The Press fry QDR, USSR, China and Other Countries
The legal basis for the mass media in the GDR is provided by clauses in the country’s constitution guaranteeing freedom of expression, and the freedom of the press, radio, and television.
However, just as the corresponding clauses in the West German Basic Law are in fact hedged by various provisos that can be brought to bear against ‘constitutional’ publications, so in the GDR the freedoms guaranteed must be seen in the context of the country’s particular definition of democracy.
Thus the East German Constitution talks of the right of every GDR citizen ‘to express his opinion freely and publicly in accordance with the spirit and aims (‘Grundsatze’) of this constitution. The West German Basic Law is used to maintain a Western style bourgeois democracy; but the ‘spirit and aims’ of the GDR’s Constitution are directed towards a new and different society.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
In both countries it is recognized that the press has a responsibility towards society-a responsibility, in effect, to strengthen and foster a particular form of society. The differences between the two societies entail a different concept of responsibility and thus a radically different concept of the whole nature and role of the press.
The Communist System
In communist eyes, the freedom of expression and of the press in capitalist countries merely mean freedom for the ruling minority which controls access to the means of expression and which owns the press. Under communism the mass media are seen to represent the working people, the majority of the population, for the Communist Party represents their interests, and it is now in control of the press and broadcasting. In the GDR the press is accordingly not in private hands.
In the interest of a planned and carefully coordinated development of the press a licensing system obtains. Licences to publish newspapers and magazines are issued-in the case of national publications-by the Presseamt beim Vorsitzenden des Ministerrats (the all-important national press administration office); in the case of local organs the chairman of the Bezirksrate (Provincial Councils) are responsible for the issuing of licences. In theory
licences may be granted to individuals, but the usual practice with newspapers is to issue them to the political parties and mass organisations represented in the People’s Chamber (the East German Parliament). Licences for magazines and periodicals, on the other hand, are more commonly held by cooperative publishing houses.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The Licencing System
As a result Of the licensing system the structure of the press in the GDR is quite stable, and, in contradistinction to most Western countries, changes little from year to year. Any changes that do occur are the result of planned decisions, and not of arbitrary market forces. The daily press is dominated by the national organs published in Berlin by the five parties and two of the mass organisations (listed here with estimated circulation figures) :
Neues Deutschland. SED (Socialist Weity Party), 800,000
Der Morgen; LDPD (Liberal Democrat Party) 45,000
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Neue Zeit: CDU (Christian Democratic Union), 50,000
National-Zeitung: NDPD (National Democrat Party), 60,000
Bauern-Echo. DFD (Democratic Farmer’s Party), 150,000
Tribune. FDGB (Confederation of Free German
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Trade Unions), 400,000
Junge Welt: FDJ (Free German Youth) 150,000
In pursuit of the policy of winning over all segments of the population to the socialist cause the non-SED newpapers lay great stress on the progressive aspects of the role played in history by the particular social groups to which they address themselves.