{"id":26629,"date":"2017-06-27T08:01:39","date_gmt":"2017-06-27T12:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=26629"},"modified":"2017-06-27T08:01:39","modified_gmt":"2017-06-27T12:01:39","slug":"cold-war-broadcasting-two-articles-feature-rfe-radio-liberty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/cold-war-broadcasting-two-articles-feature-rfe-radio-liberty\/","title":{"rendered":"Cold War Broadcasting: Two articles feature RFE & Radio Liberty"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many thanks to SWLing Post<\/em> contributor, Andrea Borgnino<\/a>, who shares the following article from the website Journalism Is Not A Crime<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

From Propaganda to Journalism: How Radio Free Europe Pierced the Iron Curtain<\/h3>\n

The end of the Second World War signaled the beginning of an information war in Europe. As the military alliance between the Soviet Union and its main western allies \u2014 the United States and Britain \u2014 came to an end, the USSR backed small communist parties that asserted ever-tighter control over much of Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Fulton, Missouri in March 1946, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill warned of an \u201cIron Curtain\u201d of totalitarian control sealing off half the continent. His speech heralded the beginning of an ideological \u201ccold war\u201d that would last for more than 40 years, a struggle in which citizens of the eastern camp were only meant to hear one side of the argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about the Iron Curtain as a physical barrier, but it was also an information curtain,\u201d says A. Ross Johnson, a former director of Radio Free Europe and author of a history of RFE and its companion station, Radio Liberty, which broadcast into the Soviet Union. \u201cAll the communist regimes saw control of information as a key to their rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continue reading…<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An\u00a0SWLing Post<\/em> contributor also recently shared the following PDF article by A. Ross Johnson for the Wilson Center. Here’s the summary:<\/p>\n

\n

To Monitor and be Monitored\u2013 Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty during the Cold War<\/h3>\n

Monitoring of Soviet bloc radios was an important input to Radio Free and Radio Liberty broadcasts during the Cold War. RFE and RL also monitored the official print media and interviewed refugees and travelers. Soviet bloc officials in turn monitored RFE, RL, and other Western broadcasts (while jamming their transmissions) to inform themselves and to counter what they viewed as \u201cideological subversion.\u201d On both sides, monitoring informed media policy.<\/p>\n

RFE and RL monitored their radio audiences through listener letters and extensive travel
\nsurveys, while the Communist authorities monitored those audiences through secret police
\ninformants and secret internal polling. Both approaches were second-best efforts at survey
\nresearch but in retrospect provided reasonably accurate indicators of the audience for RFE, RL, and other Western broadcasters.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Click here to download the full Wilson Center article as a PDF.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you’re interested in Cold War broadcasting, I would also encourage you to check out Richard Cummings’ blog, Cold War Radio Vignettes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Andrea Borgnino, who shares the following article from the website Journalism Is Not A Crime: From Propaganda to Journalism: How Radio Free Europe Pierced the Iron Curtain The end of the Second World War signaled the beginning of an information war in Europe. As the military alliance between the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,869,3,305,288,43],"tags":[6280,752,1160,1528,1094,34],"class_list":["post-26629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-clandestine","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-radio-history","category-shortwave-radio","tag-a-ross-johnson","tag-cold-war","tag-radio-free-europe","tag-radio-liberty","tag-rfe","tag-shortwave"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-6Vv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62456,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2025\/03\/federal-judge-temporarily-preserves-rfe-rl-funding\/","url_meta":{"origin":26629,"position":0},"title":"Federal Judge Temporarily Preserves RFE\/RL Funding","author":"Thomas","date":"March 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) from cutting off funding to Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty, citing a lack of proper justification. The ruling allows the network to continue operations while the legal case moves forward. Read the full story at NPR.","rel":"","context":"In "International Broadcasting"","block_context":{"text":"International Broadcasting","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/international-broadcasting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/RFE-Radio-Liberty-Logo.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39533,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/radio-free-europe-set-to-restart-in-hungary\/","url_meta":{"origin":26629,"position":1},"title":"Radio Free Europe “set to restart in Hungary”","author":"Thomas","date":"September 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: Budapest Business Journal) Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty, the U.S. government-funded organization that broadcasts news and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East \u201cwhere a free press is banned or not fully established,\u201d is set to restart in Hungary, following recent relaunches in Bulgaria and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/RFE-RadioLiberty.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23063,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/radio-free-europe-and-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":26629,"position":2},"title":"Radio Free Europe and Christmas","author":"Thomas","date":"December 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Cummings, who shares the 1951 Radio Free Europe Christmas card above. Richard also notes that he recently published a two-part series on RFE and Christmas on his blog, Cold War Radio Vignettes. Christmas and Radio Free Europe, Part One: Santa Claus, Freedom Girl\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/RFE-Christmas-Card-1951.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17355,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/02\/video-this-is-radio-free-europe-1964\/","url_meta":{"origin":26629,"position":3},"title":"Video: This Is Radio Free Europe (1964)","author":"Thomas","date":"February 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're in the mood for a little Cold War era nostalgia, check out this video produced by Radio Free Europe in 1964. One of the things I found most fascinating was seeing the number of rack-mounted Hammarlund SP-600s (and other benchmark receivers) at the RFE monitoring station near Munich.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"RFE-Image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/RFE-Image.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/RFE-Image.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/RFE-Image.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23200,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2017\/01\/radio-free-europe-receives-offhand-mention-in-senate-hearing-on-russian-hacking\/","url_meta":{"origin":26629,"position":4},"title":"Radio Free Europe receives offhand mention in Senate hearing on Russian Hacking","author":"Thomas","date":"January 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks SWLing Post contributor,\u00a0Aaron Kuhn, who\u00a0writes: [While passing by the TV at just the right time] I heard an interesting little 16 seconds of exchange in the Senate Russian Hacking hearings. The exchange take place between Lindsey Graham and James Clapper from 1:57:40 to 1:58:24: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=RLB2ws41cEI&feature=youtu.be&t=7044 Click here to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/RLB2ws41cEI\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20321,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/rfe-and-the-1956-hungarian-revolution-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":26629,"position":5},"title":"RFE and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution (Part 1)","author":"Thomas","date":"August 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to Richard Cummings of the website, Cold War Radio Vignettes, who notes that he has posted a new article\u00a0about Radio Free Europe and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution (Part 1). The article spotlights Operation FOCUS,\u00a0which was the combined balloon\/leaflet and RFE broadcast endeavours 1954-56. Richard notes that Part 2\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HalliDial","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial-1024x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial-1024x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/HalliDial-1024x400.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}