Radio Freeivision of the. National Conedtteeree Lurope, lie, was organized in9 to conduct aeype of Psychological Warfare as vl;ht be devised, ajalrat the Soviot-irrpoacd Cct-synlst regimes of CtechoslovaIda, Poland,l;arla, Romania and Albania. Its broadcasting policy la prt?wrily designed to encourage the enslaved people of the captive countries in their hope of ultimately regaining national free don as well ae Individual liberty) to denoralize the refines by nourishing the natural anxieties of Ccrounlet functlonarioB by sowing seeds of diBSensioo and by threateningeaving, however, tho doora open to thofie who nay yet be wiUlnc tohenaelves or their criaeajress our friends behind the Iron Curtain with their own inherent strength and theweakness of realms which nust rely on terror to Mints in tbea-seivea la powerj, and to remind all lis ton era of the eternal spiritual values ofestem world, of ds-ocratlc practice and of the political andbenefits which European federation holds for the future oftheir countries once theyin free.
Radio Free Europe could not have hoped to approach the axeoapliebeent oflasioo with any expectation of success If it hod submitted to the shackles of conventional propaganda techniques. The converrtlooalpropacanda organization la strictly govarnaarrt-contrelled and nuBt, la coriaoquonco, abide by dlnlesatle considerations. Moreover, it ia the instruaentoreign nation as - frca the lifltenere* point of- iew and will not eaaily be helieTed when lt ettaspta to"'reflect tha .Into re eta of the peoples lt addresses. Kadio Free Europe does not apeak as an inotrunent of and for the paopla of the Unitedt ia not
tha 7clce of Aaerica bat that of Free Hunfiry, of Free Czechoslovakia, cf Free Poland, Free Bulgaria, Romania and Albania, It promote* the ldeaa of the Freechampione. polloy but it does eo not because it is itself an inatr.=ent of Acerican policy but because the United States is the champion of freedom, the leader of tha free world, and because the future of the captive countries is, therefore, inextricably linked with Western ideas and with Aneriean policy. Apart free which, of course, RFS's sdsaico coincides with American policy objectives*
Different, therefore, fron the eonventicnal propaganda organisation. EFE'o staff of exiles does not speak as the staff of an Acerican organisation but as the representatives of their own presently enslaved national they "ft originate their own scripts, broadcast in their own style, participate in the forculation of policy. An American staff of experts guides and adat avoids dlrectingj fundamentalo matter where they originate -are the result of consultation among partnersenture, alliesorvee strucele, The lapant of this organisational practice la reflected in fresh, aggreealTe, vitalhe scripts of front-line fighters- -there is sore to it than that. Speaking as Caeca Slovaks, Hungarian,FS'e exiles canpade and need not consider the niceties of diplomatic usagei they are, after all, the avowed enemies of the regimes which drove then into exile and which hold captive theirhough theay fcaintain diplomatic relatione with .these recineo. Thue, to giveingle telling exaaple, RTS, In ccesMntlne; cn the outbreak of the war in Xcrea, could do two things no Anprfcan radio station could have done at the timei lt could point to the USSR ea tha acrresoor lone before VOA oculd poeelbly have dene soj and it could
j"
ef the Jorth Koreans, the tool cf Soviet aggression, as rietina of Soviethuseep understanding of the realities of political life behind the Iron Curtain.
Furthenacrs, this basic organisational policy enabled HFE to depart from the usual propaganda practice of broadcasting,eway, INTO our target areas and to assume instead the part of the OMLT IMF. Polish, Hungarlaretworks. The Voice of Free Ciechoslovakia has assumed the position of Radiot la Radio Pre/'ue Tvoj It is on the air foray andre gran designed to give everything to everybody as if it were the only radio station available to tha people of Cseehcelcrakla which,eeper sense, it is, *he prcgren induces relevant Aneriean and world news) it ccacants editorially on the world seenej lt is in there slugging it out by interpreting Ccrminist speeches, newspepera, broadcasts within minutes following their It projects the voices of freedec by showing the free world asworld irorth fighting to rejoin, and it denounces oppressors, groat and small, on the basis of actions which may have occaredew bears, days or seeks ago. It has apodal prcsrsne for youth, labor, intellectuals, for wanes, famers and rdlitary nenj it offers religious consolation, cultural, satiricaloespite, merely entertaining shows* Kcet of the necessarily up-to-date ia-fomation for which these procrans call, derives from RFE's own lnfomation gathering and research facilities. taff of reporters wherever significant news nay first becomerom Stockholm to Istanbalj this staffin interviewing refugees on conditions in their countries. -Cccpetaat researchers add new lnfomation to their files, analyse it and piece together what isairly accurate picture of condltlona. Trained
prc^acaada planners conclude onrjlnorshlllinpoint target* and suggest premising approaches to them. Monitors watch, around the eloek, for eneay propacanc* linea designed to counteract RTS's work. Little is left to improvisation.
