VOA Archives - Cold War Radio Museum https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/tag/voa/ Cold War Radio History Sat, 25 Apr 2026 18:50:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.5 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cropped-CWRM-Mic2022-32x32.jpg VOA Archives - Cold War Radio Museum https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/tag/voa/ 32 32 Voice of America and Soviet “Democracy”: How VOA Journalists Helped Establish Communist Regimes https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/voice-of-america-and-soviet-democracy-how-voa-journalists-helped-establish-communist-regimes/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/voice-of-america-and-soviet-democracy-how-voa-journalists-helped-establish-communist-regimes/#respond Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:26:35 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=25253 Voice of America, OWI, and the Polish Desk: A Reconsideration The history of the wartime Voice of America (VOA) is most often presented as a story of broadcasting truthful news in defense of freedom and democracy. That description, while not entirely false, is incomplete. In the case of the Polish-language sections of the Office of […]

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]]> https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/voice-of-america-and-soviet-democracy-how-voa-journalists-helped-establish-communist-regimes/feed/ 0 Walter Lippmann, the Voice of America, and the Limits of Liberal and Conservative Thought https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/walter-lippmann-the-voice-of-america-and-the-limits-of-liberal-and-conservative-thought/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/walter-lippmann-the-voice-of-america-and-the-limits-of-liberal-and-conservative-thought/#respond Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:32:34 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=24988 A reexamination of Walter Lippmann’s critique of the Voice of America (VOA) in light of wartime propaganda, Soviet influence operations, and the practical realities of Cold War broadcasting—revealing both the insight and the limits of his analysis. Lippmann’s Prestige—and the Context He Carried With Him A Celebrated Journalist in a Contested Information Environment In August […]

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]]> https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/walter-lippmann-the-voice-of-america-and-the-limits-of-liberal-and-conservative-thought/feed/ 0 The Breakfast Show: From Institutional Voice to Pat Gates — Voice of America, 1961–1978 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/the-breakfast-show-from-institutional-voice-to-pat-gates-voice-of-america-1961-1978/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/the-breakfast-show-from-institutional-voice-to-pat-gates-voice-of-america-1961-1978/#respond Tue, 24 Feb 2026 20:18:28 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=24484 An early preserved recording documenting the program’s beginnings — and the later rise of Pat Gates as one of the Voice of America’s rare internationally recognized broadcasting personalities. The Breakfast Show was a worldwide English-language morning program inaugurated by the Voice of America (VOA) in 1961. Produced in Washington, D.C., it combined international news reporting, […]

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]]> https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/the-breakfast-show-from-institutional-voice-to-pat-gates-voice-of-america-1961-1978/feed/ 0 A Free Voice at Christmas: RIAS Berlin, Edward R. Murrow, and the Sound of the Cold War (1961) https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/a-free-voice-at-christmas-rias-berlin-edward-r-murrow-and-the-sound-of-the-cold-war-1961/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/a-free-voice-at-christmas-rias-berlin-edward-r-murrow-and-the-sound-of-the-cold-war-1961/#respond Mon, 29 Dec 2025 01:26:09 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=24021 Recovering a forgotten Voice of America / RIAS relay preserved on magnetic tape At a glance Jump to a section I. Introduction – Why This Tape Matters In December 1961 — just months after the Berlin Wall divided Berlin and reshaped Cold War realities — the Voice of America (VOA) presented a special World-Wide English […]

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]]> https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/a-free-voice-at-christmas-rias-berlin-edward-r-murrow-and-the-sound-of-the-cold-war-1961/feed/ 0 John Houseman, Howard Fast, and the Pro-Soviet Voice of America https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/john-houseman-howard-fast-and-the-pro-soviet-voice-of-america/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/john-houseman-howard-fast-and-the-pro-soviet-voice-of-america/#respond Mon, 10 Nov 2025 07:11:05 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=23504 Houseman’s Role in VOA Propaganda John Houseman, long mythologized as the “first director” of the Voice of America (VOA), was in reality its first chief producer — a man of the theater rather than a journalist. Editorial policy was shaped by Joseph F. Barnes, a pro-Soviet fellow-traveler newspaper reporter and close associate of Walter Duranty, […]

