Radio Free Europe

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a U.S. government–sponsored agency broadcasting pro-American information into Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. The two closely linked broadcast services, which signed on in 1950 and 1951, have had complicated funding and reporting structures since their creation as Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)–affiliated organizations intended to effect political change through propaganda.

Following in the footsteps of the original U.S. government broadcast news service—the Voice of America (VOA)—RFE/RL is one of seven American special interest radio and television services broadcasting to millions of people around the world in their native languages. However, unlike the betterknown VOA, RFE/RL has, since its inception, been less committed to impartial reporting of the news and more focused ...