‘Radio Free Europe’ Older Than REM

The Morning News published an article Aug. 10 to tell readers about Radio Free Arkansas, an Internet site the Springdale newspaper launched Aug. 1.

The story said the site — radiofreearkansas.com — is an effort to reach people between the ages of 17 and 25 who don’t subscribe to the newspaper.

We couldn’t help thinking that the folks who are running this Web site must be pretty young. The creative services director quoted in the story said the name Radio Free Arkansas reflected pop culture because it’s a “play off of the REM song ‘Radio Free Europe.'”

We like the lo-fi rock band from Athens, Ga., as much as anybody, but the term Radio Free Europe didn’t originate with REM’s 1981 single by that name.

Radio Free Europe was established in 1949 to broadcast objective news, analysis and current events programming to listeners behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe during the cold war. The operation was funded by the U.S. Congress through the Central Intelligence Agency until 1971.

Radio Free Europe merged with Radio Liberty in 1975. The organization currently reaches some 35 million listeners through short-wave radio, AM and FM programming and the Internet (where it’s Web site receives 3.5 million page views a month).