VOUS-Voice of the United States: The Armed Forces Radio Service in Newfoundland

Abstract

The American military bases in Newfoundland in 1941 used the government- owned broadcasting station, VONF, to supply their personnel with AFRS programs that would boost morale. VONF soon curtailed its broadcast of American programs, prompting the creation of an American expeditionary station, VOW. AFRS programs reflected American network radio, and encouraged the taste for these programs among both service personnel and Newfoundland civilians. The effect of these "denatured" programs was to represent the US as more homogenous and united than was the case.