Radio Liberty and Its Listeners during the Czechoslovak Crises of 1968–1969

Radio Liberty and Its Listeners during the Czechoslovak Crises of 1968–1969

by Ekaterina Kamenskaya, Independent Researcher

Radio Liberty was one of the alternative information sources for Soviet citizens under the monopoly of state-sponsored media. In the context of large-scale conflicts, in particular, the Czechoslovak crisis of 1968–1969, and the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, the role of alternative sources of information increased. The presentation focuses on the analysis of materials identified during the research at the Blinken OSA Archivum, and the preliminary findings concerning Radio Liberty’s vision of its audience in the late 1960s, and the perceptions of the Czechoslovak events by the Soviet people.