The Media during the Cold War | 159end of the 1960s for special ‘teenager programmes’. A very conspicuous devel-
opment of the 1960s was that television took on the role of counsellor and
adviser – providing educational programming, health counselling and help
in coping with problems. But early family entertainment series like Familie
Schölermann were seen as vehicles for the shaping of viewers’ behaviour and
teaching etiquette (Hickethier 1998: 159, 216f., 227f.).
One may at least hypothesise about how television changed societal culture.
It assuredly contributed to transforming the relationship between private and
public spheres: a public field such as politics became more private by virtue
of being aired in living rooms and also by the manner of its presentation.
Conversely, television helped to publicise and politicise private matters such as
family or spousal conflicts. By so doing it probably also influenced changing
gender roles. Typical male-dominated public spaces such as the corner pub
began to empty out during the 1950s because now men more often spent
their evenings at home in the living room with their families, which led to
a corresponding increase in home alcohol consumption. As radio had once
done, television now structured the daily rhythm of many families, and for
this reason media experts ascribe ritual functions to it. Then again, it had
a certain democratic component because it held out the promise of partici-
pation: whether state function, sports final or musical event – in principle,
television granted everyone seemingly direct access to happenings that were
otherwise reserved for the elite. Labourers, women and people with little edu-
cation were already tending to spend more time in front of the television in the
1960s (Stumberger 2002: 118–97).
Television was credited with having great influence from its very begin-
nings, and since the 1970s American social scientists have carried out empir-
ical studies examining the effects of the media. According to their findings,
television has a ‘mainstreaming’ effect: high television consumption causes
ideologically diverse groups to adopt similar positions on controversial issues
like abortion or minority rights (Schenk 2007: 596), precisely because televi-
sion, unlike newspapers, addresses itself to a politically heterogeneous public.
Since its aim is to reach everyone – at least potentially – it takes great care to
focus on consensus. American studies have also examined television’s emo-
tional impact: frequent viewers tend to see the world as more violent, they
have more feelings of anxiety and are therefore more likely to react aggressively
to threatening situations (Bonfadelli 2004, Vol. 2: 264f.). Another aspect that
was examined was the claim dating from the very beginning that television
made people stupid, an accusation even levelled against the educational chil-
dren’s programme Sesame Street in the early 1970s. In the study, the so-called
‘knowledge gap perspective’ emerged, according to which better-educated
adults and carefully fostered children profit from the media, whereas the
others do not. Thus the media reinforce social differences on a cognitive level