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East Germany The Party and the Media
The Politburo of the SED ultimately decides what is printed,
published, and produced by the mass media in order to ensure
ideological and political uniformity and conformity. The SED
Central Committee's Department of Agitation and Propaganda issues
instructions to the editors of party and mass organization
publications on appropriate news topics and how they should be
treated; the department must ensure that the mass media carry out
their assigned functions. Editors also receive directives on key
campaigns, such as the Five-Year Plan, the National Front
candidates during East German elections, military education in
the schools, Soviet foreign policy initiatives, the deployment of
United States missiles in Western Europe, and the Strategic
Defense Initiative.
Because the SED controls all aspects of public life, it can
plan headlines in advance. Anniversaries are a typical case,
particularly special anniversaries such as the establishment of
the People's Police (Volkspolizei), the National People's Army,
civil defense services, and border police. Similar considerations
apply to historical events, such as the Russian Revolution, the
Liberation (Befreiung) in 1945, the establishment of the East
German state and the SED, the destruction of Dresden, and the
erection of the Berlin Wall. Pre-planned congresses, the Leipzig
Fair, visits by foreign politicians or by East German politicians
abroad, Warsaw Pact force maneuvers, and the Soviet space program
are standard topics for East German media consumers. The single
most important subject covered is the economy and the current
Five-Year Plan.
For the SED, newspapers are part of the campaign to build
socialism and communism as defined by the SED leadership in
consultation with the leadership of the CPSU. Thus, the SED not
only attempts to "plan" the news but also to monopolize news
sources. All international news, with minor exceptions, is
channeled to the press from the country's sole news agency,
Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst (ADN), which is under the
direction of the Press Office of the chairman of the Council of
Ministers. Most items in Neues Deutschland and in Der
Morgen are credited to ADN.
Neues Deutschland, in keeping with its function as the
organ of the SED and the leading daily newspaper of East Germany,
is assigned the best facilities and is one of the few
publications to send correspondents abroad. With a circulation of
nearly 1 million, it serves as the most authoritative paper. The
SED is also responsible for the leading district newspapers, such
as the Leipziger Volkzeitung. Each of the other four
smaller parties has a national daily. They are the BauernEcho (DBD), National-Zeitung (NDPD), Neue Zeit
(CDU); and Der Morgen (LDPD). These newspapers are not
widely known outside the parties they serve. Tribune, the
organ of the FDGB, and Junge Welt, the daily of the FDJ,
have much higher circulations than the publications of the four
allied parties. The only significant SED-controlled dailies that
are not official organs of parties or mass organizations are the
Berliner Zeitung (BZ) and BZ am Abend.
The chief reason for maintaining such a relatively expensive
news apparatus despite the uniformity and redundancy is the need
to keep up appearances as a semipluralistic society, which is
regarded as important for East Germany's influence abroad.
Internally, these newspapers have their assigned segments of the
population to influence, and the style and subject matter of the
papers vary according to the segment of the population addressed.
Like all key institutions, newspapers are given "plans" to
fulfill. Non-SED party organs receive their plans and
instructions from the aforementioned Press Office.
The relatively high rates of newspaper consumption and almost
universal ownership of radios and television sets make the public
media important instruments of social integration. There are 38
daily newspapers, having a total circulation of 8.3 million.
Regional and national SED papers (including Neues
Deutschland) account for about two-thirds of the total
circulation. Junge Welt accounts for about 10 percent, and
Tribune accounts for about 5 percent. Newspapers published
by the 4 noncommunist parties amount to less than 5 percent of
the total. In addition, there are more than 500 monthly magazines
and weekly newspapers, ranging from Für dich, an
illustrated women's weekly, to Einheit, a publication for
party functionaries at all levels. Many periodicals focus on the
special concerns of various professional groups.
After starting on an experimental basis in 1952, television
was officially introduced in 1956 under the name Deutscher
Fernsehfunk, which was changed in 1972 to Fernsehen der DDR in
accordance with the SED policy of Abgrenzung. Because the
SED regards all radio and television programs as politically
significant, producers, directors, and editors are expected to
bear in mind the ultimate purpose of their medium when creating
their programs. The government operates two color television
channels, which together offer nineteen to twenty hours of daily
programming.
Since 1968 television has been under the control of the State
Committee for Television of the Council of Ministers; an
analogous committee administers radio. The chairmen and deputy
chairmen of these committees are appointed by the chairman of the
Council of Ministers. Other members are appointed by the chairmen
of the respective committees. Heinrich Adamek, who has served as
chairman of the State Committee for Television since its
inception, is a member of the SED Central Committee.
The SED is keenly interested in using radio to influence
people abroad and uses Voice of the GDR (Stimme der DDR),
directed at German speakers outside East Germany, and Radio
Berlin International, which broadcasts in numerous foreign
languages, for this purpose. External consumers receive news of
the world communist movement, East Germany and its politics and
policies, and an SED view of world developments.
The authorities restrict the influx of Western publications,
which are available only to government, party, economic, and
educational institutions. Publications from Eastern Europe and
the Soviet Union are freely permitted but rarely purchased. The
electronic media are a different matter. Largely because of the
central location of West Berlin transmitters, West German radio
and television are received in East Germany, except for the
southern mountain regions. Intershops carry decoder attachments
required for clear reception of color broadcasts. As a practical
matter, it is not possible to prohibit viewing of Western
television, not the least because it is a prime source of news
and entertainment for the government elite, who are also avid
viewers of internationally syndicated United States programs,
which are shown with German-language dubbing by West Berlin
stations.
Television thus promotes awareness of the higher standard of
living in West Germany and provides divergent perspectives on
world events. Public surveys have shown that East Germans are
considerably more familiar with West German politicians than
their own leaders. Since the mid-1970s, Western television has
become an increasingly important source of news about political
and economic conditions in East Germany itself. In late 1971,
when Western television journalists were first regularly
permitted in East Germany, they gained quick recognition. Some
were even approached on the street by East German citizens and
asked to do reports on specific issues.
The penetration of Western media places a special burden on
SED officials. Both the domestic electronic and the printed media
continue to practice censorship. Certain kinds of economic,
social, and military data are not disseminated, and no statements
directly critical of either East German or Soviet leaders are
permitted. At the same time, many sensitive topics are covered,
if only in response to Western television broadcasts. East German
television thus has gradually moved in the direction of more
candid, if still biased, reporting. East German television
journalists correctly perceive they are competing for the
attention of East German viewers, and efforts to develop more
interesting reporting styles and to be responsive to public
opinion have become a source of professional pride.
Data as of July 1987
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