"A Free Voice of the Free World": The perception of RIAS Berlin in East Germany and the GDR between 1946 and 1953

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject History Europe - Germany - Postwar Period, Cold War, grade: 1,3, University of Bonn (Institut f r Anglistik, Amerikanistik und Keltologie (IAAK)), language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction "RIAS has always been more than just the initials of an American post-war operation in divided Berlin. For many people in Berlin and in East Germany RIAS Berlin was and still is a part of their life; a piece of their very personal biography"(Kundler 2002: preface) This statement was made by Siegfried Buschschl ter, RIAS broadcasting director, in October 1993, a few months before RIAS' history ended and the one of its successor, Deutschlandradio, began. RIAS, short for Rundfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor was established in Berlin by the United States Information Agency in 1946 and has played a significant role in German media history in the post-war era. Its motto "A free voice of the free world" proves the objective of the station and the position it s