CIA Archives: Propaganda Operations (1956)

The dark side of history: https://thememoryhole.substack.com/

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded media organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says that "the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed".[7][8] RFE/RL is a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation supervised by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, an independent government agency overseeing all U.S. federal government international broadcasting services.[9] Jeremy Bransten is acting editor-in-chief of RFE.[10]

RFE/RL broadcasts in 27 languages to 23 countries.[11] The organization has been headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic, since 1995, and has 21 local bureaus with over 500 core staff and 1,300 stringers and freelancers in countries throughout their broadcast region. In addition, it has 680 employees at its headquarters and corporate office in Washington, D.C.

During the Cold War, RFE was broadcast to Soviet satellite states, including the Baltic states, and RL targeted the Soviet Union; RFE was founded as an anti-communist propaganda[12] source in 1949 by the National Committee for a Free Europe, while RL was founded two years later. The two organizations merged in 1976. Communist governments frequently sent agents to infiltrate RFE's headquarters, and the KGB regularly jammed its signals. RFE/RL was headquartered at Englischer Garten in Munich, West Germany, from 1949 to 1995. Another broadcast site was operated at the village of Glória do Ribatejo, east of Lisbon, Portugal, from 1951 to 1996. European operations have been significantly reduced since the end of the Cold War.
Early history
Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty Newsroom in Munich, 1994

Radio Free Europe was created and grew in its early years through the efforts of the National Committee for a Free Europe (NCFE), an anti-communist CIA front organization that was formed by Allen Dulles in New York City in 1949.[13][14] RFE/RL received funds covertly from the CIA until 1972.[15][16] During RFE's earliest years of existence, the CIA and U.S. Department of State issued broad policy directives, and a system evolved where broadcast policy was determined through negotiation between them and RFE staff.[17]

Radio Free Europe received widespread public support from Eisenhower's "Crusade for Freedom" campaign.[18] In 1950, over 16 million Americans signed Eisenhower's "Freedom Scrolls" on a publicity trip to more than 20 U.S. cities and contributed $1,317,000 to the expansion of RFE.[19]

Writer Sig Mickelson said that the NCFE's mission was to support refugees and provide them with a useful outlet for their opinions and creativity while increasing exposure to the modern world.[20] The NCFE divided its program into three parts: exile relations, radio, and American contacts.[13]

The United States funded a long list of projects to counter the "Communist appeal" among intellectuals in Europe and the developing world.[21] RFE was developed out of a belief that the Cold War would eventually be fought by political rather than military means.[22] American policymakers such as George Kennan and John Foster Dulles acknowledged that the Cold War was essentially a war of ideas. The implementation of surrogate radio stations was a key part of the greater psychological war effort.[19]

RFE was modeled after Radio in the American Sector (RIAS) a U.S. government-sponsored radio service initially intended for Germans living in the American sector of Berlin. According to writer Arch Puddington, it was also widely listened to by East Germans.[23] Staffed almost entirely by Germans with minimal U.S. supervision, the station provided free media to German listeners.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Building in Prague-Hagibor, 2008

In January 1950, the NCFE obtained a transmitter base at Lampertheim, West Germany, and on July 4 of the same year RFE completed its first broadcast aimed at Czechoslovakia.[24] In late 1950, RFE began to assemble a full-fledged foreign broadcast staff, becoming more than a "mouthpiece for exiles".[25] Teams of journalists were hired for each language service, and an elaborate system of intelligence gathering provided up-to-date broadcast material. Most of this material came from a network of well-connected émigrés and interviews with travelers and defectors. RFE did not use paid agents inside the Iron Curtain and based its bureaus in regions popular with exiles.[26] RFE also extensively monitored Communist bloc publications and radio services, creating a body of information that would later serve as a resource for organizations across the world.[27]

In addition to its regular broadcasts, RFE spread broadcasts through a series of operations that distributed leaflets via meteorological balloons; one such operation, Prospero, sent messages to Czechoslovakia.[28] From October 1951 to November 1956, the skies of Central Europe were filled with more than 350,000 balloons carrying over 300 million leaflets, posters, books, and other printed matter.[19] The nature of the leaflets varied, and according to Arch Puddington included messages of support and encouragement "to citizens suffering under communist oppression", "satirical criticisms of communist regimes and leaders", information about dissident movements and human rights campaigns, and messages expressing the solidarity of the American people with the residents of Eastern European nations. Puddington stated that "the project served as a publicity tool to solidify RFE's reputation as an unbiased broadcaster".[clarification needed][29]
Radio Liberty
Antennas of RFE's/RL's transmission facilities on the beach of Pals (Catalonia, Spain) in 2005

Whereas Radio Free Europe broadcast to Soviet satellite countries, Radio Liberty broadcast to the Soviet Union.[30] Radio Liberty was formed by American Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (Amcomlib) in 1951.[31] Originally named Radio Liberation, the station was renamed in 1959 after a policy statement emphasizing "liberalization" rather than "liberation".[32]

Radio Liberty began broadcasting from Lampertheim on March 1, 1953, gaining a substantial audience when it covered the death of Joseph Stalin four days later. In order to better serve a greater geographic area, RFE supplemented its shortwave transmissions from Lampertheim with broadcasts from a transmitter base at Glória, Portugal in 1951.[33] It also had a base at Oberwiesenfeld Airport on the outskirts of Munich,[34] employing several former Nazi agents who had been involved in the Ostministerium under Gerhard von Mende during World War II.[35] In 1955, Radio Liberty began broadcasting programs to Russia's eastern provinces from shortwave transmitters located on Taiwan.[36] In 1959, Radio Liberty commenced broadcasts from a base at Platja de Pals, Spain.[37]