STB's exiles staff doea not represent exiled politicalttaff of ccspotani prc^iBSlosala recruited frca exiled ^iirnaliete, radio coanentatora, ecoccrdste, labor officials, etc. They were selected for their political naturity, their professional qualificationa, and for their derotioa to the cause of freedom and democracy*
HFE'a phyalcal ecuiraunrt consists at present ofhort were andmedium wave transmitters which are on the air acreweek. Located either in Germany or in Portugal, li of tbea beam,hours of broadcast dally intothers beamnto Hungaryi arotheroars into Poland.ours of broadcasts intonto Soeania andhours into Albania. Use Bade ofhowever, eminently
flexible. When the occasion varraxitas It did at the occasion of Stalin'sllransmitters vera aimultcaeioualy employed td saturate alternative' CseehoaloTakia, Hungary and Poland, overpowering all Jaeaodng for ccmaiderahla periods of tiae.
The physical plant bollt by EFE ia considered outetaodingly good. Thca
Kestinghcuae Electric Corporation which surveyed it twice, said about our
Canaan Installation, -
in the creditable performance of the personnel of HKE are 1
A newea- broadcast band traaaoitter was installed oa the air six nocths after ground was broken for theob that normally would takeoon tha, probably nearer to the latter, in the United States.-
About cur Portugese Installation, Westinghccse saidi
"The auar-ary of the RAHE7 installation can be madeew worta. The whole undertaking has been accomplished andorking reality in an alr-oot unbelievably short time. The quality and perforaance of the work conpleted is first-class end the foods expended are probably below what would be considered nortaal.
"The nen in charge of the operation are competent. They know what ia expected of then end attack their work with energy and test.
spirit of the organization transcends anything heretofore witnessed. The whole group thrives under pressure* It is proud of RAHET and tha work it is doing."
Considering the great effort expended, one say well asks whether it scots with success. However, there is no easy answer to this question. In the first place, Psychological Warfareecondary weapon| it dependsffectiveness on parallel political aotion. Secondly, no reliableith which to neasure success, existj even the approximations which Public Optltton Polls occetiaea produce, cannot be procured behind the Iron Curtain. To draw conclusions fron the flood of favorable letters which reach RTE from the target areas would Bean overlooking that these letters cone primarily from people LEAST influenced by Ceramist indoctrination. One might be inclined to credit refugees soot of whom praise HPS broadcasts but here, too, tooargi for error exists. People who choose freedom would again be predisposed in favor of HFE, and cany of thens World-War-Two experienceo please their interrogators. s disinclined to take such information at face value.
Analytical approaches to the problem of evaluating effectivenessRFE employes to et inula to eelf-improvcLient, have their value but. remain what nirht be called inspired gueeo work* In theseone criterion may be considered fairly safer positive reaction toon the part of tho listening audience and particularly on thethe Com-unist rociaea themselves* One of tho few certain rulea ofWarfareeiirvi-lhl r ln
puhUelze it further by replying. owerful factor in tha struggle for the =dnde of people, the Caaraunist regir-es contributed greatly by answering broadcaste which they considered dargeroue to themselves. They weald not have done so, unless they fait that RFE's effectiveness required counteraction, Whan tho Cceramist regime of Czechoslovakia took, on several occasions, dlplcraatio stoparotesting to both theva meant and to thet either overrated RPE's effectlvenaes or feared it. When HFE speculated on the probabilityonetary reform in Ciechoslovakia,attern set in Poland and Romania, the paople ofuyingiore significant than their trust in RPE'e reliability, however, la the fact that the regime did not dare to go through with the ncnetary rafom which undoubtedly had been planned. When the Hungarian regica embarked on deporting naaaes of middle class citizens,y* broadcasting on thereated es amount of publicity which enbarraoaed the Ccaemnlstsiesult they, relaxed pressure, departed from the practice of aasa deportationsloyed slichtly more htmaow methods in deporting in-dividuala. inor RFE program ccrraonted on the Inch rate of heart .disease anong record workersew days later, Ssahad Sep, leading Ccenuni.it newspaper in Hungary,wo-column article claiming.with rather transparent statistics that StaJibsmovitea live longer than other workers.lack-listed the names of those reeponsible for atrocious eonditioaa
ertain slave labor camp, theses RF3 learned later froa
i
egan to improve Vhen RFS claimed that Rudolph Slanaky bad been subject to psychological preparation for bisomber of the Csech cabinet considered lt necessary to deny this slain In public. And finally RFE, in order to prove tbe nendaelty of Communistas at tine quoted fictitious characters with equally fictitious atateaentsj in at least
Original document.
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