Under the Radar

"Most of Radio Free Europe's research efforts were geared toward learning how to build listener trust and how to counter propaganda. Today, there is no centralized research organization that combines quantitative media surveys with analytical research into the target country's economic, political, and sociocultural life. Parta's final peroration is a call for the creation of such an institution: one that could provide insights into digital audiences and offer counternarratives, especially in light of contemporary Russian propaganda and its role in fueling the war in Ukraine." https://muse.jhu.edu/article/911038 -- Ana Cohle * Technology and Culture *
"Stylishly written and fun to read, Parta's book is ultimately more about people than policies or data. He describes his fellow employees and associates at the various contracting firms who conducted the actual interviews that provided raw data for statistical analyses. He elucidates how they worked and sometimes how they played, which gives the reader a sense of the personalities behind Cold War radio. These were not policy-formulating or policyimplementing automatons but real people with real virtues and failings." https://direct.mit.edu/jcws/article-abstract/25/4/261/118956/Cold-War-Radio-The-Russian-Broadcasts-of-the-Voice?redirectedFrom=fulltext -- Anatol Shmelev * Journal of Cold War Studies *
"It provides readers and researchers with unique information about Radio Liberty's audience research department and its international connections, including a priceless who's who, the profiles of the department's employees, depictions of its network and working techniques, and the role of its survey partner institutions. Researchers working in the archives of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's audience research should start with this book." https://ceureviewofbooks.com/review/an-insiders-view-of-radio-free-europe-radio-liberty/ -- Anna Grutza * CEU Review of Books *