Radio Liberty expanded its audience by broadcasting programs in languages other than Russian. By March 1954, Radio Liberty was broadcasting six to seven hours daily in eleven languages.[38] By December 1954, Radio Liberty was broadcasting in 17 languages including Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, Tatar, Bashkir, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, and other languages of the Caucasus and Central Asia.[32]
List of languages
Service Language[39] Target audience from to Website Remarks
Czechoslovak Czech Czech inhabited lands of Czechoslovak Republic (1950–1960)
Czech inhabited lands of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1969)
Czech Socialist Republic Czech SR (1969–1990)
Czech Republic (1990–1993) 4 July 1950 1 January 1993 — the Czech desk split from Czechoslovak Service as Czech Service (1993–1995)
operated as RSE Inc. (1995–2002)
Czechoslovak Slovak Slovak inhabited lands of Czechoslovak Republic (1950–1960)
Slovak inhabited lands of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1969)
Slovak Socialist Republic Slovak SR (1969–1990)
Slovakia (1990–1993) 4 July 1950 4 January 1993 — the Slovak desk split from Czechoslovak Service as Slovak Service (1993–2004)
Romanian Romanian Romanian People's Republic (1950–1965)
Socialist Republic of Romania (1965–1989)
Romania (1989–2008, 2019–present) 14 July 1950
14 January 2019 1 August 2008
present Radio Europa Liberă also covered Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Chernivtsi Oblast (1950–1953), Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Izmail Oblast (1950–1953), Moldavian Soviet Socialist RepublicMoldavian SSR (1950–1953, 1990–1991) and Republic of Moldova (1991–1998)
merged into Moldavian Service in 2008
split from Moldavian service in 2019
Hungarian Hungarian Hungarian People's Republic (1950–1989)
Hungary (1989–1993, 2020–present) 4 August 1950
8 September 2020 31 October 1993
present Szabad Európa
Polish Polish Polish People's Republic (1950–1989)
Poland (1990–1994) 4 August 1950 31 December 1994 — operated as RWE Inc. (1995–1997)
Bulgarian Bulgarian People's Republic of Bulgaria Bulgarian People's Republic (1950–1989)
Bulgaria (1989–2004, 2019–present) 11 August 1950
21 January 2019 31 January 2004
present Свободна Европа
Albanian Albanian People's Socialist Republic of Albania Albanian People's Republic 1 June 1951 1952 —
Russian Russian Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Russian SFSR (1953–1991)
Russia (1991–present) 1 March 1953 present Радио Свобода as Radio Liberty
also covered Soviet Armed Forces deployed in Eastern Europe and in Cuba
also covered Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Byelorussian SSR (1953–1954), Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Ukrainian SSR (1953–1954), Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Estonian SSR (1953–1975), Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Latvian SSR (1953–1975), Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Lithuanian SSR (1953–1975) and Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Moldavian SSR (1953–1990)
Turkmen Turkmen Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic Turkmen SSR (1953–1991)
Turkmenistan (1991–present) 2 March 1953 present Azatlyk Radiosy as Radio Liberty
Georgian Georgian Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic Georgian SSR (1953–1991)
Georgia (1991–present) 3 March 1953 present რადიო თავისუფლება as Radio Liberty
also covered Abkhaz ASSR between 1953 and 1991, Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia (1991–2009), Abkhazia (1992–2009, disputed), Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (1953–1991) and South Ossetia (1991–2009, disputed)
North Caucasus Adyghe Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Adyghe Autonomous Oblast (1953–1970s) 18 March 1953 1970s — as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1970s–2009) and by Ekho Kavkaza Service (2009–present)
North Caucasus Ingush Ingush inhabited lands of the North Ossetian ASSR (1953–1957)
Checheno-Ingush ASSR (1957–1970s) 18 March 1953 1970s — as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1970s–2009) and by Ekho Kavkaza Service (2009–present)
North Caucasus Karachay-Balkar Kabardino-Balkarian ASSR
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Oblast 18 March 1953 1970s — as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1970s–2009) and by Ekho Kavkaza Service (2009–present)
North Caucasus Ossetian North Ossetian ASSR 18 March 1953 1970s — as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1970s–2009) and by Ekho Kavkaza Service (2009–present)
Armenian Armenian Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic Armenian SSR (1953–1991)
Armenia (1991–present) 18 March 1953 present Ազատություն ռադիոկայան as Radio Liberty
Azerbaijani Azerbaijani Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic Azerbaijan SSR (1953–1991)
Azerbaijan (1991–present) 18 March 1953 present Azadlıq Radiosu as Radio Liberty
Kazakh Kazakh Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic Kazakh SSR (1953–1991)
Kazakhstan (1991–present) 18 March 1953 present Azattyq Radiosy as Radio Liberty
Kyrgyz Kyrgyz Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic Kirghiz SSR (1953–1991)
Kyrgyzstan (1991–present) 18 March 1953 present Азаттык үналгысы as Radio Liberty
Tajik Tajik Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic Tajik SSR (1953–1991)
Tajikistan (1991–present) 18 March 1953 present Радиои Озодӣ as Radio Liberty
Uzbek Uzbek Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Uzbek SSR (1953–1991)
Uzbekistan (1991–present) 18 March 1953 present Ozodlik Radiosi as Radio Liberty
North Caucasus Avar Dagestan ASSR (1953–1970s)
Dagestan (2002–2016) 18 March 1953
3 April 2002 1970s
31 May 2016 — as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1970s–2002) and Ekho Kavkaza Service (2016–present)
Caucasian Avars
North Caucasus Chechen Chechen inhabited lands of the Stavropol Krai (1953–1957)
Checheno-Ingush ASSR (1957–1970s)
Chechnya (2002–present) 18 March 1953
3 April 2002 1970s
present Маршо Радио as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1970s–2002)
Tatar-Bashkir Tatar Tatar ASSR (1953–1991)
Tatarstan (1991–present) 11 December 1953 present Azatlıq Radiosı as Radio Liberty
Belarusian Belarusian Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Byelorussian SSR (1954–1991)
Belarus (1991–present) 20 May 1954 present Радыё Свабода as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service between 1953 and 1954
Ukrainian Ukrainian Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Ukrainian SSR (1954–1991)
Ukraine (1991–present) 16 August 1954 present Радіо Свобода as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service between 1953 and 1954
Czechoslovak Rusyn Prešov Region 1954 1955 — covered by the Slovak Desk of the Czechoslovak Service (1950–1954, 1955–1993) and by Slovak Service (1993–2004)
Rusyns
North Caucasus Karakalpak Karakalpak ASSR 1960s 1970s — as Radio Liberty
covered by Uzbek Service (1953–1960s, 1970s–present)
Tatar-Bashkir Crimean Tatar Crimean Oblast (1960s–1991)
Crimean ASSR (1991–1992)
Autonomous Republic of Crimea (1992–present)
Republic of Crimea (2014–present, disputed)
Sevastopol (1960s–present) 1960s present Qırım Aqiqat as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1953–1954) and Ukrainian Service (1954–1960s)
Uyghur Uyghur Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic Kazakh SSR (1966–1979)
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Uzbek SSR (1966–1979)
Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic Kirghiz SSR (1966–1979) October 1966 15 February 1979 — as Radio Liberty
covered by Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Uzbek Services (1953–1966, 1979–1998)
covered by Uyghur Service of Radio Free Asia (1998–present)
Uyghurs in Kazakhstan
Uyghurs in Kyrgyzstan
Lithuanian Lithuanian Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet Lithuania (1975–1990)
Lithuania (1990–2004) 16 February 1975 31 January 2004 — as Radio Liberty until 1984, then as Radio Free Europe.
covered by Russian Service between 1953 and 1975
Latvian Latvian Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet Latvia (1975–1990)
Latvia (1990–2004) 5 July 1975 31 January 2004 — as Radio Liberty until 1984, then as Radio Free Europe
covered by Russian Service between 1953 and 1975
Latvian Latgalian Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet Latvia (1975–1990)
Latvia (1990–2004) 5 July 1975 31 January 2004 — as Radio Liberty until 1984, then as Radio Free Europe
covered by Russian Service between 1953 and 1975
Latgalians
Estonian Estonian Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet Estonia (1975–1990)
Estonia (1990–2004) 1975 31 January 2004 — as Radio Liberty until 1984, then as Radio Free Europe
covered by Russian Service between 1953 and 1975
Afghan Dari Afghanistan Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1985–1987)
Republic of Afghanistan (1987–1992)
Islamic State of Afghanistan (1992–1993)
Afghanistan Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (2002–2004)
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021)
Afghanistan Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (2021–present) 1 October 1985
30 January 2002 19 October 1993
present رادیو آزادی as Radio Liberty
as Radio Free Afghanistan between 1985 and 1993
Afghan Pashto Afghanistan Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (1985–1987)
Republic of Afghanistan (1987–1992)
Islamic State of Afghanistan (1992–1993)
Afghanistan Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan (2002–2004)
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004–2021)
Afghanistan Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (2021–present) September 1987
30 January 2002 19 October 1993
present راډیو ازادي as Radio Liberty
covered by Radio Free Afghanistan between 1985 and 1993
Tatar-Bashkir Bashkir Bashkortostan early 1990s present Idel.Реалии as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1953–early 1990s)
Czech Czech Czech Republic 1 January 1993 31 January 2004 — activated as Czech Desk of the Czechoslovak Service, between 1950 and 1993
operated as RSE Inc. (1995–2002)
Slovak Slovak Slovakia 4 January 1993 31 January 2004 — activated as Slovak Desk of the Czechoslovak Service, between 1950 and 1993
Balkan Croatian Croatia
Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brčko District 31 January 1994 September 2018 — Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Balkan Serbian Serbia
Republika Srpska
Brčko District
Montenegro
Kosovo
North Macedonia
Croatia 31 January 1994 present Radio Slobodna Evropa Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Serbs of Montenegro
Kosovo Serbs
Serbs in North Macedonia
Serbs of Croatia
Balkan Bosnian Bosnia and Herzegovina 31 January 1994 present Radio Slobodna Evropa
RWE Inc. Polish Poland 1 January 1995 1997 — as Radio Wolna Europa (RWE Inc.)
activated as Polish Service (1950–1994)
RSE Inc. Czech Czech Republic 1 January 1995 30 September 2002 — as Radio Svobodna Europa (RSE Inc.)
activated as part of Czechoslovak Service (1950–1992) and as Czech Service (1993–1995)
Moldavian Romanian Republic of Moldova 1998 present Radio Europa Liberă covered by the Romanian Service between 1950–1953 and 1990–1998
covered by the Russian Service between 1953 and 1990
Romanian Service merged into it in 2008
Romanian Service split from it in 2019
Radio Free Iraq Arabic Iraq Iraqi Republic (1998–2003)
Iraq Iraqi Republic (provisional) (2003–2004)
Republic of Iraq (2004–2015) 30 October 1998 31 July 2015 إذاعة العراق الحر merged into Radio Sawa
Balkan Albanian Kosovo 8 March 1999 present Radio Evropa e Lirë covered by the Serbian Desk of Balkan Service between 1994 and 1999
Persian Persian Iran 30 October 1998 1 December 2002 — merged into Radio Farda
Latvian Russian Latvia February 2001 31 January 2004 — as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1953–1975) and by Latvian Service (1975–2001)
Russians in Latvia
Balkan Montenegrin Montenegro 1 June 2000 present Radio Slobodna Evropa covered by the Serbian Desk of Balkan Service between 1994 and 2000
Balkan Macedonian North Macedonia 1 September 2001 present Радио Слободна Европа
North Caucasus Kabardian Kabardino-Balkaria
Karachay-Cherkessia 3 April 2002 31 May 2016 — as Radio Liberty
covered by Russian Service (1953–2002) and Ekho Kavkaza Service (2016–present)
Radio Farda Persian Iran 19 December 2002 present فردا رادیو covered by Persian Service between 1998 and 2002
Georgian (Ekho Kavkaza) Russian Abkhazia
South Ossetia 2 November 2009 present Эхо Кавказа as Echo of the Caucasus
covered by Georgian Service between 1953 and 2009
also covers Adygea, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia–Alania
Radio Mashaal Pashto Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 15 January 2010 present مشال راډیو as Radio Liberty
Cold War years
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty transmitter site, Biblis, Germany, 2007
Radio Free Europe

