70 years of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
Uncensored Information. On Every Platform.
Across Frontiers.
With its first on-air message on July 4, 1950, Radio Free Europe (RFE) began its mission of providing uncensored news and information to people denied the right of access to a free press. This first radio broadcast was addressed to audiences behind the “Iron Curtain” in communist Czechoslovakia. By the end of 1954, RFE and Radio Liberty (RL), its Russian-language counterpart, were serving as substitute” or “surrogate” media in 25 languages across Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
A merged RFE/RL expanded in 1994 to the Western Balkans, and over the next 15 years to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan’s Pashto-speaking tribal regions with a mandate to provide an alternative to extremist propaganda in addition to state-controlled news. It expanded again in 2019 and 2020, relaunching on digital platforms to Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary to address threats posed to Europe’s newest democracies by disinformation and declining media pluralism.
RFE promised audiences in its first broadcast that it would serve as a “permanent and reliable source of information.” Seventy years on, its mission continues.
RFE/RL's impact over seven decades in more than 20 countries is the result of the work of thousands of journalists whose dedication is reflected in the lives of countless individuals and entire countries. There have been moments of sheer glory, and encounters with terror and loss. The milestones celebrated on this page are a small sample of the company's collective achievements over time, but together they tell an enduring story of truth, courage, and hope.
Testimonials
Over seven decades, RFE/RL has relied on the best media talent, the bravest journalists, and expert staff to connect with audiences and deliver essential news. It has also served as a unique source of cultural programming, airing banned music and literary works and screening independent films to broaden the outlook and buoy the spirit of people denied not only political, but also cultural freedoms. Some of the most storied RFE/RL personalities are profiled here.
RFE/RL is the sum of its individual language services, which serve as a lifeline, in local languages, to audiences that otherwise lack access to a free and reliable press. This section showcases some of the services’ most prized accomplishments, on the ground and too often on the frontlines, and memorializes some of the great personalities behind their reporting.
In 1995, at the invitation of playwright, former dissident, and Czech President Vaclav Havel, RFE/RL moved its operations from Munich, Germany, where it had been based since 1951, to Prague. Havel offered RFE/RL the former Czechoslovak Federal Assembly building, right in the city center at the top of Wenceslas Square. In welcoming RFE/RL to the country, Havel declared the company’s new relevance and renewed mission in supporting democracy in the newly independent post-Soviet states.
