Changing perspective

This section will focus on the changing representation of active participants with reference to the temporal perspective of the articles. In the past, readers had often learned about opposition activities in the GDR after the participants had been arrested or expelled by the East German authorities. As a result of this, readers could easily gain the impression that any opposition had little chance of success as the state authorities were fully in control of the respective situations. In 1982/83, British newspaper readers still learned about individuals who lost out against the state. For example, The

Times reported that ‘the East German authorities deported six more unofficial peace

campaigners from Jena to West Germany’.682 However, the readers were now given

much more information about actions which were planned and would take place in the future, and these articles often contained the hope that people in opposition would be able to criticise the authorities or highlight problems in the GDR without being arrested or threatened. As a result, the relationship between the East German government and the opposition was represented as more balanced than in previous years. This presentation led, as did other features of the press’ coverage, to a stronger perception of other parts of the GDR such as the population and did not primarily focus on the government.

Reports of future events could be seen in The Times. The newspaper described, for example, that the participants of an international peace conference ‘expected

women in East Germany to demonstrate for peace while the convention was on’683 or

that the ‘East German Protestant pastors will speak from their pulpits in defence of

young pacifist tomorrow.’684 This view into the future was achieved through the use of

the future tense and also the choice of verbs, for example ‘expect’ with its meaning that something is supposed to happen. In many cases after an event had already taken place, no negative consequences were mentioned within the same article and the protest could therefore be regarded as successful: ‘Two hundred East Germans [...]

682

Michael Binyon, ‘Vogel-Honecker meeting signals rapprochement between German states’, The

Times, 31/05/1983, p. 5.

683 _{‘Mgr Kent alleges Churchill has links with CND “smear”’, The Times, 29/04/1983, p. 3.} 684

have signed a call for disarmament amid signs that an unofficial peace movement is

gaining impetus’.685 In May 1983, The Times provided information about ‘a secret

rendezvous’ between a dozen Western delegates of the conference and ‘35 unofficial

East German peace campaigners who had been denied exit visas to attend.’686 Later

the West Germans brought back a message from the GDR saying: ‘peace in Europe was

indivisible from human rights, freedom and self-determination.’687 The reader learned

about the meeting after it had been successfully finished and the message had been delivered back to the conference. Moreover, the choice of words, particularly verbs, used in the press coverage was another element which strengthened the impression of

increasing power. Phrases such as ‘the church attacked the government’688, ‘church

demands alternative for military service’689, ‘East Germany’s Protestant Church

accused Communist authorities’690, the peace groups ‘putting the regime under

pressure’691 and the East Germans ‘demanded an end to injustices inside each

country’692 clearly demonstrate this. The use of these verbs gave the impression of a

relationship on equal terms. One side can only ‘demand’ or ‘attack’ if it is not afraid of the other side and the potential consequences of doing so.

Two main reasons can be offered for the change in coverage. Firstly, after a decade of reporting from and about the GDR, foreign journalists were much more capable of investigating stories and contacting important sources despite the existing restrictions than they had been in the previous decade. In contrast, during the mid- 1970s, journalists had regularly to rely on sources that had left the GDR and could therefore no longer influence the situation in the country, which supported the reporting of already finalised events. Alternatively, journalists occasionally used official East German sources (ADN or Neues Deutschland) which obviously would not focus on any successful anti-state activities. This change could be described as a learning process by the journalists as described in section 1.5.2. Secondly, opposition groups started to actively seek contact with foreign journalists in order to use the public

685

‘East German peace group grows’, p. 8. 686

Binyon, ‘Peace activists get together at East Berlin secret meeting’, p. 7. 687

Ibid.

688 _{Patricia Clough, ‘Thousands shiver for peace in Germany’, The Times, 12/04/1982, p. 3.} 689

‘East German peace group grows’, p. 8. 690

Millar, ‘Clamp on young peace protesters rouses wrath of Protestants’, p. 4. 691 _{Dimbleby, ‘Why a message of peace is filling East Germany’s churches’, p. 9.} 692

awareness as protection. Robert Havemann and others had already regularly made use

of the Western media for their purposes. Roland Jahn,693 active peace activist from

Jena, stressed this for the opposition groups in the GDR: ‘Die Westmedien waren natürlich ganz, ganz wichtig. [...] Wir haben in Jena fast alles dokumentiert und haben

diese Informationen dann an die Westmedien gegeben.’694 As result, the press often

gained detailed first hand information about events in the GDR und therefore, represented a valuable source about the country. The example shows how both sides, press and opposition groups, benefitted from a closer relationship between them. However, this greater cooperation also contributed to overestimation of the East German opposition. In contrast, during the mid-1970s opposition circles wanted to be perceived as independent and not manipulated by Western influences as the government regularly claimed. Therefore, members actively avoided too close contact

with the media in contrast to individuals such as Havemann and Bahro.695 Both men

had early recognised the advantage of the Western press.