Cold War and Psychological Warfare
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 July 2025
Chapter 6 looks at how the Cold War strengthened connections between PR firms and the US government. In the heightened Cold War context of the late 1940s, the US government embraced propaganda and looked to the PR industry to help it promote its foreign policy. The industry happily obliged. It did so most notably through the Crusade for Freedom campaign that raised money for Radio Free Europe, which broadcast American propaganda behind the iron curtain. What the American people did not know was that Radio Free Europe’s creator, the National Committee for Free Europe (NCFE), was not an organically created citizens’ organization. It was in fact a front organization created by the CIA. Arthur Page knew, and he was happy to help regardless. Other PR leaders, such as Edward Bernays, urged more effective use of the government’s overseas information services, such as the United States Information Agency (USIA).
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