Recognition Value

Arthur Godfrey told his radio listeners last month that if an atom bomb should be dropped on the U.S., the job of keeping Americans calm and well-informed would be handled by two men: Godfrey himself and Ed Murrow. He explained: "They chose us two because it's pretty tough for guys to imitate our voices. You'd know when you heard my voice or Ed Murrow's voice that these were two guys you could depend on, and nobody was giving you any applesauce, see? That's the reason . . ."

This week, as the Federal Civil Defense Administration plan for A-day shaped up, it was clear that Godfrey and Murrow will have help in the supply of friendly and reassuring voices in the event of disaster. Other radio-TV personalities are slated to spell Godfrey and Murrow over a nationwide network. Well-known regional stars are scheduled to take over various statewide hookups; metropolitan areas will be told what is happening and what they should do by local disk jockeys and announcers.

The Civil Defense radio program is known as "Conelrad" (for Control of Electromagnetic Radiation). It will go into effect the instant hostile aircraft are detected approaching the U.S. All TV and FM transmitters will go off the air. All AM transmitters will either be silenced or will switch their frequencies to 640 and 1240 on the dial of any standard receiver. This technical jugglery is necessary in order to prevent enemy pilots from getting a "fix" on a normal radio beam and riding down its path to drop bombs on a target city.

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