Alexander Badenoch, Andreas Fickers, Christian Henrich-Franke. Airy Curtains in the European Ether: Broadcasting and the Cold War. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag, 2013. 375 S. ISBN 978-3-8329-7225-7.
Richard H. Cummings. Radio Free Europe's "Crusade for Freedom": Rallying Americans Behind Cold War Broadcasting, 1950–1960. Jeferson, NC: McFarland Publishers, 2010. 265 S. , , ISBN 978-0-7864-4410-6.
A. Ross Johnson. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty: The CIA Years and Beyond. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2010. xii, 304 S. $55.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-8047-7356-0.
A. Ross Johnson, R. Eugene Parta. Cold War Broadcasting: Impact on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. A Collection of Studies and Documents. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2010. xxv, 586 S. , , ISBN 978-1-4416-7708-2.
Reviewed by Friederike Kind-Kovács
Published on H-Soz-u-Kult (October, 2013)
The Iron Curtain has been approached as a ans the Iron Curtain is also approached as an in‐ political, ideological, mental as well as psychologi‐ formation border that aimed at the disentangle‐ cal border; from the perspective of media histori‐ ment of the Cold War world by means of its media H-Net Reviews systems. Yet, this “information curtain” (Johnson, dio Liberty. The CIA Years and Beyond. Although p. 184) was unable to entirely seal of the Soviet having been part of the former radio industry Bloc societies from the so-called West: books, himself, Johnson does not recount the story of newspapers, television and radio perforated this RFE and RL in an autobiographical narrative, but Cold War border. Radio was a particularly power‐ instead relies on – until now – inaccessible, be‐ ful tool to reach audiences that appeared as other‐ cause classifed, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) wise inaccessible. In the last decade, research on sources to rewrite the history of the frst two radio during the Cold War has produced three dif‐ decades of the radios’ existence. While the CIA- ferent types of retrospective narratives: insider funding of the radios until 1971 represents a high‐ accounts, document collections and post-Cold War ly problematic and controversial matter in their narratives. Already since the implementation of history, this work aims at identifying the CIA per‐ Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty (RL) in spective, mostly by means of the CIA’s own the early Cold War, key fgures and employees of sources. Johnson decided to especially draw on the radios themselves, and later on so-called radio declassifed CIA materials to evaluate the particu‐ veterans, have produced a great amount of cele‐ larly central role of the CIA in establishing the ra‐ bratory recollections of their professional experi‐ dios and keeping them running in the frst two ences at the radios in which they stressed and still decades of their existence. Using archival material stress the radios’ power as ambitious instruments from the RFE/RL Corporate Records at Hoover of this ‘Cold War of the ether’. A number of for‐ and the Central Intelligence Agency Archives, mer insiders have given us an up-close and per‐ Johnson aims at examining the role of RFE and RL sonal look at the everyday functioning of Western as means of U.S. foreign and security policy. The radio stations, providing much-needed knowledge book’s main purpose is to draw fnal conclusions about the internal structures of the stations and about the efciency of the radios to fght and ‘win’ their extensive interdependencies with politics this propaganda war. It particularly aims at un‐ and intelligence. See for this: Cummings, Radio derstanding the place of the radios in the various Free Europe’s Crusade for Freedom; Arch Pud‐ national crisis situations throughout Central Eu‐ dington, Broadcasting Freedom: The Cold War Tri‐ rope, reevaluating the ambivalent stance of the umph of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. radios during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution as Lexington 2003; George R. Urban, Radio Free Eu‐ well as the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in rope and the Pursuit of Democracy: My War with‐ 1968. Acknowledging the institutional crisis of in the Cold War. New Haven 1997; James RFE after the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian up‐ Critchlow, Radio hold-in-the head: Radio Liberty: rising, which