Page 46 - The Making of the German Post-war Economy

CONCEPTION AND COMMUNICATION 19

press, publications and other publicity media with the provisions of
information control regulations, which specified that no person would
operate such publicity media except under a licence granted by the Military
Government through the District Information Services Control
Command (DISCC). The subsequent Nachrichtenkontrollanweisung
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(Information Control Instruction) No. 2, issued on 2 June 1945
pinpointed the use of information media: e.g. three copies of each
publication had to be submitted to the local Military Government, the
number of handbills was limited to ten per cent, and the number of
posters to one per cent of the population, and even the size of these
publications was exactly defined. Thus the initially issued regulations
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were in principle conditional prohibitions varying between the zones of
occupation.
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Apart from democratic principles, German political parties increasingly
demanded an independent press, and equally party organs, in order to
publish and legitimise their conduct, but also for revenue. While the first
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independent German newspaper, the Aachener Nachrichten, which appeared
once a week with a circulation of 12,000, was established by invading
American forces as early as 24 January and eventually licensed by General
McClure on 27 June 1945 (though the British authorities confirmed this
licence granted to the Social Democrat Heinrich Hollands not before 1
March 1946), the American military authorities were suspicious of the
political parties’ efforts to establish a party press. Not merely were party
organs unknown in the USA, but also the military authorities did not want
to create competition to the licensed independent media. According to the
Commander-in-Chief in the American zone, General Lucius D. Clay, in a
letter to the War Department:

This office does not believe there is any need for instructions in the
US zone of Germany. While newspapers controlled by political
parties are not permitted at the present time, this results from the
need for the establishment of a strong independent press in the
American zone in Germany and our inability to supply at present
time sufficient newsprint to make this possible. Political parties are
given newsprint to permit circulation to party news and views.
However, we doubt the advisability of establishing subsidized party
press [...]. Of course, it is our purpose when newsprint conditions
permit to remove restrictions in licensing press, which would make it
possible for any publisher not banned by denazification who is
financially responsible to enter into news publishing field. [...] At
present [...] we believe that the real answer to our press problem is
the establishment of competitive independent papers in all large cities