ABSTRACT
Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty have been broadcasting uncensored news and information to the people of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union for more than 30 years. This chapter examines the radios’ turbulent history during the past ten, since the passage of the Act for the Board for International Broadcasting of 1973, and looks at the choices and directions facing the now-merged radios in the mid-1980s. The BIB Act, which became law in October 1973, brought to an end two years of controversy during which the continued existence of these valuable assets in the struggle for the right to know was constantly under threat. The Act for the Board for International Broadcasting was a deceptively simple piece of legislation. One of the most sensitive issues with which the new Board must deal will be broadcast content, style and tone.