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]]> https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/john-houseman-howard-fast-and-the-pro-soviet-voice-of-america/feed/ 0 Voice of America Polish Service Broadcast – April 23, 1986 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/voice-of-america-polish-service-broadcast-april-23-1986/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/voice-of-america-polish-service-broadcast-april-23-1986/#respond Tue, 04 Nov 2025 18:06:42 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=23766 Digitally restored 30-minute archival recording by VOA Central Recording for the National Security Agency (NSA) Introduction In April 1986, amid Cold War tension and the slow but steady rebirth of democracy in Poland, the Voice of America (VOA) Polish Service continued its expanded shortwave schedule—five hours daily—broadcasting from Washington, D.C. to a country still under some martial […]

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]]> https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/voice-of-america-polish-service-broadcast-april-23-1986/feed/ 0 Recording of a VOA Polish Service Broadcast – April 21, 1986 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/recording-of-a-voa-polish-service-broadcast-april-21-1986/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/recording-of-a-voa-polish-service-broadcast-april-21-1986/#respond Sat, 01 Nov 2025 22:54:18 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=23730 🎙️ The VOA Polish Service in the Cold War Context The Voice of America (VOA) Polish Service broadcast was aired from Washington and hosted by Bogusław Jerke, who read the newscast together with Zdzisław Mikulski. Field reports were read by Sławomir Suss and Renata Lipińska. The program includes a full newscast, a brief VOA Editorial—the short, official segment that states the United […]

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]]> https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/recording-of-a-voa-polish-service-broadcast-april-21-1986/feed/ 0 Rare Recording of the Voice of America 1986 Polish Broadcast – July 21, 1986 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/rare-recording-of-the-voice-of-america-1986-polish-broadcast/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/rare-recording-of-the-voice-of-america-1986-polish-broadcast/#respond Tue, 28 Oct 2025 23:16:58 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=23702 Summary of the Voice of America Polish Service Broadcast July 21, 1986 — 8:00 p.m. Warsaw time This rare recording of a Voice of America Polish Service evening program from July 21, 1986, survives because it was made at the request of the National Security Agency. It was likely used as a Polish-language training aid […]

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]]> https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/rare-recording-of-the-voice-of-america-1986-polish-broadcast/feed/ 0 Communist secret police in Poland spied on Voice of America’s Willis Conover to shut down Radio Free Europe https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/communist-secret-police-in-poland-spied-on-voice-of-americas-willis-conover-to-shut-down-radio-free-europe/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/communist-secret-police-in-poland-spied-on-voice-of-americas-willis-conover-to-shut-down-radio-free-europe/#respond Tue, 03 Jun 2025 23:24:31 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=23426 One of the secret police informants spying on the Voice of America’s (VOA’s) famous jazz DJ Willis Conover during his visit to communist-ruled Poland in 1959 was the mother of Rafał Trzaskowski, the unsuccessful candidate for Poland’s presidency in 2020 and 2025. Trzaskowski’s late mother’s cooperation with the communist secret police, which also involved spying […]

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]]> https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/communist-secret-police-in-poland-spied-on-voice-of-americas-willis-conover-to-shut-down-radio-free-europe/feed/ 0 Did Radio and TV Pioneer David Sarnoff Coin the Voice of America name? https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/did-radio-and-tv-pioneer-david-sarnoff-coin-the-voice-of-america-name/ https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/did-radio-and-tv-pioneer-david-sarnoff-coin-the-voice-of-america-name/#respond Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:50:47 +0000 https://www.coldwarradiomuseum.com/?p=18754 Summary David Sarnoff, the pioneer of the radio and television industry in the United States and the founder of the NBC network, was most likely the first American with access to the White House to present a comprehensive plan for U.S. government-funded international radio broadcasting and one of the first to suggest for it the […]

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