Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty - Relationship With The CIA

Relationship With The CIA

RFE/RL received funds from the Central Intelligence Agency until 1972. Since then, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) says that it has been funded by regular, open Congressional appropriations through them, and has received no funds from the CIA. The CIA's relationship with the radio stations began to break down in 1967, when Ramparts magazine published an expose claiming that the CIA was channeling funds to civilian organizations. Further investigation into the CIA's funding activities revealed its connection to both RFE and RL, sparking significant media outrage. Investigations into the legal basis of the relationship jeopardized the existence of both stations, which could not have survived without the CIA's funding.

In 1971 the radio stations came under public spotlight once again when prominent U.S. Senator Clifford Case introduced Senate Bill 18, which would remove funding for RFE and RL from the CIA's budget, appropriate $30 million to pay for fiscal year 1972 activities, and have the Department of State temporarily oversee the radio stations. This was only a temporary solution, however, as the State Department was reluctant to take on such a significant long-term responsibility.

In May 1972 President Richard Nixon appointed a special commission to deliberate RFE/RL's future. The commission proposed that funding come from the United States Congress and that a new organization, the Board for International Broadcasting (BIB) would simultaneously link the stations and the federal government, and serve as an editorial buffer between them.

Although both radio stations initially received most of their funding from the CIA, RFE maintained a strong sense of autonomy. Under Cord Meyer, the CIA officer in charge of overseeing broadcast services from 1954 to 1971, the CIA took a position of minimal government interference in radio affairs and programming.