resulted from the encouragement an insider’s story of Cold War Broadcasting, that the US would also support the Hungarian rev‐ Washington D.C. 1995; R. Eugene Parta, Discover‐ olution militarily, Johnson argues that the radios ing the Hidden Listener: An Empirical Assessment carried a “special responsibility to avoid encour‐ of Radio Liberty and Western Broadcasting to the aging violence” (p. 243). They only had “soft pow‐ USSR During the Cold War. Stanford 2007; Gene er” at hand in this media competition, instead of Sosin, Sparks of Liberty. An Insider’s Memoir of actually representing powerful means of “psycho‐ Radio Liberty, Pennsylvania State University Press logical warfare”. Suggesting that “propaganda” 1999. was originally understood in positive terms, as a Recently, A. Ross Johnson, former director of means to “promote freedom” and not “false‐ RFE between 1988 and 1991 and former director hoods”, the monograph reproduces the often-for‐ of the radio’s research institute until 1994, pub‐ mulated aim of the radios. Meant as surrogate lished a monograph on Radio Free Europe and Ra‐ broadcasts for unfree countries (p. 242), Johnson
2 H-Net Reviews suggests, the radios’ main task was to reinforce scribes in perfect detail how this national fund and to amplify the independent voices inside the raising campaign succeeded in gaining “moral repressive societies (p. 243). In targeting and try‐ andfnancial support” (p. 58) among the average ing to remain credible to its “skeptical audiences” American people. By means of its multimedia ap‐ in the Soviet Bloc, the radios could never have proach (as well as its very many advertising cam‐ been “an overt or covert voice of the United paigns (via TV, Radio, Newspapers, Journals, Free‐ States”. Yet, its ideological independence was only dom Trains), the Crusade managed to raise an im‐ possible through the CIA-funding. Thus, Johnson mense amount of money to “Help Truth Fight concludes that only the overt oversight and fund‐ Communism”, as the main propaganda slogan ing of RFE and RL by the CIA “made possible the went (p. 87). In concrete this meant that the raised investment in their capabilities that allowed them funds were used to establish radio stations later to contribute much to the collapse of the So‐ throughout Europe behind the Iron Curtain and to viet Union” (p. 245). Only by means of their fnan‐ fund their everyday expenses. As a means to cial (in-)dependence could they maintain objectiv‐ prove the successful investment of the funds, ity. Frances Stonor Saunders, and many others af‐ “[p]rominent Americans were fown to visit Radio ter her, seriously questioned this kind of ap‐ Free Europe (RFE) locations” on so-called “study proach, according to which “the CIA’s substantial trips” (p. 124). After their return, the “trippers” fnancial investment came with no strings at‐ (as the participants would be called) were to re‐ tached”, which served to inscribe a “myth of altru‐ port on the work of the radios that was much ism” to the CIA’s sponsoring. Frances Stonor Saun‐ needed to prevent the further spreading of com‐ ders, Who Paid the Piper. The CIA and the Cultur‐ munism. By portraying the Crusade for Freedom al Cold War, London 1999, p. 4. Thus, it seems publicly as the apparently only funding campaign more appropriate to assume that fnancial aid of behind the radios, the radio’s CIA funding could such sort surely afected the ideas and projects of be perfectly concealed from the American public the radios to a great extent. for a very long period. Although not specifcally The second type of insight into the history of addressing this very central issue from a theoreti‐ the radios is provided through commented and cal point of view, the author accomplishes to un‐ contextualized document collections, which allow cover one of the central cover actions of this us to see radio veterans and scholars engage with fundraising Cold War and thus sets the historical materials of the time. Richard H. Cummings, the record straight. former director of security at RFE, gives an in‐ Another, more elaborate and extensive vol‐ sight into the everyday (propaganda) work of Ra‐ ume, entitled Cold War Broadcasting by Ross dio Free Europe’s “Crusade for Freedom” in the Johnson and R. Eugene Parta, serves as a compen‐ 1950s. Although the reader is – particularly in the dium of documents of the time as well as of to‐ introduction – looking in vain for any research day’s narrative of (mostly) former employees of