According to certain European politicians such as Petr Nečas, RFE played a significant role in the collapse of communism and the development of democracy in Eastern Europe.[40][41][42] Unlike government-censored programs, RFE publicized anti-Soviet protests and nationalist movements. Its audience increased substantially following the failed Berlin riots of 1953 and the highly publicized defection of Józef Światło.[43] Arch Puddington argues that its Hungarian service's coverage of Poland's Poznań riots in 1956 served as an inspiration for the Hungarian revolution that year.[44]
Hungary

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, RFE broadcasts encouraged rebels to fight and suggested that Western support was imminent.[45] These RFE broadcasts violated Eisenhower's policy, which had determined that the United States would not provide military support for the Revolution.[46] In the wake of this scandal, a number of changes were implemented at RFE, including the establishment of the Broadcast Analysis Division to ensure that broadcasts were accurate and professional while maintaining the journalists' autonomy.[47]
Romania

RFE was seen as a serious threat by Romanian president Nicolae Ceaușescu. From the mid-1970s to his overthrow and execution in December 1989, Ceaușescu waged a vengeful war against the RFE/RL under the program "Ether". Ether operations included physical attacks on Romanian journalists working for RFE/RL, including the controversial circumstances surrounding the deaths of three directors of RFE/RL's Romanian Service.[48]
1981 RFE/RL Munich bombing

On February 21, 1981, RFE/RL's headquarters in Munich was struck by a massive bomb, causing $2 million in damage.[49] Several employees were injured, but there were no fatalities. Stasi files opened after 1989 indicated that the bombing was carried out by a group under the direction of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (known as "Carlos the Jackal"), and paid for by Nicolae Ceaușescu, president of Romania.[50]

But, according to the former head of the KGB Counterintelligence Department K, general Oleg Kalugin, the bombing operation was planned over two years by Department K, with the active involvement of a KGB mole inside the radio station, Oleg Tumanov. This revelation directly implicates KGB colonel Oleg Nechiporenko, who recruited Tumanov in the early 1960s and was his Moscow curator.[51][52] Nechiporenko has never denied his involvement. In an interview with Radio Liberty in 2003, he justified the bombing on the grounds that RFE/RL was an American propaganda tool against the Soviet Union.[53] Tumanov was exfiltrated back to the USSR in 1986.[54] Nechiporenko contacts with Carlos in the 1970s were confirmed by Nechiporenko himself in an article published by Segodnya in 2000[55] and by an article in Izvestia in 2001.[56]
Chernobyl disaster

For the first two days following the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, the official Eastern Bloc media did not report any news about the disaster, nor any full account for another four months. According to the Hoover Institute, the people of the Soviet Union "became frustrated with inconsistent and contradictory reports", and 36% of them turned to Western radio to provide accurate and pertinent information.[57] Listenership at RFE/RL "shot up dramatically" as a "great many hours" of broadcast time were devoted to the dissemination of life-saving news and information following the disaster.[58] Broadcast topics included "precautions for exposure to radioactive fallout" and reporting on the plight of the Estonians who were tasked with providing the clean-up operations in Ukraine.[58]
Poland and Czechoslovakia

