Research Guides: FBIS: Foreign Broadcast Information Service: Home

About FBIS

The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS)

FBIS was run by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency from 1941-2004. Since the 1940s, FBIS has monitored, translated, and republished selected foreign radio and television broadcasts, newspaper articles, government news agency releases, and political speeches. FBIS primary users - US government officials - determined which stories are included, so political, military, economic, and environmental topics are the major emphases. The translations were published as quickly as possible--usually within a few days of original publication--in a series of daily reports.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports

The United States' principal record of political and historical open source intelligence.

Simliar Primary Source Collections

Global Perspectives: American Proxy Wars - Korea and Vietnam This link opens in a new window
Coverage: Varies
Translated and English-language radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, periodicals, government documents, and books covering the Korean and Vietnamese conflicts
Global Perspectives: American Race Relations, 1941-1996 This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 1941-1996
Thousands of commentaries on African American, Hispanic American, Asian American and Native American history covering foreign reactions to America's struggles with racial justice from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights movements and beyond.
Global Perspectives: Apartheid, 1946-1996 This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 1946-1996 Translated news broadcasts and publications of the international reaction to apartheid throughout the African Continent and around the world.
Global Perspectives: Immigrations, Migrations and Refugees, 1941-1996 This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 1941-1996
Translated and English-language radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, periodicals, government documents and books providing global insight on immigration in the mid-to-late 20th century
Global Perspectives: Nuclear Arms and Weapons of Mass Destruction This link opens in a new window
Coverage: Varies
Translated and English-language radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, periodicals, government documents, and books providing global reaction to the world Arms Race.
Global Perspectives: Pravda Archive, 1959-1996 This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 1959-1996
Articles published by Pravda during the Cold War collected and translated into English by the CIA.
Global Perspectives: Propaganda and the Chinese Press This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 1946 to 1996
Articles published by Xinhua or New China News, the major communist Chinese newspapers collected and translated into English by the CIA.
Global Perspectives: The Cold War - East-West Tensions, 1945-1991 This link opens in a new window
Coverage: 1945-1991
Translated news broadcasts and publications of the international reaction to apartheid throughout the African Continent and around the world.
Global Perspectives: World Protest and Reform Movements This link opens in a new window
Coverage: Varies
Translated and English-language radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, periodicals, government documents, and books providing global reaction to major protest and reform movements.