WESTERN BROADCASTING STATIONS AS A MEANS OF INFORMATION WAR OF THE WEST AGAINST THE USSR IN THE 1970s - EARLY 1980s

Abstract

Aim. To identify the role of western broadcasting stations as a means of conducting the information war of the West against the USSR. Methodology. The research involved examining a set of mostly unpublished historical sources on the topic of research, using comparative, historical-genetic and statistical methods in addition to general scientific methods. Results. The findings reveal the scale of the Western radio broadcasting on the territory of the USSR, the broadcasts’ thematic content, the form of the radio materials, the composition of the listening audiences and the factors that determined the growing influence of “enemy voices” on mass consciousness in the USSR. Research implications. The findings contribute to the study of the Russian history of the late Soviet period, when the USSR listeners gained access to the values alien to socialism and imposed by the western radio channels.