Editing Voice of America (section)

===World War II===
{{See also|Frank Shozo Baba}}{{external media|width=175px|image1="La Cadena de las Américas" – [[Edmund Chester]] CBS Radio Director in 1943 <br> [https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/radio-director-of-shortwave-broadcasts-edmund-a-chester-and-news-photo/537936608?adppopup=true '''Here on Getty Images''']|image2=The"[[Viva America]]" program on CBS Radio including vocalist [[Nestor Mesta Chayres]] in 1946 <br> [https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/viva-america-a-cbs-radio-program-featuring-latin-america-news-photo/905998882?adppopup=true '''Here on Getty images''']|image3= "Viva America" – CBS Radio and [[Alfredo Antonini]], Conductor in 1946 <br> [https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/viva-america-a-cbs-radio-program-featuring-latin-america-news-photo/905995866?adppopup=true '''Here on Getty Images''']}}
Even before the December 1941 Japanese [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], the U.S. government's [[Office of the Coordinator of Information]] (COI) had already begun providing war news and commentary to the commercial American shortwave radio stations for use on a voluntary basis, through its Foreign Information Service (FIS) headed by playwright [[Robert E. Sherwood]], who served as President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]'s speech writer and information advisor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Walter R. |title=The Voice of America: Origins and Recollections |url=http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/1012/fsl/roberts_voice.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426030633/https://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/1012/fsl/roberts_voice.html |archive-date=April 26, 2018 |access-date=October 3, 2010}}</ref> Direct programming began a week after the United States' entry into World War II in December 1941, with the first broadcast from the San Francisco office of the FIS via General Electric's KGEI transmitting to the Philippines in English (other languages followed). The next step was to broadcast to Germany, which was called ''Stimmen aus Amerika'' ("Voices from America") and was transmitted on February 1, 1942. It was introduced by the “[[Battle Hymn of the Republic]]" and included the pledge: "Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth."<ref>Roberts, Walter R. [http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/1012/fsl/roberts_voice.html UNC.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426030633/https://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/item/2009/1012/fsl/roberts_voice.html |date=April 26, 2018 }} See also: {{Cite web |last=Kern |first=Chris |title=A Belated Correction: The ''Real'' First Broadcast of the Voice of America |url=http://www.chriskern.net/essay/voaFirstBroadcast.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224123522/http://www.chriskern.net/essay/voaFirstBroadcast.html |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |access-date=October 3, 2010}}</ref> Roosevelt approved this broadcast, which then-Colonel [[William J. Donovan]] (COI) and Sherwood (FIS) had recommended to him. It was Sherwood who actually coined the term "The Voice of America" to describe the shortwave network that began its transmissions on February 1, from 270 [[Madison Avenue]] in New York City.

The [[Office of War Information]], when organized in the middle of 1942, officially took over VOA's operations. VOA reached an agreement with the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] to share medium-wave transmitters in Great Britain, and expanded into [[Tunis]] in North Africa and [[Palermo]] and [[Bari, Italy]], as the Allies captured these territories. The OWI also set up the [[American Broadcasting Station in Europe]].<ref>{{harvp|Dizard|2004|pp=24–25}}</ref> Asian transmissions started with one transmitter in [[California]] in 1941; services were expanded by adding transmitters in [[Hawaii]] and, after recapture, the [[Philippines]].<ref name="Dizard_25">{{harvp|Dizard|2004|p=25}}</ref>

By the end of the war, VOA had 39 transmitters and provided service in 40 languages.<ref name="Dizard_25" /> Programming was broadcast from production centers in New York and San Francisco, with more than 1,000 programs originating from New York. Programming consisted of music, news, commentary, and relays of U.S. domestic programming, in addition to specialized VOA programming.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Sterling |first1=Christopher H. |title=Stay Tuned: a History of American Broadcasting |last2=Kittross |first2=John Michael |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8058-2624-1 |edition=3rd |series=LEA's Communication Series |page=263}}</ref> About half of VOA's services, including the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] service, were discontinued in 1945.<ref name="Rugh 2006, 13">{{harvp|Rugh|2006|p=13}}</ref> In late 1945, VOA was transferred to the US Department of State.

Also included among the [[cultural diplomacy]] programming on the Columbia Broadcasting System was the musical show ''[[Viva America]]'' (1942–49) which featured the Pan American Orchestra and the artistry of several noted musicians from both North and South America, including [[Alfredo Antonini]], [[Juan Arvizu]], [[Eva Garza]], [[Elsa Miranda]], [[Nestor Mesta Chayres|Nestor Mesta Chaires]], [[Miguel Sandoval (composer)|Miguel Sandoval]], [[John Serry Sr.]], and [[Terig Tucci]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Settel |first=Irving |title=A Pictorial History of Radio |publisher=[[Grosset & Dunlap]] |year=1967 |location=New York |page=146 |lccn=67-23789 |oclc=1475068 |orig-year=1960}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |editor1=Bronfman, Alejandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ehN4sM0Xy_UC&pg=PA49 |title=Media Sound & Culture in Latin America|editor2=Wood, Andrew Grant|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press
|location=Pittsburgh  |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-8229-6187-1 |page=49 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Anthony |first=Edwin D. |title=Records of the Office of Inter-American Affairs |publisher=National Archives and Record Services – General Services Administration |year=1973 |volume=Inventory of Record Group 229 |location=Washington D.C. |pages=25–26 |chapter=Records of the Radio Division |lccn=73-600146 <!-- dead --> |access-date=October 18, 2020 |chapter-url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-229-inter-american-affairs.pdf#page=33 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202004731/https://www.archives.gov/files/research/foreign-policy/related-records/rg-229-inter-american-affairs.pdf#page=33 |archive-date=February 2, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 1945, broadcasts of the show were carried by 114 stations on CBS's "La Cadena de las Américas" network in 20 Latin American nations. These broadcasts proved to be highly successful in supporting President Roosevelt's policy of [[Pan-Americanism]] throughout South America during World War II.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx00pQIkclMC&q=ociaa&pg=PA166 ''Dissonant Divas in Chicana Music: The Limits of La Onda''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406122859/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qx00pQIkclMC&q=ociaa&pg=PA166 |date=April 6, 2023 }} Deborah R. Vargas. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2012 pp. 152–155 {{ISBN|978-0-8166-7316-2}} OCIAA (Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs), FDR's Good Neighbor Policy, CBS, Viva America, La Cadena de las Americas</ref>