Jul 17 2008
Radio Free Europe/ Radio Freedom
Radio Free Europe/ Radio Freedom
Historical text about the assembling of the two most important radios in the Eastern Europe combat to totalitarian communist regimes.
Their History
The RFERL has always been a very polemic issue, therefore the police was many times required to protect the building itself and the workers has well.
The Radio Free Europe Inc started after the 2nd world war in the year of 1949 as a non-profit, private corporation to broadcast news and current-affairs programs to the countries located after the Iron Curtin. Two years later was created the Radio Liberty wish had the same very goal as the 1st radio. Both of these radios were founded with the help of CIA Central Intelligence Agency. Therefore the two radios were combined in one in the year of 1975 with the new name RFE/RL, Inc. Although in the year of 1971 CIA stopped with the founding being all the responsibility passed to a presidential appointed Board for International Broadcasting (BIB). The BIB duties were transferred to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) in1994, working like this till nowadays.
Their goal
Radio Free Europe’s goal was not only to presumably inform its listeners but to bring about the peaceful demise of the Communist system and the governments of what were known as the satellite nations: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Radio Free Europe attempted to fulfill these objectives by serving as a surrogate home radio station, an alternative to the controlled and partly called domestic press. The radio was a creation of some of the most prominent architects of America’s early Cold War strategy, especially those who believed that the Cold War would eventually be fought by political rather than military means. American policymakers acknowledged that the Cold War was in its essence a war of ideas dividing the world. The United States, who acted through CIA, funded a long list of projects to counter the Communist appeal among intellectuals in Europe and the developing world. Meaning the radio started to be a way of propaganda against the communism in its own countries. Like this natives of the countries where this radio was implanted would have conscience of the world out of the Iron Curtin and want the change and freedom to their own countries.
During the Cold War some members of the Warsaw Pact hemmed in the radio signals. Although in 1988 the Soviet Union allowed the radio signals, with the objective of localizing and following its audience and journalists. Meaning that everyone know about this radio and as Lech Walesa, a polish leader said it was an element of extreme importance for the end of the communist regimes. After communism collapse there would be no reason for the radio to continue, at first, however RFE/RL had been a great contributor for the freedom of Eastern Europe and important people like Czech President Vaclav Havel wanted the radio to keep the work. Nevertheless the radio had to stop its work in some areas like Hungary, Poland. Making the situation harder the BBG ended its found to Czech Republic, but Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Bulgaria were closed in 2004.
In 1998 the Persian Service began broadcasting to Iran, and Radio Free Iraq began broadcasting in Arabic to Iraq. And after the year 1999 Albania and Latvia were opened as well as Afghanistan and North Caucasus.
Nowadays RFE/RL has 18 services in 28 languages.