'File 11/46 Publicity in the Persian Gulf' [‎87r] (173/314)

2
material have been seen sent there by registered book
post. We are still waiting to know if any improvement
has resulted.
4. Iraq:—
In the last few months the demand for Al Nafir
suffered a considerable setback due to economic pressure
and to increased competition. Various suggestions have
been made to counteract the drop in sales; they have
all been examined carefully and one solution seems to
be the provision of gaily-coloured and attractive insets
which f ave long been known for their power to captivate
Iraqi minds. European observers in Iraq have suggested
that we should use the meretricious charms of film stars
as subjects for these insets, but perhaps a more "cultural "
line would be facsimiles of modern Indian paintings.
Investigations are being carried out to overcome small
>”Nhnical difficulties.
- Another bait for the Iraqi market is a better quality
^ paper such as is used by many of the externally-produced
magazines now competing in Iraq. If we can be sure
of sufficient stocks of better paper becoming available,
a change to a higher quality paper would undoubtedly
help our sales.
A third but ancient difficulty is that of obtaining
sufficient staff, but now that military and other depart
ments throughout the Middle East may be expected to
decrease their personnel it is possible that qualified
Arabic translators will become available.
5. Afghanistan:—
A very distinct improvement indeed in the status of
United Publications in Afghanistan seems to have
taken place. A Government officer on a recent visit to
Kabul found the Afghan authorities much more prepared
^ ^pernrit if not actually to encourage the entry of Taj
Mahal into the country. It is even possible that the
magazine will find its way into the schools. Past ex
perience makes us none too sanguine of such volte-face,
however, and we are " waiting and seeing."
The King of Afghanistan was graciously pleased to
express his pleasure at the bound copies of Ahang and
Le Clairon presented to him by the Division.
6. horth West Frontier
Material for Zhwand is now coming in to the Editor in
greatly increased quantities and the interest of the
magazine will consequently be increased. Reactions
are few and far between, but the fact that interest is
being maintained is indicated by many letters making
suggestions that there should be, for example, more
religious articles "for the Mullas" or that a thicker pen
should be used for the calligraphy.
7. U.S.A.:-
With the first issue of Perspective now ready for dis
tribution (See Section B. Paragraph 8 (c)) we may shortly
expect reactions to our new venture into the American
magazine arena. Perspective is certainly not a popular
magazine: its target is the large class of intellectuals
whose interest is scholarly, and distribution will, in
the first instance, be by mailing-list. If such readers
can be convinced that here is a magazine presenting the
bare facts, uncoloured by party or religious partisanship,
of India's culture, literature, economy and science etc.,
there will eventually be a ready if restricted sale for
the magazine. Similarly there will come recognition
among India's more scholarly writers that here is an
excellent medium for reaching their opposite numbers
in America: indeed an increasing flow of contributions
indicates that this recognition has already begun.
It may be a long time before a popular magazine
from India would have much chance of success in the
American market. The unfortunate death of The Bugle
(See Section B. 8 (d )) has prevented us getting valu
able criticisms from Americans in India and any future
ventures into this market will start from scratch : how
powerful are the radiations of the atomic bomb!
3. China:—
The gravest obstacle to the distribution of publicity
material in China seems to be the impossibility of getting
more than a trickle into the country. There are reports
of large quantities of material lying for long periods in
Calcutta awaiting transport. Serious though this is, it
is not so fatal in the case of India, the articles of which
do not date rapidly, but it would kill the interest of a
magazine like Dunya which depends for a large measure
of its popularity on more or less topical pictures. For
this reason the proposal to start a Chinese edition of
Dunya is still hanging fire.
The suggestions of the staff of the Chinese Commis
sioner in Delhi that there should be more Chinese
captions in India were fully endorsed by the High Com
missioner for India in China on his recent visit, who
also spoke of the invaluable part India had played in
publicizing India in China.
9. British Commonwealth (excluding India ):—
In spite of the approval with which magazines put
out by United Publications have been met in the
Dominions, little further progress has been made in
putting distribution in the various countries on a com
mercial basis. Canada, for example, advises against an
attempt at commercial distribution at the moment and it
seems that a drive in this direction will have to wait till
the matter can receive the attention of publicity agents
attached to various Commissioners. The placing of
publicity magazines on the Commonwealth market will
require a certain amount of organization and personal
attention to the reactions of the reading public.
The Bugle, described in Progress Report No. 18 (Sec-