Broadcasting freedom : the Cold War triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Broadcasting freedom : the Cold War triumph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty
University Press of Kentucky, c2000
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [359]-364) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
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ISBN 9780813121581
Description
Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty (RL) were among America's most successful weapons during the Cold War. Their assigned task, to disseminate information and stimulate unrest behind the "Iron Curtain", indisputably influenced the fall of Communism. This work aims to offer a clear and detailed history of the radio stations, often regarded as somewhat shadowy institutions. The author reveals connections between RFE, RL, and the CIA, which provided covert funding for the stations during the critical start-up years in the early 1950s. He also describes the efforts of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries to thwart the stations, including jamming attempts, assassinations of radio journalists, and the infiltration of spies onto the radios' staff. He confronts the controversies that engulfed the stations throughout the Cold War, most notably the RFE broadcasts described as inflammatory and irresponsible during the Hungarian revolution.
He reveals how RFE prevented the Communist authorities from establishing a monopoly on the dissemination of information in Poland, and describes the crucial roles played by the stations as the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union broke apart.
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780813190457
Description
Among America's most unusual and successful weapons during the Cold War were Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. RFE-RL had its origins in a post-war America brimming with confidence and secure in its power. Unlike the Voice of America, which conveyed a distinctly American perspective on global events, RFE-RL served as surrogate home radio services and a vital alternative to the controlled, party-dominated domestic press in Eastern Europe. Over twenty stations featured programming tailored to individual countries. They reached millions of listeners ranging from industrial workers to dissident leaders such as Lech Walesa and Vaclav Havel.
Broadcasting Freedom draws on rare archival material and offers a penetrating insider history of the radios that helped change the face of Europe. Arch Puddington reveals new information about the connections between RFE-RL and the CIA, which provided covert funding for the stations during the critical start-up years in the early 1950s. He relates in detail the efforts of Soviet and Eastern Bloc officials to thwart the stations; their tactics ranged from jamming attempts, assassinations of radio journalists, the infiltration of spies onto the radios' staffs, and the bombing of the radios' headquarters.
Puddington addresses the controversies that engulfed the stations throughout the Cold War, most notably RFE broadcasts during the Hungarian Revolution that were described as inflammatory and irresponsible. He shows how RFE prevented the Communist authorities from establishing a monopoly on the dissemination of information in Poland and describes the crucial roles played by the stations as the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union broke apart.
Broadcasting Freedom is also a portrait of the Cold War in America. Puddington offers insights into the strategic thinking of the RFE-RL leadership and those in the highest circles of American government, including CIA directors, secretaries of state, and even presidents.
Table of Contents
Dimensions of Difference in Indigenous Film
Reading Nanook's Smile: Visual Sovereignty, Indigenous Revisions of Ethnography, and Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner)
Dismantling the Master's House: The Feminist Fourth Cinema Documentaries of Alanis Obomsawin and Loretta Todd
Indigenous (Re)memory and Resistance: Video Works by Dana Claxton
Native Resistance to Hollywood's Persistence of Vision: Teaching Films about Contemporary American Indians
Geographies of Identity and Belonging in Sherman Alexie's The Business of Fancydancing
Teaching Native American Filmmakers: Osawa, Eyre and Redroad
"The Native's Point of View" As Seen Through the Native's (and Non-Native's) Points of View
The Dirt Roads of Consciousness: Teaching and Producing Videos with Indigenous Purpose
"Pockets Full of Stories": An Interview with Sterlin Harjo and Blackhorse Lowe
Wrestling the Greased Pig: An Interview with Randy Redroad
Sandra Osawa: An Upstream Journey
Video as Community Ally and Dakota Sense of Place: An Interview with Mona Smith
The Journey's Discover: An Interview with Shelly Niro
by "Nielsen BookData"