ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the historical development of Radio Free Europe (RFE)/Radio Liberty (RL) with a focus on RL. It starts with an outline of the reasons why RFE and RL were founded. RFE and RL were established in the beginning of the Cold War, with the aim of transmitting "uncensored news and information to audiences behind the Iron Curtain". The chapter examines Radio Svoboda's development and the important role it played during the Cold War. The official history of RFE/RL acknowledged that in the first years of the Cold War, RFE and RL adopted "more confrontational editorial policies than other Western broadcasters" but with the caveat that the broadcasts "did not promote uprisings and, after 1953, emphasized evolutionary system change". It provides information on post–Cold War developments again, with a particular focus on Russia. The end of jamming, Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost policies, and the subsequent end of the Cold War were a mixed blessing for RL.