question or theoretical approach to the following Western radios. The volume, however, does not assembled source material, the volume serves only deal with RFE and RL but also includes stud‐ well in introducing the reader chronologically to ies on VOA and the BBC. Especially the fnal chap‐ the activities of the Crusade for Freedom. Citing ter, entitled “Cold War International Broadcasting immensely from and presenting many excerpts of and the Road to Democracy”, rewrites the success unpublished sources, Cummings gives a detailed stories of RFE and RL (p. 347), concluding, that record of the radio’s early fund raising activities, “Western broadcasting contributed to fostering of which the Crusade appears to have been democratic change within the countries of East‐ among the most successful one. The volume de‐ ern Europe and the USSR” (p. 350). The preceding
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16 chapters by former RFE or RL employees and sources from East European Soviet archives, historians, divided into four parts (Part 1: Goals of serves ideally the purpose to introduce students the Broadcasts, Part 2: Jamming and Audiences, and young researchers to the archival responses Part 3: Impact of Western Broadcasts in Eastern to the broadcasting activities. In addition to the Europe, Part 4: Impact of Western Broadcasts in major bulk of chapters of former RFE and RL em‐ the USSR), assess the impact of Western broad‐ ployees that evaluate the impact of the broadcast casting on the Soviet bloc from various angles: operations, a few chapters were written by aca‐ ‘Programming Policies and Contents’, ‘Jamming’, demics whose contributions even go beyond re‐ ‘Audience Research’ and ‘Ofcial Reactions to producing the perspective of the radios. For in‐ Western broadcasting’. While already during the stance, in his chapter on RFE in Hungary, István Cold War “measuring the impact of the private ex‐ Rév suggests to re-read the ‘noise’ of jamming. In‐ perience of listening to international broadcasts stead of just “overwriting the message coming […] was a constant preoccupation for politicians, from the West”, the jamming noise was meant to broadcasters and researchers”, as István Rév ade‐ “remind [...] the listener of the continuous surveil‐ quately observes in his chapter (p. 240), also this lance” (p. 244). After a short disappearance of the post-Cold War volume keeps attempting to re‐ noise in the Hungarian ether during the 1956 rev‐ assess the radios’ actual efectiveness. By means olution, the quick and unexpected return of the of a “wealth of detail on the impact of Western noise reminded the listener: “Communism was broadcasts”, the volume aims to prove that the ra‐ here to stay” (p. 245). More of such critical ap‐ dios reached what they had wanted: mass audi‐ proaches, that dare to focus on the difculties, dis‐ ences and key elites (p. 350). In order to do so, the tortions and failures of the radios, would have volume covers the whole region and details the turned this volume into a more balanced and neu‐ work and impact of the radios in all target coun‐ tral tool for the study of the radios. tries. While most chapters tend – slightly too While this collection reproduces much of the much – to join into the same heroic narrative of radios former rhetoric, a third type of narrative the radios’ grandiose impact, the chapters individ‐ about media in the Cold War has recently started ually taken serve perfectly as introductory chap‐ to appear, adding a diferent perspective to our ters to the radios’ history. It is a very valuable tool knowledge of the Cultural Cold War. Volumes that for teaching Cold War (media) history. The 2012 aim to deconstruct ideas of ideological antago‐ released online collection of related and newly nisms, attempted isolation and disentanglement declassifed CIA-sources, entitled E-dossier Nr. 32: examine the feld of Cold War encounters as well Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty and pub‐ as of visual and audio media in terms of their con‐ lished by Ross Johnson, gives insight into the CIA tribution to the end of the Cold War. See on this employment of the radios for U.S. political war‐ the volume by Annette Vowinckel / Marcus M. fare. See for the e-dossier on declassifed CIA ma‐ Payk / Thomas Lindenberger, Cold War Cultures. terials about RFE and RL:
