In 1989, with breathtaking speed, the Communist dictatorships that had ruled Eastern Europe for more than 40 years fell. Two years later, their sponsor, the Soviet Union, disintegrated. A crucial factor contributing to the decay and fall of these autocratic regimes was freedom of information. People across the region learned of the latest developments, of brave demonstrators and heroes such as Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa, from Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty.

It was not propaganda they heard, nor was it stories of life in America — that was the role of Voice of America. Rather, Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty reported on life in their listeners’ own countries, in their own languages, telling people what their regimes would not. First started as a Cold War tool funded by the CIA, these services were reshaped and merged into a private independent corporation under the supervision of what is now the U.S. Agency for Global Media and funded by Congress.

I served as director of research for Radio Free Europe during the momentous years of 1989 to 1991. This gave me a day-to-day, inside look at the extraordinary work done by dedicated journalists, editors, technicians and by brave freelance reporters working in the countries we covered.

It is worth remembering, especially by those disparaging Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty, that roughly two-thirds of those working for these media organizations are not permanent employees but freelance reporters. These journalists risk their lives and freedom to report from countries under dictatorships, whose leaders are deeply hostile to the U.S. and even more hostile to the spread of information they don’t control.

In Russia, even........

© The Hill