The original plan for advertising for Radio Free Europe, written in 1949, contained the point: "To create emotion, personalized – dramatic headlines ... written in terse simple words that speak directly to the average man."
One heavy-hitting early 1950s Advertising Council newspaper fund-raising advertisement for Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia was "Mr. and Mrs. Murderer." This ad is a perfect example of not only using emotion to rally Americans behind Radio Free Europe, but also how the American press was used to hide the CIA's sponsorship of the Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.
The advertisement, full of Cold War rhetoric and imagery, was carried nationwide in newspapers ranging from The New York Times to small-town newspapers. For example, in The Gettysburg Times (Pennsylvania), January 5, 1953, the text read, in part,
Until 10 A.M., December 27th (1951), they were simply Mr. and Mrs. Margineanu. distinguished citizens of Blaj- respected and admired by the entire community and then -- Radio Free Europe is telling all of Romania about this blood-thirsty couple and their secret torture chamber
This is Radio Free Europe. People of Romania, listen to this information we have received from the underground at Blaj. Among the foremost aides of the Chief of the Security Police are a young married couple named Margineanu. Together with other members of the governmental gang, the patronize blood orgies nightly
Those freedom-loving Romanians not in sympathy with the Communist regime are dragged before them and beaten to death. While the torture goes on, the wine bottle is passed around — there is much toasting and singing. The names of other regular participants are as follows ...
Slowly but surely the true fate of Communism is being exposed and the cold war is being won. But Radio Free Europe urgently needs more help from its sponsor -- You!
Readers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, read an editorial in the Cedar Rapids Tribune on December 4, 1952, urging support of Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia.
No money from any government agency or department is used by either Radio Free Asia or Radio Free Europe.
As distinct from the Voice of America, the official radio voice of the U. S. government, neither the Free Asia nor Free Europe operations are tied to official American foreign policy. Observers say this fact, as well as a generous use of imagination in programming and writing, makes both of the private systems more effective than the government sponsored Voice. To thinking people behind the curtain anything that smacks of government is automatically suspected.
The full force of Radio Free "Europe and Radio Free Asia lies in its shrewd evaluation of life under a dictatorship. Using intelligence reports and accounts of refugees to guide them, the stations can reach behind the curtain and hand out news which is as local as the front page of the home-town paper.
Take the case of Mr. and Mrs. Margineanu, citizens of good standing in the Romanian city of Blaj. The Margineanus were in league with the Romanian secret police and apparently enjoyed watching the Reds strong-arm information out of unwilling political prisoners. On Dec. 27,1951, the following message reached Blaj on Radio Free Europe channels: (as above).
The editorial concluded:
Using all the best weapons of psychological warfare, Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia are slandered daily by every media the Communists control. There couldn't be a better measure of their effectiveness or a more demanding reason for their continued operation.
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