4 H-Net Reviews on Cold War entanglements instead of disentan‐ cles together to study the connection between ra‐ glements. The volumes by Brendan Humphreys / dio and its contribution to the process of “Euro‐ Sari Autio-Sarasmo, Winter kept us warm: Cold pean integration” (p. 14). By assessing the “sym‐ War Interactions Reconsidered. Helsinki 2010, as bolic power of European broadcast events (and well as by See Poul Villaume / Odd Arne Westard, contents)”, that would be transferred across the Perforating the Iron Curtain. European Détente, Iron Curtain, the volume approaches media expe‐ Transatlantic Relations and the Cold War, 1965– riences that went beyond the “Airy Curtain” (p. 1985, Copenhagen 2010, focus on Cold War inter‐ 15). In their joint efort to examine the relation‐ action; see now as well: Linda Risso (Ed.), Radio ship between the cultural and technological di‐ Wars: Broadcasting during the Cold War. Special mensions of broadcasting, its material structures Issue of Cold War History 13 (2013); Simo Mikko‐ and institutions as well as its symbolic meanings, nen, Exploiting the Exiles: Soviet Émigrés in U.S. the authors provide a much-needed insight into Cold War Strategy, in: Journal of Cold War Studies this Cold War – yet already transnational – Euro‐ 14 (2012), p. 98–127 or his piece on “Stealing the pean space of interaction and communication (p. Monopoly of Knowledge? Soviet Reactions to U.S. 15). In not only adding articles on tape recording Cold War Broadcasting”, in: Kritika. Explorations (Karin Bijsterveld), pirate radio (Alexander Bade‐ in Russian and Eurasian History 11 (2010), p. 771– noch) and practices of clandestine broadcasting 805; Melissa Feinberg, Fantastic Truths, Com‐ and listening (Trever Hagen, Dana Mustata), but pelling Lies: Radio Free Europe and the Response also including research pieces on color television to the Slánský Trial in Czechoslovakia, in: Contem‐ (Andreas Fickers), the East-West exchange of tele‐ porary European History 22 (2013–2014), p. 107– vision programs (Christian Henrich-Franke, Regi‐ 125. na Immel), song contests (Mari Pajala) and com‐ Stating in their introduction that “broadcast‐ munication satellites (James Schwoch), the vol‐ ing both united and divided the Cold War blocs“, ume succeeds in broadening the perspective to the editors of the present volume propose to ap‐ other communication media. In this way, broad‐ proach radio during the Cold War rather as a zone casting is understood as only one – though impor‐ of convergence than one of ideological antago‐ tant – part of a wider transnational and cross-Iron nism and attempted isolation (p. 11). In this way, Curtain information system, which individual the volume questions the traditional approach to producers, users and listeners built and employed Cold War history and instead shifts its focus to the even beyond the historical caesura of 1989/1991. transnational character and potential of radio as a While research on Cold War Radio mostly fo‐ sound medium, reading it as “’ping-pong’” model cuses on the fow of information from West to of interactive communication” (p. 13). The volume East, Jennifer Spohrer critically discusses in chap‐ is divided into four sections, dealing frst with the ter 1 the ideological reasons for this historical re‐ “Regulation and Control of Broadcasting in Cold ality. Simo Mikkonen goes even further and elabo‐ War Europe”, secondly examining “The European rates in his contribution on the mutuality of the Communication Space and the Subversive Circu‐ interaction. He looks at Soviet international lation Culture”, thirdly approaching “Connections broadcasting Radio Moscow, which targeted and Spill Overs: Europe as a United Communica‐ Western audiences in the 1950s. Although the “So‐ tion Space” and fnally focusing on “Disconnec‐ viet Union was the most active and largest inter‐ tions and Fragmentations: Europe as a Jamming national broadcaster in the world” at the time (p. Session”. Although the volume is missing a much- 242), the voice of Soviet authorities was poorly needed index and a coherent bibliography, the ed‐ heard. In order to better propagate Soviet view‐ itors successfully brought more than a dozen arti‐ points in the global mainstream media and to sup‐
