Page 50 - The Making of the German Post-war Economy

CONCEPTION AND COMMUNICATION 23

the British zone until the licensing of the social democratic-oriented
Braunschweiger Zeitung on 8 January 1946. After a change of policy in early
1946, licences were increasingly given to so-called ‘Gesinnungszeitungen’ or
‘Parteirichtungszeitungen’, namely those with a disposition for a particular
76
political party; few independent newspapers were considered. According
to a list compiled by Heinz-Dietrich Fischer, out of 42 registered
newspapers in the British zone including the corresponding sector in
Berlin, 33 can be counted as party-papers of which 13 favoured the SPD
and 10 the CDU. In doing so, the licence was not issued to the
77
respective party but to an individual person recommended by his/her
political organisation. Thus the representation of interests of the political
parties was ensured; equally, the influence of interest groups on editorial
functions was limited. Nevertheless, in contrast to the prevailing
78
perception in academic and popular literature, the British authorities also
licensed political parties and their explicit organs, such as Der
Sozialdemokrat (later Berliner Stadtblatt/Berliner Stimme) issued up to six times
per week by the SPD Greater-Berlin or the central organ of the SPD,
Neuer Vorwärts, which appeared from 11 September 1948 onwards, or the
CDU party organ Union in Deutschland, Union im Norden, or Union im
Wahlkampf: Informations- und Rednerdienst der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der
CDU/CSU Deutschlands. Although there was no clear preference for one
particular party, the British authorities initially supported the SPD. This
can be explained by the fact that both wanted a centralised government
for Germany. However, the American military authorities, General Lucius
D. Clay in particular, supported a federal organisation and therefore
preferred the CDU/CSU with their federal-democratic accentuation.
79
This imbalance with its preference for SPD publications, however, was
changed when the circulation of party papers was coupled with the results
of the first elections at the end of 1946. In consequence of this
reallocation in a ratio of one exemplar of newspaper per five citizens, the
conservative parties generally gained at the expense of the KPD and SPD
(CDU +25.8 per cent, FDP +17.6 per cent, Z +2.7 per cent, KPD -49.2
per cent, SPD +0.4 per cent). In spite of this readjustment of
80
newspapers, a particular uncertainty concerning the selection of licensees
remained among British officials. Therefore, German parties and
organisations were soon called in to participate in the authorisation
process. Whereas a decree issued on 1 March declared that the press was
exempted from German legislation and purely a matter of the Military
Government, Directive No. 108 which became effective on 15 October
81
1947 marked a decisive step towards an independent German press in the
British zone of occupation. Accordingly, consultative committees
consisting of publishers, journalists, and representatives of the general