Communist governments also sent agents to infiltrate RFE's headquarters. Although some remained on staff for extended periods of time, government authorities discouraged their agents from interfering with broadcast activity, fearing that this could arouse suspicions and detract from their original purpose of gathering information on the radio station's activities. From 1965 to 1971, an agent of the SB (Służba Bezpieczeństwa, Communist Poland's security service) successfully infiltrated the station with an operative, Captain Andrzej Czechowicz. According to former Voice of America Polish service director Ted Lipien:

"Czechowicz is perhaps the most well known communist-era Polish spy who was still an active agent while working at RFE in the late 1960s. Technically, he was not a journalist. As a historian by training, he worked in the RFE's media analysis service in Munich. After more than five years, Czechowicz returned to Poland in 1971 and participated in programs aimed at embarrassing Radio Free Europe and the United States government."[59]

According to Richard Cummings, former Security Chief of Radio Free Europe, other espionage incidents included a failed attempt by a Czechoslovak Intelligence Service (StB) agent in 1959 to poison the salt shakers in the organization's cafeteria.[60]

In late 1960, an upheaval in the Czechoslovak service led to a number of dramatic changes in the organization's structure. RFE's New York headquarters could no longer effectively manage their Munich subsidiary. As a result major management responsibilities were transferred to Munich, making RFE a European-based organization.[61]

According to Puddington, Polish Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa and Russian reformer Grigory Yavlinsky would later recall secretly listening to the broadcasts despite the heavy jamming.[62]
Jamming

The Soviet government turned its efforts towards blocking reception of Western programs. To limit access to foreign broadcasts, the Central Committee decreed that factories should remove all components allowing short-wave reception from USSR-made radio receivers. However, consumers easily learned that the necessary spare parts were available on the black market, and electronics engineers opposing the idea would gladly convert radios back to being able to receive short-wave transmissions.[63]

The most extensive form of reception obstruction was radio jamming.[64] This was controlled by the KGB, which in turn reported to the Central Committee. Jamming was an expensive and arduous procedure, and its efficacy is still debated. In 1958, the Central Committee mentioned that the sum spent on jamming was greater than the sum spent on domestic and international broadcasting combined.[65] The Central Committee has admitted that circumventing jamming was both possible and practised in the Soviet Union. Due to limited resources, authorities prioritized jamming based on the location, language, time, and theme of Western transmissions.[66] Highly political programs in Russian, broadcast at prime time to urban centers, were perceived as the most dangerous. Seen as less politically threatening, Western music such as jazz was often transmitted unjammed.[67] The intensity of jamming fluctuated over time.[citation needed]

During and after the Cuban Missile Crisis in late 1962, jamming was intensified. The Cuban Missile Crisis, however, was followed by a five-year period when the jamming of most foreign broadcasters ceased, only to intensify again with the Prague Spring in 1968. It ceased again in 1973, when Henry Kissinger became the U.S. Secretary of State. The end to jamming came abruptly on 21 November 1988 when Soviet and Eastern European jamming of virtually all foreign broadcasts, including RFE/RL services, ceased at 21:00 CET.[68]
United States

During the Cold War, RFE was often criticized in the United States as not being sufficiently anti-communist. Although its non-governmental status spared it from full scale McCarthyist investigations, several RFE journalists, including the director of the Czech service, Ferdinand Peroutka, were accused of being soft on Communism.[69] Fulton Lewis, a U.S. radio commentator and fervent anti-communist, was one of RFE's sharpest critics throughout the 1950s. His critical broadcasts inspired other journalists to investigate the inner workings of the organization, including its connection to the CIA. When its CIA ties were exposed in the 1960s, direct funding responsibility shifted to Congress.[70]
Funding

RFE/RL received funds from the CIA until 1972.[71][72] The CIA's relationship with the radio stations began to break down in 1967, when Ramparts magazine published an exposé claiming that the CIA was channeling funds to civilian organizations. Further investigation into the CIA's funding activities revealed its connection to both RFE and RL, sparking significant media outrage.[73]

In 1971, the radio stations came under public spotlight once more when U.S. Senator Clifford Case introduced Senate Bill 18, which would have removed funding for RFE and RL from the CIA's budget, appropriated $30 million to pay for fiscal year 1972 activities, and required the State Department to temporarily oversee the radio stations.[72] This was only a temporary solution, however, as the State Department was reluctant to take on such a significant long-term responsibility.[citation needed]

In May 1972, President Richard Nixon appointed a special commission to deliberate RFE/RL's future.[74] The commission proposed that funding come directly from the United States Congress and that a new organization, the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) would simultaneously link the stations and the federal government, and serve as an editorial buffer between them.[75]

Although both radio stations initially received most of their funding from the CIA, RFE maintained a strong sense of autonomy. Under Cord Meyer, the CIA officer in charge of overseeing broadcast services from 1954 to 1971, the CIA took a position of minimal government interference in radio affairs and programming.[76]

In 1974, they came under the control of an organization called the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB). The BIB was designed to receive appropriations from Congress, give them to radio managements, and oversee the appropriation of funds.[77] In 1976, the two radio stations merged to form Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and added the three Baltic language services to their repertoire.[citation needed]
1980s: Glasnost and the Iron Curtain's fall

Funding for RFE/RL increased during the Reagan administration. President Ronald Reagan, a fervent anticommunist, urged the stations to be more critical of the communist regimes. This presented a challenge to RFE/RL's broadcast strategy, which had been very cautious since the controversy over its alleged role in the Hungarian Revolution.[78]

During the Mikhail Gorbachev era in the Soviet Union under Glasnost, RFE/RL benefited significantly from the Soviet Union's new openness. Gorbachev stopped the practice of jamming the broadcasts. In addition, dissident politicians and officials could be freely interviewed by RFE/RL for the first time without fearing persecution or imprisonment.[79] By 1990, Radio Liberty had become the most listened-to Western radio station broadcasting to the Soviet Union.[80]

Its coverage of the 1991 August coup enriched sparse domestic coverage of the event and drew in a wide audience.[81] The broadcasts allowed Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin to stay in touch with the Russian people during this turbulent period. Boris Yeltsin later expressed his gratitude through a presidential decree allowing Radio Liberty to open a permanent bureau in Moscow.[82]
Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution

Following the November 17 demonstrations in 1989 and brutal crackdown by Czechoslovak riot police, Drahomíra Dražská [cs], a porter at a dormitory in Prague, reported that a student, Martin Šmíd, had been killed during the clashes.[83] The Charter 77 activist Petr Uhl believed this account and passed it along to major news organizations, who broadcast it.[84] After Reuters and the Voice of America (VOA) reported the story, RFE/RL decided to run it too.[85] However, the report later turned out to be false. The story is credited by many sources with inspiring Czechoslovak citizens to join the subsequent (larger) demonstrations which eventually brought down the communist government.[86][87][88]
After 1991

In 1995, RFE/RL moved its headquarters from Munich to Prague, to the building of the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly. It had been vacant since the 1992 dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The Clinton Administration reduced funding significantly and placed the service under the United States Information Agency's oversight.[76]

RFE/RL ended broadcasts to Hungary in 1993 and stopped broadcasts to Poland in 1997. On January 31, 1994, RFE/RL launched broadcasts to the former Yugoslavia in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian languages.[89] In the late 1990s RFE/RL launched broadcast to Kosovo in Albanian and to North Macedonia in Macedonian. Broadcast to the Czech Republic proceeded for three more years under the agreement with Czech Radio. In 2004 RFE/RL stopped broadcasting to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Romania.[citation needed]
In 1994–2008, RFE/RL used the former Federal Parliament building of the abolished Czechoslovakia in Prague New Town. For many years after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 in the US, the building was protected by security concrete barriers. These reduced the capacity of the most frequented roads in Prague center.

