Edited sentence: A report by RFE/RL about the death of a student during clashes with riot police is said to have contributed to the overthrow of the communist government of Czechoslovakia in 1989.Department of State issued broad policy directives, and a system evolved where broadcast policy was determined through negotiation among the CIA, the U.During the earliest years of Radio Free Europe's existence, the CIA and the U.RFE was founded as an anti-communist news source in 1949 by the National Committee for a Free Europe, as part of a large-scale Psychological Operation during the Cold War.RFE/RL received funds from the Central Intelligence Agency until 1972.RL was founded two years later and the two organizations merged in 1976.State Department, and RFE staff