Warriors of Disinformation: How Charles Wick, the Usia, and Videotape Won the Cold War

Because of a 50-year ban on domestic dissemination of U.S. Information Agency programs, the American public has little knowledge of the material broadcast overseas by the government. This instructive insider's report by the former director of USIA's Television and Film Service reveals the Reagan-era propaganda campaigns designed to influence public attitudes abroad and erode support for the Soviets. Snyder shows how the agency organized a satellite television network called Worldnet, which by 1985 had become President Reagan's ``chief foreign public opinion weapon.'' The author characterizes USIA as the biggest public relations organization in the world, with a staff of some 10,000 and a budget of $2 billion, dedicated to spreading ``an exaggerated version of the truth.'' Among the propaganda campaigns Snyder recalls was the successful effort to deceive the Soviets into thinking that U.S. missile technology was more developed than it was by rigging the Star Wars tests. He also provides insight into Soviet disinformation activities, including the Moscow-inspired story that the U.S. created the AIDS virus to kill its African American population. Readers will be interested to learn how Washington conducted its public diplomacy overseas during the latter phase of the Cold War. Photos. (Nov.)