 2, 2018 }}</ref> Experimental programming began in the 1930s, but there were fewer than 12 transmitters in operation.<ref name="Dizard_24">{{harvp|Dizard|2004|p=24}}</ref>

In 1939, the U.S. [[Federal Communications Commission]] set the following policy, which was intended to enforce the [[US State Department]]'s [[Good Neighbor Policy]], but which some broadcasters felt was an attempt to direct censorship:<ref>{{Cite web |title=NABusiness |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771673-1,00.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080322072617/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771673-1,00.html |archive-date=March 22, 2008 |work=Time Magazine}}</ref>

<blockquote>A licensee of an international broadcast station shall render only an international broadcast service which will reflect the culture of this country and which will promote international goodwill, understanding and cooperation. Any program solely intended for, and directed to an audience in the continental United States does not meet the requirements for this service.<ref>Rose, Cornelia Bruère. ''National Policy for Radio Broadcasting.'' 1971, Ayer Publishing. {{ISBN|0-405-03580-2}}. p. 244</ref></blockquote>

Around 1940, shortwave signals to [[Latin America]] were regarded as vital to counter [[Nazi propaganda]].<ref name="Dizard_24" /> Initially, the US [[Office of the Coordinator of Information]] sent releases to each station, but this was seen as an inefficient means of transmitting news.<ref name="Berg, Jerome S. 1999, page 105" /> The director of Latin American relations at the Columbia Broadcasting System was [[Edmund A. Chester]], and he supervised the development of CBS's extensive "La Cadena de las Américas" radio network to improve broadcasting to [[South America]] during the 1940s.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx00pQIkclMC&q=Edmund+Chester&pg=PA166 ''Dissonant Divas In Chicana Music: The Limits of La Onda''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406003731/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx00pQIkclMC&q=Edmund+Chester&pg=PA166 |date=April 6, 2023 }} Deborah R. Vargas. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2012 {{ISBN|978-0-8166-7316-2}} pp. 152–153 Edmund Chester, CBS, Franklin Roosevelt and "La Cadena De Las Americas"</ref>