RFE/RL Chief Jeffrey Gedmin said in 2008 that the agency's mission is to serve as a surrogate free press in countries where such press is banned by the government or not fully established. It maintains 20 local bureaus. Governments that are subjected to critical reporting often attempt to obstruct the station's activities through a range of tactics, including extensive jamming, shutting down local re-broadcasting affiliates, or finding legal excuses to close down offices.[90]

RFE/RL says that its journalists and freelancers often risk their lives to broadcast information, and their safety has always been a major issue. Reporters have frequently been threatened and persecuted.[91] RFE/RL also faces a number of central security concerns, including cyberterrorist attacks[92] and general terrorist threats.[93] After the September 11 attacks, American and Czech authorities agreed to move RFE/RL's Prague headquarters away from the city center in order to make it less vulnerable to terrorist attack.[94] On February 19, 2009, RFE/RL began broadcasting from its new headquarters east of the city center.[95]
Beyond Europe
A reporter for RFE/RL's Afghan Service interviews a citizen in Helmand, Afghanistan.

RFE/RL says that it continues to struggle with authoritarian regimes for permission to broadcast freely within their countries. On January 1, 2009, Azerbaijan imposed a ban on all foreign media in the country, including RFE/RL.[96] Kyrgyzstan suspended broadcasts of Radio Azattyk, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz language service, because it had asked that the government be able to pre-approve its programming. Other states such as Belarus, Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan prohibit re-broadcasting to local stations, making programming difficult for average listeners to access.[citation needed]

In 1998, RFE/RL began broadcasting to Iraq.[97] Iraqi president Saddam Hussein ordered Iraqi Intelligence Service, to "violently disrupt the Iraqi broadcasting of Radio Free Europe". IIS planned to attack the headquarters with an RPG-7 from a window across the street. Czech Security Information Service (BIS) foiled the plot.[97]

In 2008, Afghan president Hamid Karzai urged his government to provide assistance to a rape victim after listening to her story on Radio Azadi, RFE/RL's Afghan service.[98] According to REF/RL in 2009, Radio Azadi was the most popular radio station in Afghanistan, and Afghan listeners mailed hundreds of hand-written letters to the station each month.[99]

In September 2009, RFE/RL announced that it would begin new Pashto-language broadcasting to the Afghanistan–Pakistan border region.[100]

The following month RFE/RL introduced a daily, one-hour Russian-language broadcast, broadcasting to the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The program, called Ekho Kavkaza (Echo of the Caucasus), focused on local and international news and current affairs, organized in coordination with RFE/RL's Georgian Service.[101]

On January 15, 2010, RFE/RL began broadcasting to the Pashtun tribal areas of Pakistan in Pashto. The service, known as Radio Mashaal ("Torch"), was created in an attempt to counter the growing number of local Islamic extremist radio stations broadcasting in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.[102] Radio Mashaal says that it broadcasts local and international news with in-depth reports on terrorism, politics, women's issues, and health care (with an emphasis on preventive medicine). The station broadcasts roundtable discussions and interviews with tribal leaders and local policymakers, in addition to regular call-in programs.[103]
2010s

On October 14, 2014, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and the Voice of America (VOA) launched a new Russian-language TV news program, Current Time, "to provide audiences in countries bordering Russia with a balanced alternative to the disinformation produced by Russian media outlets that is driving instability in the region".[104] Over the next two years, Current Time – led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA – expanded to become a 24/7 digital and TV stream for Russian-speaking audiences worldwide.[105][106]

Around 2017, Voice of America and RFE/RL launched Polygraph.info, and the Russian-language factograph.info, as fact-checking sites.[107][108] On July 19, 2018, RFE/RL announced it will be returning its news services to Bulgaria and Romania by the end of 2018 amid growing concern about a reversal in democratic gains and attacks on the rule of law and the judiciary in the two countries.[109] The Romanian news service re-launched on January 14, 2019,[110] and the Bulgarian service re-launched on January 21, 2019.[111] On 8 September 2020 the Hungarian service was also relaunched.[112]

In a response to the United States Department of Justice requesting RT to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Russia's Justice Ministry also requested RFE/RL and Voice of America to register as foreign agents under the law ФЗ N 121-ФЗ / 20.07.2012 in December 2017.[113][114]
2020s

In the aftermath of Belarusian presidential elections of 2020, Radio Liberty and independent media resources experienced significant pressure from the government and law enforcement.[115][116][117][118][119][120] Journalists’ accreditations were cancelled by the authorities on October 2, 2020.[121] On July 16, 2021, the office in Minsk and homes of the journalists were raided by the police.[122][123][124]

In Russia, the government designated radio's website as a "foreign agent" on May 14, 2021. RL's bank accounts were frozen.[125] By that time, Roskomnadzor, the Russian mass media regulator, had initiated 520 cases against the broadcaster, with total fines for the RL's refusal to mark its content with the "foreign agent" label estimated at $2.4m.[126] On May 19, 2021, RL filed a legal case at the European Court of Human Rights, accusing the Russian government of violating freedom of expression and freedom of the media.[127]

In March 2023, criminal case was opened against Moscow resident Yury Kokhovets, a participant in the RFE/RL's street poll.[128] He faced up to 10 years in prison under Russia's 2022 war censorship laws.[129]

In 2023, a court in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, has accepted a request from the Culture Ministry to ban the operations of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service.[130]
Controversy

In September 2023, RFE/RL's Azerbaijani service, Radio Azadliq, was revealed to have a leadership with links to Azerbaijan’s ruling authorities, which censored content critical of the Azerbaijani government and instead published content that promoted the government's agendas.[131]
Programs
[icon]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2020)
49 Minutes of Jazz

The program was a musical review by Dmitri Savitski[132] from 1989 to 2004. The theme song of the program was "So Tired" by Bobby Timmons. The program was cancelled on April 10, 2004 due to "the change of Liberty's format".[133]
See also

Alhurra
Constantine Kromiadi
Operation Mockingbird and white propaganda
Radio Free Asia
Radio y Televisión Martí
Women, Life, Freedom

References

"Inspection of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty" (PDF). Office of Inspector General (United States). United States Department of State. 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
"RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – Source description". European Country of Origin Information Network. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
"RFE/RL Senior Management". RFE/RL. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
"Management And Governance". RFE/RL. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
"About Us". RFE/RL.
Staff Writer. (5 March 2022). "How To Bypass Blocking". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. www.rferl.org. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
Robinson, James. "Hoover to house Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty archives". Stanford University. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
"Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty". U.S. Agency for Global Media. Retrieved 7 December 2020.