5 H-Net Reviews port Soviet foreign policy objectives, Radio Mos‐ 138). As Classen shows for the case of the German- cow spread their broadcasts across the Iron Cur‐ German broadcasting relations, jamming of the tain. Similarly to RFE/RL, it employed the right West-German capitalist media – in form of the type of Russian émigrés abroad to reach its target Rundfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor (RIAS) – be‐ audiences. The East-West angle of broadcasting came “increasingly questionable” and inaccept‐ stands also in Nelson Ribeiro’s chapter at the cen‐ able in the GDR in the 1970s (p. 346). The relax‐ ter of attention, in which he analyzes the subver‐ ation on jamming visualized the social confict be‐ sive power of Radio Moscow, and later of other tween the ideologically motivated restriction on exile stations, in Portugal under the dictatorship listening behavior and listeners’ increasing de‐ of Salazar. In adding a chapter that discusses how mands on their freedom to individually decide on Soviet broadcasts served to encourage internal their media consumption. That is why cross-bor‐ criticism of Salazar’s regime (p. 63), the volume al‐ der media consumption was slightly eased by the lows for drawing interesting parallels between 1970s. But even before that, eforts to jam the cross-border broadcasts in diferent historical transmission of broadcasts and to control individ‐ contexts. uals’ access to information were never entirely The volume equally sets great emphasis on successful. Nevertheless, whenever personal voic‐ taking into account the elaborate Soviet-type sys‐ es managed to cross the systemic divide, they tem of jamming as a means to regulate and turned into a “space and place of comfort, hope, counter unwanted cross-border communication memory and continuity” for the individual listen‐ and interaction (Christoph Classen, Andy er (p. 132). The chapter of Hagen explores the O’Dwyer). As the chapter by Spohrer convincingly ways in which individual users in Czechoslovakia argues, national borders did not block the cross- actually used the radios (p. 124) and what listen‐ border communication physically, but only legally ing meant to them on a personal basis. The per‐ (p. 30). In addition to this, as the chapter by Mus‐ sonal messages that were left by RFE listeners on tata suggests, the Romanian state security Securi‐ the broadcasts’ answering machines provide us tate implemented an immense system of surveil‐ with a remarkable insight into the usage of and lance to control individuals’ listening behavior. the emotional reactions to Cold War radio by its For this end, the Securitate collected a great audiences. Without the listeners’ point of view, amount of private details on the individuals un‐ the volume would have missed the core of what der surveillance (p. 166). Equally, the tape Cold War radio was actually all about: individuals’ recorder was regularly used as a means of espi‐ everyday experience of listening. Some more onage and surveillance, recording phone calls and chapters with a bottom-up perspective on the ex‐ other private conversations (p. 113). At the same perience of broadcasting and listening could be time, as Blijsterveld shows for the case of Czecho‐ envisioned for future research on the radios. Yet, slovakia, amateur tape recording also provided independent from this, the variety of perspectives an instrument to enable “sound to travel easily united in this volume as well as the thorough in‐ across borders” (p. 102) and to make “people troduction to the chapters by the editors ofer a across the globe more knowledgeable about each new path for better understanding the complex other” (p. 105). However, the massive and largely system of broadcasting in the Cold War. unwanted fow of voices across the Airy Curtain made the implementation of an even more profes‐ sional system of regulation and control necessary. From very early onwards, the “unwelcomed sound of jamming also inhabited the ether” (p.
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If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/
Citation: Friederike Kind-Kovács. Review of Badenoch, Alexander; Fickers, Andreas; Henrich-Franke, Christian. Airy Curtains in the European Ether: Broadcasting and the Cold War. ; Cummings, Richard H. Radio Free Europe's "Crusade for Freedom": Rallying Americans Behind Cold War Broadcasting, 1950–1960. ; Johnson, A. Ross. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty: The CIA Years and Beyond. ; Johnson, A. Ross; Parta, R. Eugene. Cold War Broadcasting: Impact on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. A Collection of Studies and Documents. H-Soz-u-Kult, H-Net Reviews. October, 2013.
URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=40229
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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