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13-15 October 2004 -- The Impact of Western Broadcasting During the Cold War" (Stanford, CA)

On October 13-15, 2004, CWIHP and the Hoover Institution co-sponsored a conference on "The Impact of Cold War Broadcasting" at Stanford University. Focusing especially on Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, the conference brought together media managers, scholars, and professionals, past and present to discuss lessons learned from the Cold War years that may have some relevance in the new multimedia digital media environment of the post 9/11 era.

CONFERENCE ON COLD WAR BROADCASTING IMPACT

Co-organizers: Hoover Institution and Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, with support from the Center

for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, Stanford University, and the Open Society Archives, Central European University

Stanford, California
October 13-16,2004

PROGRAM

Wednesdady, Oct. 13

Arrival of participants
Informal reception at 6 p.m., Stanford Terrace Inn

Thursday, Oct. 14

All conference sessions in Stauffer Auditorium, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

8:30 a.m. Opening Remarks: The Honorable George P Shultz, Hoover Institution

Welcome: John Raisian, Director, Hoover Institution; Elena Danielson, Associate Director, Hoover Institution; Christian Ostermann, Director, Cold War

International History Project, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Special Welcome: President Vaclav Havel (recorded) Conference Program Overview: A. Ross Johnson, Hoover Institution

Panel 1
9:00 a.m. Roundtable--Goals and Content of Western Broadcasts; Testimony of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Officials Moderator: Norman Naimark, Stanford

University and Hoover Institution

Participants: Paul Henze, former RFE and U.S. official; J. F Brown, former RFE Director; Gene Sosin, former RL official Commentator: Istvan Rev, Open Society

Archives, Budapest

Discussion

Break

Panel 2
11:00 a.m.
Roundtable--Goals and Content of Western Broadcasts-VOA, 1-B8(4 RIAS; Testimony of Officials and Experts
Participants: Alan Heil, former VOA official; Eugeniusz Smolar, former BBC official; Christian Ostermann, Cold War International History Project

Commentator: Mark Pomar, IREX, former broadcast official

Discussion

Panel 3
1:30 p.m.
Impact of the Broadcasts; Jamming and Audiences
Moderator: John Dunlop, Hoover Institution
Paper: jamming and Counterjamming-George Woodard, former RFE/RL and International Broadcasting Bureau Chief Engineer

Paper: RFE/RL Estimates of Audiences-Gene Parta, RFE/RL
Paper: Soviet Measurements of Audiences-Elena Bashkirova, Romir, Moscow
Paper: Polish Measurements of Audiences-Leszek Gawlikowski, RFE/RL

Discussant: Sharon Wolchik, Elliot School, George Washiugton University

Discussion

Break

Panel 4
4:00 p.m.
Impact of the Broadcasts in Eastern Europe: Evidence from the Archives (I)
Moderator: Charles Gati, School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University

Paper: Impact in Poland Jane Curry, Santa Clara University Paper: Polish Regime Countermeasures-Pawel Machcewicz, Institute for National Remembrance, Warsaw

Paper: Impact in Czechoslovakia-Oldrich Tuma, Institute of Contemporary History, Prague
Discussant: Richard Cummings, former RFE/RL official

Discussion

Dinner

7:00 p.m.
Remarks by Elena Bonner, leading Soviet dissident, and Thomas Dine, President, RFE/RL

FRIDAY, OCT. 15

Panel 5
9:00 a.m.
Impact of the Broadcasts in Eastern Europe: Evidence from the' Archives (II)

Moderator: David Holloway, Stanford University Paper: Impact in Romania-Nestor Ratesh, RFEJRL
Paper: Romanian Regime Countermeasures-Germina Naga.t, National Council for Study of Securitate Archives, Bucharest Break
Paper: Impact in Bulgaria Jordan Baev, Defense and Staff College, Sofia
Paper: Impact in Hungary-Istvan;Rev, Open Society Archives, Budapest
Discussants: Ken Jowitt, Hoover Institution; Mircea Racianu, former Romanian Foreign Ministry official

Panel 6
Impact of the Broadcasts on the USSR and the Baltic States: Evidence from the Archives

Moderator: Gail Lapidus, Stanford University
Paper: Impact in the Soviet Borderlands-Amir Weiner, Stanford University and Hoover Institution
Paper: Impact in Latvia-Peter Zvagulis, former RFE/RL official Paper: Impact in Russia-Wladimir Tolz, RFEIRL
Discussants: Oleg Kalugin, former KGB official; Anatol Shmelev, Hoover Institution

Discussion

Break

Panel 7
3:30 p.m.
Roundtable-Lessons Learned and Research Agenda Participants: Christian Ostermann, CWIHP; Elena Danielson, A. Ross Johnson, Gregory Mitrovich, Hoover

Institution

Discussion

5:00 p.m.
Reception, Hoover Exhibit Pavilion

SATURDAY, OCT. 16
Session in the Hoover Archives

9:30 a.m.
Overview and Tour of the Archives-Elena Danielson and Anatol Shmelev, Hoover Institution

Discussion of Archival Sources
Moderator: Christian Ostermann, CWIHP

Participants: Suzanne Ament, Radford University; Ivan Tolstoi, RFE/RL
Conference condudes

11:00 a.m.
Conference concludes

Related Links

Related Program

Cold War International History Project

The Cold War International History Project supports the full and prompt release of historical materials by governments on all sides of the Cold War. Through an award winning Digital Archive, the Project allows scholars, journalists, students, and the interested public to reassess the Cold War and its many contemporary legacies. It is part of the Wilson Center's History and Public Policy Program.  Read more