"About Us". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
"Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Duke, Katy (14 December 2005). "Uzbekistan pulls plug on Radio Free Europe". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Novak, Benjamin (6 September 2019). "Radio Free Europe Is Poised to Return to a Less Free Hungary". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Golubiewski, Mikolaj; Kulas, Joanna; Czyżewski, Krzysztof (2011). A Handbook of Dialogue: Trust and Identity. Proofreading: Mayhill Fowler. Sejny: Fundacja Pogranicze. p. 297.
"LibGuides: Czech Language: Music, Television, & Radio". Main Library (University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign). 1 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Storz, Karen (30 October 2020). "Library Research Guides: Russian: News". Wellesley College. Retrieved 7 December 2020.

"RFE/RL Vice President and Editor in Chief Daisy Sindelar to Depart". RFE/RL. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
"RFE/RL Language Services". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Uttaro, Ralph A. (1982). "The voices of America in international radio propaganda". Law and Contemporary Problems. 45 (4): 103–122. doi:10.2307/1191297. JSTOR 1191297.
Puddington 2003, p. 12
Weiner, Tim: "Legacy of Ashes", p. 36. Doubleday, 2007. ISBN 978-0307389008
Prados, John: Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA (Ivan R. Dee, 2012). ISBN 9781566635745
Meyer, Cord (2000). "The CIA and Radio Free Europe". Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. 1 (1): 127–130. ISSN 1526-0054. JSTOR 43134017.
Hudson, John (14 July 2013). "U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News to Americans". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
Puddington 2003, p. 24
Cummings 2008, p. 169
Mickelson 1983, p. 18
Puddington 2003, p. 10
Puddington 2003, p. 7
Puddington 2003, p. 14
Mickelson 1983, p. 30
Puddington 2003, p. 37
Puddington 2003, p. 39
Puddington 2003, p. 40
Using Balloons to Breach The Iron Curtain, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (August 22, 2016).
Puddington 2003, p. 62
Johnson 2010, p. 43
Johnson 2010, pp. 37, 43
Cummings 2008, p. 170
Mickelson 1983, p. 48
Johnson 2010, p. 37
Johnson 2010, pp. 49–64
Mickelson 1983, p. 110
Mickelson 1983, p. 80
Mickelson 1983, p. 241
"History". RFE/RL.
Nečas, Petr (5 May 2011). "RFE demolished the information wall of the communist regime". vlada.cz. Government of the Czech Republic. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
"Sixty years of RFE: 'Best propaganda is the truth'". Lidové noviny. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Kasprzak, Michal (2004). "Radio Free Europe and the Catholic Church in Poland During the 1950s and 1960s". Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne des Slavistes. 46 (3/4): 315–341. doi:10.1080/00085006.2004.11092362. ISSN 0008-5006. JSTOR 40860045. S2CID 192186418.
Mickelson 1983, p. 87
Puddington 2003, p. 94
Griffith, William (4 November 2002). "Policy Review of Voice for Free Hungary Programming, October 23 – November 23, 1956". National Security Archive. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
Byrne, Malcolm. "The 1956 Hungarian Revolution: A History in Documents". National Security Archive. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
Puddington 2003, p. 117
Cummings 2008, p. 173
Cummings, Richard (9 April 2008). "Special Feature: The 1981 Bombing of RFE/RL". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
""Voices of Hope" Hoover Institution exhibit on RFE/RL". hoorferl.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013.
"Олег Туманов, "ПРИЗНАНИЯ АГЕНТА КГБ", ЧАСТЬ III – окончание" [Oleg Tumanov, "KGB AGENT CONFESSIONS", PART III - end].
Oleg Kalugin – Spymaster. My Thirty-two Years in Intelligence and Espionage Against the West. Basic Books, Philadelphia, 2009 pp. 224–25
"Радио Свобода: Программы: История и современность: Разница во времени" [Radio Liberty: Programs: History and Modernity: Time Difference]. archive.svoboda.org.
"The Russian Teddy Bear was a KGB Mole: The Oleg Tumanov Story". coldwarradios.blogspot.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016.
Андрей Солдатов – По Чечне шпионы ходят хмуро... Мировые разведцентры изучают Россию через северокавказский бинокль. Сегодня, 24 февраля 2000 (tr. "Andrey Soldatov - Spies are walking around Chechnya glumly... World intelligence centers are studying Russia through North Caucasian binoculars. Today, February 24, 2000")
Евгений Крутиков – Шпиономания. В Тель-Авиве предостерегают Россию от пакистанской разведки. Известия, 9 июля 2001 (tr. "Evgeny Krutikov - Spy mania. Tel Aviv warns Russia against Pakistani intelligence. Izvestia, July 9, 2001")
Parta, R. Eugene (2007). Discoverying the Hidden Listener. Hoover Institute Press Publication. p. 57. ISBN 978-0817947323.
Sosin, Gene (2010). Sparks of Liberty: An Insiders Memoir of Radio Liberty. Penn State Press. p. 195.
Lipien, Ted (23 June 2007), "Old spy scandals still haunting US broadcasters? Archived 2011-06-10 at the Wayback Machine", Spero News.
"Cummings, Richard, "The Best Spy Stories of the Cold War"". Archived from the original on 13 March 2009.
Mickelson 1983, p. 115
Puddington 2003, p. 310
Mikkonen 2010, p. 781
Puddington 2003, p. 214
Mikkonen 2010, p. 786
Mikkonen 2010, p. 783
Mikkonen 2010, p. 784
Johnson, A. Ross; Parta, R. Eugene (2010). Cold War Broadcasting. Budapest: Central European University Press. pp. 51–64. ISBN 9789639776807.
Puddington 2003, p. 83
Historical dictionary of American propaganda, Martin J. Manning, Herbert Romerstein. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 0-313-29605-7, ISBN 978-0-313-29605-5. p. 51
A. Ross Johnson (7 September 2021). "Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty". Wilson Center. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
Puddington 2003, p. 196
Mickelson 1983, p. 126.
Puddington 2003, p. 209
Puddington 2003, p. 210
Puddington 2003, p. 30
Mickelson 1983, p. 153
Puddington 2003, p. 254
Puddington 2003, p. 287
Sosin 1999, p. 209
Sosin 1999, p. 216
Sosin 1999, p. 219
Kenety, Brian (16 November 2019). "1989: the Velvet Revolution in context (or how 'November' began in 'January')". Radio Prague. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Sebestyen, Victor (2009). Revolution 1989: The Fall Of The Soviet Empire. Orion Publishing Group. pp. 370–371. ISBN 9780297857884.
"Unraveling the Šmid death story". RFE/RL. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Nelson, Michael (1997). War of the black heavens : the battles of Western broadcasting in the Cold War (1st ed.). Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. pp. 184–186. ISBN 0-585-29377-5. OCLC 45731476.
Šiška, Miroslav (18 November 2018). "Mrtvý Šmíd z Národní třídy. Stěžejní událost, která se nestala" [Dead Šmíd from Národní třída. A major event that did not happen]. Novinky.cz. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Ash, Timothy Garton (5 November 2009). "1989!". The New York Review of Books. ISSN 0028-7504. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Shute, Claudia (12 February 2019). "RFE/RL's Vidishiqi Recalls 25 Years, One Mission In The Balkans". RFE/RL. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
Geran Pilon, Juliana (12 December 2008). "An Interview with RFE/RL Chief Jeffrey Gedmin". www.worldpoliticsreview.com. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
"Journalists in trouble". RFE/RL. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
"Cyberjamming". Wall Street Journal. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
The Prague Post, interview with RFE/RL President Thomas Dine, January 9, 2002
"Radio Free Europe opens new headquarters in Prague". San Diego Union Tribune. Associated Press. 12 May 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
"First Broadcast From New RFE/RL Headquarters". RFE/RL (Press release). 4 February 2009.
Sindelar, Daisy (30 December 2008). "Azerbaijan Bans RFE/RL, VOA, BBC Broadcasts". Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
"Czech Intelligence Reveals Iraqi Plot To Attack RFE/RL". RFE/RL. 30 November 2009. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
Kathleen Parker "Mightier than the Sword". The Washington Post, November 21, 2008
"Poetry from Paktia to Prague". RFE/RL. 31 August 2009.
"FLASHBACK (Sep. 18, 2009) Holbrooke at RFE Event: 'Deal with Taliban Propaganda Head-On'". RFE/RL. 18 September 2009.
"RFE/RL Launching Russian-Language Show to South Ossetia & Abkhazia". RFE/RL. 7 October 2009.
"RFE/RL Launches Radio Station in Pakistan's Pashtun Heartland". RFE/RL. 14 January 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
"RFE/RL Launches Radio Station in Pakistan's Pashtun Heartland". RFE/RL. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
"New TV Show Brings 'Facts, not Lies', to Russian Speakers". 14 October 2014, RFE/RL
"Current Time Network Launches Real News, For Real People, In Real Time", 7 February 2017, RFE/RL
"Настоящее Время – новости и репортажи из России, Украины, стран Азии". Настоящее Время.
"About Polygraph.info". Polygraph.info. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
"'We got our f**** a***s beat, Yankees made their point': Russian mercenaries in Syria lament U.S. strikes". Newsweek. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
Tomiuc, Eugen (19 July 2018). "RFE/RL To Launch News Services In Romania, Bulgaria". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
"Romania Wakes Up To RFE/RL". 14 January 2019, RFE/RL
"RFE/RL Returns To Bulgaria". 21 January 2019, RFE/RL
"RFE/RL Relaunches Operations In Hungary Amid Drop In Media Freedom". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
Stahl, Lesley. "RT's editor-in-chief on election meddling, being labeled Russian propaganda". CBS News. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
Osborn, Andrew (4 December 2017). "Russia designates Radio Free Europe and Voice of America as 'foreign agents'". Reuters. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
Phillip, Annie (23 November 2020). "Amidst Political Turmoil in Belarus, a Revival of Trust in Independent Journalism". Nieman Foundation. Nieman Reports Winter 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
Crouch, Erik (16 July 2021). "RFE/RL office raided, journalists detained as Belarus crackdown continues". Retrieved 27 May 2023.
Bogdana Alexandrowskaja (26 November 2020). "Journalism in Belarus: 'Like walking through a minefield'". dw.com. Deutsche Welle.
"Belarus: Crackdown on Independent Journalism". Human Rights Watch. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
"Belarus: Freedom on the Net 2022 Country Report". Freedom House. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
Tanya Lokot (5 November 2021). "Belarus authorities block access to more independent media added to extremist list". Advox. Global Voices. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
"Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Russia: Official pressure rising against RFE/RL". US Agency for Global Media. 9 October 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
"Belarus expands opposition crackdown with raids on independent media". Euronews. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
"Belarus Jails Students and Raids Media in Crackdown". The Moscow Times. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
"Belarus conducts new raids on journalists and rights activists". Reuters. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
"Russia freezes bank accounts of US broadcaster RFE/RL". Deutsche Welle. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
"Kremlin bears down on Moscow bureau of US-funded radio station". The Guardian. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
Balmforth, Tom (19 May 2021). "Radio Free Europe sues Russia at European court over 'foreign agent' action". Reuters. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
"Russian police upgrade charges against Moscow resident in 'fake news' case over comment for Radio Liberty". Novaya Gazeta. 30 April 2023.
"'I stand by my opinion': Russian on trial for critical Ukraine interview". France 24. 30 August 2023.
"Bishkek Court Approves Ministry Request To Shut Down RFE/RL's Operations In Kyrgyzstan". Radio Free Europe. 29 April 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
Adilgizi, Lamiya; Rowley, Tom (8 September 2023). "Former Radio Free Europe staff demand probe over 'pro-Azerbaijan content'". openDemocracy. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
Yakovlev, Denis (22 April 2006). "Дмитрий Савицкий: "Я был антисоветчиком с младых ногтей"" [Dmitri Savitski: "I was an anti-Soviet from a young age"]. knigoboz.ru. Archived from the original on 22 April 2006. Retrieved 23 September 2019.

