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Conference on Impact of Cold War Broadcasting Organized by the Hoover Institution and the Woodrow Wilson International Center
October 14-16, 2004

Participants in a panel on goals and content of Western broadcasts included (from left) Norman Naimark, Gene Sosin, Paul Henze, and J. F. Brown

International researchers and former government officials met at the Hoover Institution in October 2004 to address the impact of Western broadcasting--especially Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)--during the cold war. The conference report (PDF download 475 KB), accompanied by a "lessons learned" briefing prepared by A. Ross Johnson and Gene Parta, is now available.

The conference discussed papers based on research in previously inaccessible East European and former Soviet communist archives. These materials include secret Communist Party discussions of broadcasting impact and propaganda countermeasures, secret police plans to penetrate RFE/RL, directives on jamming, and internal secret audience surveys. This research will be enriched by work in the extensive RFE/RL corporate records and broadcast archives, which have been donated to the Hoover Institution. Hoover associate director Elena Danielson announced the opening of most of this collection for research.

George P. Shultz, Hoover distinguished fellow, opened the conference. He said the research presented at this conference "would contribute to a better understanding of an important period of world history and contribute to our ability to structure communications in the new global political arena."

John Raisian, Elena Bonner, and George P. Shultz

RFE/RL president Tom Dine

Hoover director John Raisian introduced human rights activist Elena Bonner and RFE/RL president Tom Dine, who addressed the meeting. The conference was organized by Hoover research fellow A. Ross Johnson. Participants included Dr. Elena Bashkirova, president of the Romir survey research firm in Moscow; Professor Istvan Rev, head of the Open Society Archives in Budapest; Oleg Kalugin, a former KGB general; and former RFE/RL, VOA, and BBC broadcasting officials.

Organizers were the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The conference, which was held October 14-16, 2004, was made possible by a generous gift from the Bernard Osher Foundation. The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands sponsored a follow-up seminar and a synthesis of the conference results.