The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

50 MAY 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The end of all Soviet jamming marked the beginning of a new era for U.S. broadcasting. bureau, we even wondered if RFE/RL would be able to open its bureau and hire freelance correspondents. It was at that moment that I began to believe that the USSR had indeed embarked on an unprecedented path of reform, and that no one, least of all senior Soviet officials, knew where it would lead. A New Era On Nov. 21, 1988, two months after our Moscowmeeting, George Woodard, the director of engineering at RFE/RL, received a call that all jamming had suddenly stopped. “So unbelievable was this development,” Woodard reminisced, “that all I could think of was to keep listening—it must be a mistake. Throughout the night, into the next day, and the days following it was con- firmed … RFE/RL programs were clear of jamming noise.” The end of all Soviet jamming marked the beginning of a new era for U.S. broadcasting. Within several months, VOA and RFE/ RL opened news bureaus and hired freelance correspondents in the Soviet Union. In addition to comprehensive news broadcasts, VOA introduced many new programs that explained the workings of a market economy, a free press, and a modern banking system. It also established “radio bridges” that brought Americans and Russians together to explore the challenges facing a reforming Soviet Union. Significantly, VOA was able to place many of its new programs on local Russian radio stations, thereby increasing its audience reach, and to establish training sessions for young Soviet journalists, helping them to acquire the skills needed for independent professional journalism. A growing network of freelance journalists throughout the USSR allowed RL to report on local events and review the regional press, making those stories accessible to the entire coun- try. New programs, such as “The Soviet Union and the Nationality Question,” “Baltic Journal,” and “Jewish Culture and Social Life,” included discussions with Western experts on how other societies coped with the complexities of a multiethnic population. On the cultural front, RL introduced a new program, “Ex Libris,” which presented works by promising young writers. Among the more memorable broadcasts was an interview with an aspiring writer, Svetlana Alexievich, about her new book, Zinky Boys (W.W. Norton, 1992), a collection of firsthand accounts of the war in Afghanistan. The future Nobel laureate noted that the Soviet military tried to suppress her book, but RL gave her the opportunity to address her growing readership directly. Rounding out the slate of new initiatives was a lively pro- gram, “Broadway 1775” (the address of RL’s New York bureau), which communicated the dynamism of American life through interviews with Soviet visitors in the United States, reviews of the American press, and timely discussions of political and economic issues of interest to a Soviet audience. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, RFE/RL gained wide public recognition. Newly elected leaders, including Vaclav Havel, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, and Boris Yeltsin, praised the broadcasters for promoting human rights during the Cold War. On behalf of the leaders of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Poland, Lennart Meri, foreign minister of Estonia (and later, president), nominated RFE/RL for the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, citing its unique contribution to the rebirth of democracy. And in March 1993, Radio Liberty celebrated its 40th anniversary in Moscow with the who’s who of the Russian cultural and political elite, including Mikhail Gorbachev. The euphoria at the end of the Cold War, however, signaled dangers for the broadcasters. Campaigning on a platform that promised a “peace dividend,” President Bill Clinton proposed to cut the VOA budget and zero out funding for RFE/RL. This radical move caused turmoil on Capitol Hill, especially as leaders in Eastern Europe weighed in, stating boldly that the broadcasts were fundamental to the development of democratic rule. One senator, Joe Biden, took up the cause of international broadcast- ing, became personally involved, and forged a bipartisan bill— the International Broadcasting Act of 1994—that consolidated all U.S. broadcasters under one Broadcasting Board of Governors. However imperfect that legislation, it saved RFE/RL. Unlike broadcasting, which saw deep budget cuts, other elements of public diplomacy enjoyed dramatically increased funding. The U.S. Congress passed two major bills—Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act (1989) and the Freedom Support Act (1992)—that provided the State Department, USIA, and other agencies with more than $1 billion to assist former communist countries in their transition to democracy. As those countries opened their borders, American NGOs, universities, and associations began to implement many different U.S. govern- ment programs, ranging from business training and study tours to the establishment of internet centers in rural libraries. Of major significance were high school, undergraduate, and graduate programs offering tens of thousands of young people the opportunity to study in the U.S. and even earn American