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"Radio Liberty" and "Radio Free
Europe (RFE)," those two electronic
voices that for 20 years have been
piercing the Iron Curtain countries of
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary,
Rumania, Bulgaria and the Soviet Union
itself with daily programs of factual news,
musicand political commentary from the
Free World, are now being threatened
with extinction. . .
And foremost among the persons
leading the fight to abolish the two radio
stations is Arkansas Sen. J. William
Fulbright.
For a man who over the years has
advocated increased communications
between nations to lead to greater
understanding, Fulbright's 180-degree
turn is puzzling. The Democratic senator
was the founder of the Fulbright
scholarships, creating student and faculty
exchange programs that have resulted in
hundreds of thousands of Americans and
foreigners visiting each other's lands to
learn more about other cultures and
civilizations.
Now the man is completely convinced
that the two radio stations, beaming then
news and views from headquarters in
Munich, Germany, are heightening the
tensions between East and West and
jeopardizing the United States' efforts to
improve relations with Communist
countries. As an American gesture of
good will and earnestness then, we are to
see that these, in his words "cold war
relics," discontinue broadcasting.
The truth of the matter is that
Quarterbright's (sic) criticism is itself a
cold war relic. While at one time both
Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe
were undisputed tools of Western
propaganda that sought to undermine the
Communist regimes, the stations have
become far more mellow and diversified
in their programing. Now they try to
encourage and foster a process of
liberalization within the Communist
societies, both with subdued and quietly
persuasive editorial commentary by
native East Europeans, refugees and
professional political analysts, and hourly
factual, uncensored news bulletins.
By reporting accurately the news
during the 1970 Polish shipyard workers'
strike to Poland and the rest of Europe,
RFE may very well have helped lead to
the less repressive government now in
power in Poland.
Based on annual polls of East bloc
tourists in Western Europe, RFE has a
listening audience of up to 81 per cent of
the people behind the Iron Curtain. All
the target countries have given up trying
to jam the radios except Czechoslovakia
and Bulgaria.
Most Communist countries do not
officially allow foreign (Free World)
media material of any kind into their
lands, unlike America and other Western
democracies that permit Communist
propaganda to be freely disseminated
within their countries. These Communist
countries naturally want Radio Liberty
and Radio Free Europe shut down since
they challenge the existing regimes'
complete control over information
reaching the people.
But these radio stations let the captive
peoples know that we are thinking of
them and remind them of the fact that
there is a better and freer way of life still
in existence. And in this era of
negotiation and detente, it is all the more
important that the voices of free opinion
are not silenced.
By all means, let's keep letting them
know it. Let's be heard.
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WEDNESDAY. MARCH 22, 1972
THE.PAILY.NEBRAJKAN
. PAGE 5