Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Location: The Heritage Foundation's Allison Auditorium

Jeffrey Gedmin, President of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc., will discuss RFE/RL’s strategy in the battle for the hearts and minds of the people of the 21st Century.  In this fight, RFE/RL believes that America and its democratic allies face two major adversaries: radical Islam and authoritarianism.  Against the backdrop of the War on Terrorism and dictatorial regimes hostile to democratic values and institutions, RFE/RL broadcasts free, uncensored news in 28 languages to 21 countries, including Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Russia.  RFE/RL believes that free speech, a free press and the free flow of information and ideas are not just American values, but rather, the essential components of a healthy civil society and the key components in implementing this strategy.

For more than half a century, RFE/RL has been bringing news to people who need it.  Today, RFE/RL does more than broadcast radio signals into closed societies – it also uses the Internet, TV, blogs and social media to deliver objective news and information.  Funded by the U.S. Congress but journalistically independent of the U.S. government, RFE/RL airs news, discussion and analysis its audiences would have if they had a free and independent media.