The problem of jamming in international broadcasting

Unlike a telephone or telgraph cable, a broadcast, once sent out over the air, can only be “stopped” at the receiving end. If the potential listeners have radio receiving sets able to pick up the broadcast, it can only be stopped by causing such radio interference as to make it difficult or impossible to listen to the original broadcast. Over the years, several nations have assumed the large cost of producing such interference, or “jamming,” so as to prevent their citizens from listening to the broadcasts of other nations. An expensive and often inefficient technique, jamming was then believed preferable to allowing unrestricted and uncensored international communication by radio. Mr. Ranjan Borra, who was associated with All India Radio and with the Voice of America for several years and is currently on the staff of the Library of Congress describes both the background and some of the encouraging recent developments in the field of jamming and other impediments to international broadcasting.