144 | Mass Media and Historical Change
ties to newspapers were not unduly strong, as shown by the sharp decline in
circulation after 1990. On the other hand, Western print media played almost
no role in the GDR because selling and importing them was forbidden. Only
the SED leadership took intense notice of the Western press and often seized
upon the positions they published in order to deprecate them.
On the whole, Communist media policy in the GDR and Eastern Europe
must be said to have failed. This is amply demonstrated by the rapid breakdown
after 1989. The ideological standards of the Socialists corresponded neither to
media logic nor the interests of the public. Socialism considered itself to be on
the right side of morality because it forbade tabloid journalism, pornography
and rock music. Yet the constant guidelines imposed on Communist Eastern
Europe precluded any development of a popular culture comparable to that in
the West, and this in turn increased imports.
The question of what role the media actually played in the collapse of
Communism is difficult to answer. Western stations like ‘Radio Free Europe’,
‘Voice of America’ and ‘RIAS’ were important sources of information and
support for the opposition. It is estimated that a third of the urban adult
population and about half of the East European adult population listened
to Western broadcasts after the 1950s (Johnson and Parta 2010: 345). They
were especially important in the context of crises – like the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan or the catastrophe at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986.
A direct influence on the protests of 1989 is stated for some countries (Ratesh,
in ibid.: 225). Radio Free Europe seemed to be especially reliable, because it
broadcast reports and letters from those countries, including about problems
of the Western world. Simultaneously they promoted interest for and under-
standing of the pop-and-consumption culture of the West, and this in turn
probably accelerated the turning away from Communism. One should con-
sider whether the East European media also fostered a less politicised atmo-
sphere that expedited rejection of the ritualised Communistic party culture
and thus had a politically relevant impact in the 1980s. It is precisely this day-
to-day significance of the media that offers a huge field of research for studies
of Eastern and Central Europe.
The Polish underground press laid the groundwork for the radical changes
that came at the end of the 1980s (cf. Aumente et al. 1999: 41–78). It used
the influence of its mass circulation to good effect to question the regime’s
legitimacy, stabilised the work of the opposition and in 1989 laid the foun-
dation for the dynamic spread of the Gazeta Wyborcza as the first Solidarność
newspaper that was not forbidden (Paczkowski 1997). The media also played
a great role in changes in the GDR. Western television informed the citizenry
about protests and offered them an opportunity to communicate indirectly
with the ruling powers and bring pressure to bear. Furthermore, the presence
of Western cameras at demonstrations afforded a degree of protection against