says, Piotr. "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Has Lost Its Uniqueness Warns Former Director of Radio Liberty's Russian Service | Free Media Online". Retrieved 23 September 2019.

Bibliography

Cummings, Richard (2008). "The Ether War: Hostile Intelligence Activities Directed Against Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, and the Émigré Community in Munich during the Cold War". Journal of Transatlantic Studies. 6 (2): 168–182. doi:10.1080/14794010802184374. S2CID 143544822.
Holt, Robert T. Radio Free Europe (U of Minnesota Press, 1958)
Johnson, Ian (2010). A Mosque in Munich. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780151014187.
Johnson, A. Ross, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty: The CIA Years and Beyond. (Woodrow Wilson Center Press, Stanford University Press, 2010)
Johnson, A. Ross and R. Eugene Parta (eds.), Cold War Broadcasting: Impact on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. (Budapest: Central European University Press, 2010)
Machcewicz, Paweł. Poland's War on Radio Free Europe, 1950–1989 (Trans. by Maya Latynski. Cold War International History Project Series) (Stanford University Press, 2015). 456 pp. online review
Mickelson, Sig (1983). America's Other Voice: the Story of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 9780030632242.
Mikkonen, Simo (Fall 2010). "Stealing the Monopoly of Knowledge?: Soviet Reactions to U.S. Cold War Broadcasting". Kritika: Explorations in Russian & Eurasian History. 11 (4): 771–805. doi:10.1353/kri.2010.0012. S2CID 159839411.
Puddington, Arch (2003). Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
Sosin, Gene (1999). Sparks of Liberty: An Insider's Memoir of Radio Liberty. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Urban, George R. (1997). Radio Free Europe and the pursuit of democracy: My War Within the Cold War. Yale University Press. Urban was the director of RFE in the 1980s.

