Some Effects of Radio Moscow's North American Broadcasts

This experimental study of Radio Moscow's North American broadcasts finds that the broadcasts do result in opinion change among listeners. They seem to have an effect, not because of any particular skill in communication, but because conditions in our own society had led the audience to hold unrealistically negative expectations about the broadcasts which, upon actual exposure, were clearly refuted for many listeners. The consequence of this "unexpectedly better" evaluation was to dispose them toward opinion change favorable to the USSR.