Radio Free Asia (Committee for a Free Asia)
Radio Free Asia was a news agency created by Committee for Free Asia. It operated from 1951 to 1955[1][2][3] and should not be confused with Radio Free Asia created through International Broadcasting Act of 1994.
RFA first broadcast in 1951 from RCA facilities in Manila, Philippines. Broadcasts were made in three Chinese dialects, as well as in English.[2] RFA maintained offices in Tokyo, and aside from in the Philippines, broadcasts were also made from Dhaka and Karachi, Pakistan. Although intended to broadcast anti-Communist propaganda into mainland China, as well as to overseas Chinese and others, the news agency faced difficulties in doing so.[2] In China personal radio ownership was low, and in other parts of Asia, radio reception was poor.[2][4] In 1953, the Committee for Free Asia decided to terminate RFA,[5] with it finally going off the air in 1955.[4] However, propaganda broadcasting continued through Radio of Free Asia (a virtually identical organization) until 1966.[6]
In 1971 CIA involvement ended and all responsibilities for the then-defunct radio operations, which were formally transferred to a presidentially appointed Board for International Broadcasting (BIB).[6][7][8]
References
- ^ David Welch (27 November 2013). Propaganda, Power and Persuasion: From World War I to Wikileaks. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-0-85773-737-3. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Central Intelligence Agency (1 April 1953). "Memorandum For: Special Assistant to the President; International Radio Broadcasting by Radio Free Asia" (PDF). foia.cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
- ^ "Why Voice of America matters outside US". BBC News. 2016-12-15. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
- ^ a b "Worldwide Propaganda Network Built by the C.I.A." The New York Times. 1977-12-26. Archived from the original on 2019-07-04. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
- ^ Shen, Shuang. "Empire of Information: The Asia Foundation's Network and Chinese-Language Cultural Production in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia." American Quarterly 69, no. 3 (2017): 589-610. doi:10.1353/aq.2017.0052.
- ^ a b Daya Kishan Thussu: "International Communication". Continuity and Change (Arnold 2000). p. 37. ISBN 0-340-74130-9.
- ^ Tom Engelhardt: "The End of Victory Culture". Cold War America and the Disillusioning of a Generation (University of Massachusetts Press 1998); p. 120. ISBN 1-55849-133-3.
- ^ Helen Laville, Hugh Wilford: "The US Government, Citizen Groups And the Cold War". p. 215. The State-Private Network (Routledge 1996). ISBN 0-415-35608-3.