Thomas Kent’s (Adjunct Associate Professor of Public and International Affairs) article “Radio to Russia: Can Old Technologies Make a Dent in Putin’s Information Blockade?” was published by the Information Professionals Association (June 21, 2022). Kent is former president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

As Vladimir Putin tightens his stranglehold on what his citizens see and hear, will radio once again become an effective way to get outside voices into Russia?

For the time being, U.S. broadcasting officials believe the best way to get their content to Russia’s population is still through the internet, despite all of Putin’s attempts to control it. Activists in the United States and Europe, however, are convinced that in a wartime situation, those wanting to reach Russians should be trying everything – including shortwave radio, the mainstay of Cold War broadcasting by the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).