User:Hegejud(OSA)/sandbox/RFE photos

Photographs of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

The over 1000 photos of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty held in Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives document the activities and facilities, leadership and staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Some have contemporary original captions clearly showing that these photos were meant to be used as propaganda during the Cold War period.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty started a several-year-long campaign of self-promotion to prove to the US legislation that what they were doing was useful in combatting the Communist propaganda by embarking on creating the image of the Radios that have a strong mission, even an obligation, to bring objective, truthful and unbiased information to the captive nations behind the iron curtain.

RFE/RL's operation was threatened to end when in 1971 it turned out that they were financed by the CIA as opposed to what had been communicated to the American public that they were a private company funded by contributions.

While these images were made for propaganda purposes, their documentary value is unquestionable. The pictures show the facilities of RFE/RL in Munich and New York, such as monitoring, recording and broadcasting equipment, repair shops, and conference rooms; the transmitter antenna systems for instance at Holzkirchen, West-Germany, and Gloria, outside Lisbon. They also document the work and the conditions at various sections at RFE/RL, from the Central Newsroom to the Monitoring Unit, Library and Archives; from the Russian Unit to the Bulgarian, Czechoslovak, Polish, Romanian and Hungarian Desks and their studios. Portraits of RFE/RL senior leadership, staff and distinguished guests are also part of the photo collection.