Hack Attack on Radio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a U.S. government funded media outlet originally established to “promote democratic values and institutions by disseminating factual information and ideas“, has experienced a lot of resistance over its 59-year broadcasting history. Its signal has been repeatedly jammed by Soviet authorities and its journalists attacked. According to an exhibition review from 2001, “Historians estimate the Soviets spent $35 million trying to jam the stations’ signals — double the cost of running both RFE and RL. Some politicians sent spies or even assassins: Romania’s Nicolae Ceausescu succeeded in having his on-air critic Emil Georgescu murdered. A bomb tore through the Munich office in 1981, causing $2 million in damage. But the poison in the salt shaker scheme of 1959 failed, thanks to an alert counter-agent.” But with Gorbachev’s perestroika, many believed the days of interference with RFE/RL were over. Not so fast.