In other languages

Măgură Bernard, Ioana (2007). Directorul postului nostru de radio. Curtea Veche. ISBN 978-973-669-442-4.
Molnár, József (2006). A Szabad Európa Rádió a forradalom napjaiban – Autobiography. ISBN 963-9592-10-2.
Tofan, Liviu (2021). Ne-au ținut în viață – Radio Europa Liberă, 1970-1990. Editura Omnium. ISBN 978-606-95197-5-2.
Tofan, Liviu (2021). Antologia Radio Europa Liberă – 101 contribuții (1956-1990). Editura Omnium. ISBN 978-606-95197-1-4.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Library resources about
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Resources in your library
Resources in other libraries

Official website
"Farda English - Life Inside Iran - Iran protests". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
RFE/RL Broadcast and Corporate Records compiled by the Hoover Institution
RFE/RL collection of declassified documents compiled by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and made publicly available through the Wilson Center Digital Archive
The short film 1956 Crusade for Freedom (1956) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
The short film Radio Free Europe (1960) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
The short film Eagle Cage (1960) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
CIA archives

vte

U.S. Agency for Global Media networks

Voice of America
VOA1 Middle East Broadcasting Networks
Alhurra Radio Sawa Current Time TV Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Radio Azadi Radio Farda Radio Free Iraq Radio Mashaal Radio Free Asia
Open Technology Fund Radio y Televisión Martí Worldnet Television and Film Service

vte

Cold War

US USSR NATO Warsaw Pact ANZUS METO NEATO SEATO TIAR Non-Aligned Movement

1940s

Morgenthau Plan Hukbalahap Rebellion Jamaican political conflict Dekemvriana Soviet stance in the Warsaw Uprising Percentages agreement Yalta Conference Guerrilla war in the Baltic states
Operation Priboi Operation Jungle Occupation of the Baltic states Cursed soldiers Operation Unthinkable Operation Downfall Potsdam Conference Gouzenko Affair Division of Korea Indonesian National Revolution Operation Masterdom Operation Beleaguer Operation Blacklist Forty Iran crisis of 1946 Greek Civil War Baruch Plan Corfu Channel incident Turkish straits crisis Restatement of Policy on Germany First Indochina War 1947 Polish parliamentary election Truman Doctrine Asian Relations Conference May 1947 crises Partition of India Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948 1947–1949 Palestine war
1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine 1948 Arab–Israeli War 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight Marshall Plan Comecon 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état Incapacitation of the Allied Control Council Al-Wathbah uprising Tito–Stalin split Berlin Blockade Annexation of Hyderabad Madiun Affair Western betrayal Iron Curtain Eastern Bloc Western Bloc Chinese Civil War
Chinese Communist Revolution Malayan Emergency March 1949 Syrian coup d'état Operation Valuable

1950s

Bamboo Curtain McCarthyism Political violence in the United States during the Cold War Korean War Arab Cold War (1952–1979) 1952 Egyptian Revolution Iraqi Intifada (1952) Mau Mau rebellion East German uprising of 1953 1953 Iranian coup d'état Pact of Madrid Bricker Amendment 1954 Syrian coup d'état Petrov Affair Domino theory 1954 Geneva Conference 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état Capture of the Tuapse First Taiwan Strait Crisis Jebel Akhdar War Algerian War Kashmir Princess Bandung Conference Geneva Summit (1955) Vietnam War Cyprus Emergency "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" 1956 Poznań protests Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Polish October Suez Crisis "We will bury you" Operation Gladio Syrian Crisis of 1957 Sputnik crisis Ifni War Iraqi 14 July Revolution 1958 Lebanon crisis Second Taiwan Strait Crisis 1959 Mosul uprising 1959 Tibetan uprising Laotian Civil War Kitchen Debate Cuban Revolution
Consolidation of the Cuban Revolution Sino-Soviet split

1960s

Congo Crisis Simba rebellion 1960 U-2 incident Bay of Pigs Invasion 1960 Turkish coup d'état Albanian–Soviet split
Expulsion of Soviets from Albania Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
First Iraqi–Kurdish War Berlin Crisis of 1961 Berlin Wall Annexation of Goa Papua conflict Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation Sand War Portuguese Colonial War
Angolan War of Independence Guinea-Bissau War of Independence Mozambican War of Independence Cuban Missile Crisis El Porteñazo Sino-Indian War Communist insurgency in Sarawak Ramadan Revolution Eritrean War of Independence North Yemen Civil War 1963 Syrian coup d'état Assassination of John F. Kennedy Aden Emergency Cyprus crisis of 1963–1964 Shifta War Mexican Dirty War
Tlatelolco massacre Guatemalan Civil War Colombian conflict 1964 Brazilian coup d'état Dominican Civil War Rhodesian Bush War Indonesian mass killings of 1965–1966 Transition to the New Order (Indonesia) ASEAN Declaration 1966 Syrian coup d'état Cultural Revolution Argentine Revolution South African Border War Korean DMZ Conflict 12-3 incident Greek junta 1967 Hong Kong riots Years of Lead (Italy) Six-Day War War of Attrition Dhofar War Al-Wadiah War Nigerian Civil War Protests of 1968
May 68 Prague Spring USS Pueblo incident 1968 Polish political crisis Communist insurgency in Malaysia Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia 17 July Revolution 1968 Peruvian coup d'état
Revolutionary Government 1969 Sudanese coup d'état 1969 Libyan revolution Goulash Communism Sino-Soviet border conflict New People's Army rebellion

1970s

Détente Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Black September Alcora Exercise Corrective Movement (Syria) Western Sahara conflict Cambodian Civil War Communist insurgency in Thailand 1970 Polish protests Koza riot Realpolitik Ping-pong diplomacy 1971 JVP insurrection Corrective Revolution (Egypt) 1971 Turkish military memorandum 1971 Sudanese coup d'état Four Power Agreement on Berlin Bangladesh Liberation War 1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China North Yemen-South Yemen Border conflict of 1972 Yemenite War of 1972 Munich massacre 1972–1975 Bangladesh insurgency Eritrean Civil Wars 1973 Uruguayan coup d'état 1973 Afghan coup d'état 1973 Chilean coup d'état Yom Kippur War 1973 oil crisis Carnation Revolution Spanish transition to democracy Metapolitefsi Strategic Arms Limitation Talks Second Iraqi–Kurdish War Turkish invasion of Cyprus Angolan Civil War Cambodian genocide June 1976 protests Mozambican Civil War Oromo conflict Ogaden War 1978 Somali coup attempt Western Sahara War Ethiopian Civil War Lebanese Civil War Albanian–Chinese split Third Indochina War Cambodian–Vietnamese War Operation Condor Dirty War (Argentina) 1976 Argentine coup d'état Egyptian–Libyan War German Autumn Korean Air Lines Flight 902 Nicaraguan Revolution Uganda–Tanzania War NDF Rebellion Chadian–Libyan War Yemenite War of 1979 Grand Mosque seizure Iranian Revolution Saur Revolution Sino-Vietnamese War New Jewel Movement 1979 Herat uprising Seven Days to the River Rhine Struggle against p