An exposition and analysis of the development of propaganda, focusing on how the development of radio transformed the delivery and impact of propaganda and led to the use of radio to incite hatred and violence.

"By focusing on the medium of radio during World War II, Horten has provided us with a window into an important change in radio broadcasting that has previously been ignored by historians. The depth of research, the book's contribution to our understanding of radio and the war make Radio Goes to War an outstanding work."—Lary May, author of The Big Tomorrow: Hollywood and the Politics of the American Way "Radio broadcasting, and its impact on American life, still remains a neglected area of our national history. Radio Goes to War demonstrates conclusively how short-sighted that omission is. As we enter what is sure to be another era of contested claims of government control over freedom of speech, the controversies and compromises of wartime broadcasting sixty years ago provide an ominous example of difficult decisions to be made in the future. The alliance of big business, advertising, and wartime propaganda that Horten so convincingly illuminates takes on a heightened significance, especially as this relationship has tightened in the last several decades. When radio and television go to war again, will they follow the same course? This is cautionary reading for our new century."—Michele Hilmes, author of Radio Voices: American Broadcasting 1922-1952

An exposition and analysis of the development of propaganda, focusing on how the development of radio transformed the delivery and impact of propaganda and led to the use of radio to incite hatred and violence.

Today hundreds of millions of people throughout the world depend on international radio broadcasting for their understanding of national and international political affairs. Broadcasting Propaganda represents the first application of theory and research in sociology and communication to analyze the contents of this medium of international political communication. Wasburn illustrates how two theoretical perspectives, social construction of reality theory and media-system-dependency theory, can be applied to understand the ways in which nations use symbolic means to position themselves in the international arena of political competition. The study begins with two chapters that outline the history of international radio broadcasting, identifying the medium's involvement in maintaining colonial empires, supporting wars, promoting revolutionary and counterrevolutionary action, and legitimating the policies of sponsoring states. The third chapter introduces social construction of reality theory and media-system-dependency theory, indicating their relevance to understanding the newscasts and other programming of international broadcasting organizations. The two following chapters present empirical case studies of international broadcasting: one analyzes Voice of America and Radio Moscow broadcasts to the Third World toward the end of the Cold War; the other explores South Africa's use of radio to broadcast counter-propaganda. In the sixth and final chapter, Wasburn winds up his discussion by charting the the possible course of broadcasting in light of the world political situation since 1989 and suggests an agenda for future research

The book examines the role of Western broadcasting to the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during the Cold War, with a focus on Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. It includes chapters by radio veterans and by scholars who have conducted research on the subject in once-secret Soviet bloc archives and in Western records. It also contains a selection of translated documents from formerly secret Soviet and East European archives, most of them published here for the first time.

How US government and media collaborated in their dissemination of Cold War propaganda.

Radio Diplomacy and Propaganda investigates the role of international radio broadcasting in diplomacy during the Cold War period and, in particular, the contribution of the BBC and the Voice of America in the construction and projection of foreign policy, together with their role in the dissemination of international propaganda. In addition the radio broadcasts which were monitored in Britain and the US are scrutinized to ascertain how they contributed to the formulation of foreign policy objectives and reactionary propaganda.