MASS MEDIA IN DIVIDED GERMANY 575
the strong competition from free TV. Indeed, this pointed to the limits of
commercialization, as well as the still strong position of public radio and
television.
The Transformation of the Media since 1989
The media contributed to the collapse of Communism and the fall of the
Berlin Wall. Its most important function over the long term had been to
build the bridges of communication across the Wall, connecting Eastern
Europe with the West in a way that trumped propaganda while fostering
other social expectations. The reforms propagated by Gorbachev under
the name Glasnost also aff ected the media as of 1987; media outlets were
supposed to become more transparent and more truthful, which might
have served to improve the government’s control over society. The veil
that was drawn over the nuclear accident at Chernobyl was an important
catalyst behind this move. Not only were many residents within the Com-
munist realm outraged at the way in which the media downplayed the
situation, but also Gorbachev himself.^94
The way in which the freedom of the press was introduced shortly
thereafter, however, did not follow the same pattern throughout Eastern
Europe. In Hungary, for example, the press was already given more free-
dom in 1986, and the license requirement was lifted in the summer of
- Likewise, the Polish dissent paper Gazeta Wyborcza became legal
in May of 1989. Especially in Hungary and Estonia, journalists sought a
critical dialog with the state; meanwhile, it seemed as if a “tele-revolu-
tion” had taken place in Romania because the fi rst Hungarian TV reports
and the then live images of Ceaușescu broadcast in Romania expedited
the protests against the government.^95 The media in Czechoslovakia
meanwhile remained loyal to the state for quite a while. The East German
media was also not a main instigator in the events of 1989, although the
often-cited youth network DT 64 had reported earlier about the protests,
and it had broadcasted cassettes made by East German bands that played
unconventional music.^96 Even as late as the beginning of October 1989,
the GDR press still referred to the demonstrators on the streets as “Row-
dies” from the West who had infi ltrated the country. The East German
papers did not print critical letters to the editor or even critical report-
ing until masses of people were protesting in the streets and Honecker
resigned.
West German television, however, played a key role in the collapse
of the GDR.^97 It kept the fi rst German protesters informed about simi-
lar actions taking place, thereby further promoting the demonstrations.