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The Soviet propaganda effort is furthered by three types of groups in foreign countries. Foremost are the Moscow-aligned local Communist parties, such as the Tudeh Party in Iran and Communist parties active in Western European countries. In addition, in 126 countries there are Soviet "friendship societies" coordinating cultural exchanges, visits and exhibitions; in 1979 a total of 55,300 students from the Third World were studying in the Soviet Union. On a less direct level, Moscow has a phalanx of organizational allies with branches in many countries; the most notable is the Helsinki-based World Peace Council, which the CIA claims is designed to support Moscow's foreign policy through mass meetings and demonstrations in the 130 countries where it has affiliates. Such groups not only spread a pro-Soviet ideological line but provide TASS and Radio Moscow with sympathetic Western sources to quote.
The Voice of America, on the other hand, aims to build credibility mostly by presenting straight news, not propaganda. Radio Free Europe, which broadcasts to most Warsaw Pact nations, and Radio Liberty, which broadcasts to the Soviet Union, are organizationally and financially distinct from the VOA network. Unlike the VOA, they are engaged in more direct and blunt propaganda. Founded in the early '50s, they were originally funded secretly by the CIA. Since 1971 they have been independent, congressionally supported corporations with some private donations. Based in Munich, they are staffed largely by expatriates from the nations they broadcast to. There are no Nielsen ratings for international propaganda broadcasting, but U.S. officials insist that their programs—a variety of news and music—are more popular than those of Radio Moscow. Says acting VOA Director William Haratunian: "The Soviets do more, but in audience the VOA is No. 1." William Buell, senior vice president of Radio Free Europe, agrees, saying of the three American broadcast services: "We're winning the battle of listenership."
The recent rise of limited free expression in Poland has resulted in a few testimonials to the effectiveness of Radio Free Europe. Union Activist Waldemar Sobora was quoted as saying of the Gdansk strikes: "I learned what was happening on the coast from RFE and other Western stations." In a censored article that later appeared in the samizdat (the underground press), Writer Stefan Kisielewski charged: "The [Polish] media belong to the party elite and not to the people, who must learn about their own doings from RFE."
Such influence has produced frequent complaints from Moscow. Two weeks ago, Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko angrily wrote Secretary of State Alexander Haig that the VOA and other radio stations under U.S. control were making "provocative and instigatory" broadcasts that were "an open interference in Polish internal affairs." The Soviets are responsible for a little interference of their own. According to RFE's Buell, they spend as much as $200 million a year to jam Western broadcasts, more than twice RFE's entire budget. (The U.S. does not interfere with Radio Moscow transmissions.) The most effective Soviet jamming is of broadcasts to Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union.