1. Introduction
“RIAS has always been more than just the initials of an American post-war
operation in divided Berlin. For many people in Berlin and in East Germany
RIAS Berlin was and still is a part of their life; a piece of their very personal biography“(Kundler 2002: preface)
This statement was made by Siegfried Buschschlüter, RIAS broadcasting director, in October 1993, a few months before RIAS’ history ended and the one of its successor, Deutschlandradio, began. RIAS, short for Rundfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor was established in Berlin by the United States Information Agency in 1946 and has played a significant role in German media history in the post-war era. Its motto “A free voice of the free world” proves the objective of the station and the position it saw itself in. The
paper at hand aims at investigating this role and will elaborate on the question why this station was so special to the people – especially to the people in East Germany and later the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Measuring the impact of RIAS on the people in East Germany and the GDR might seem impossible, since in these areas it was officially forbidden to listen to the station. Still, people did listen, since radio had the important advantage that it could be received almost everywhere while Western press
was not legally and easily available for the people in East Germany (Soldat 2008: 184).
Therefore, it is very important to note that this paper's objective is twofold: it does not only look at the perception of RIAS by its target listeners in East Germany/the GDR but also at the way how East Germany's government perceived and reacted to the station. The most important historical event bringing together those two sides is June 17th, 1953, since this day, RIAS and its reporting triggered the strongest reactions from both sides of the spectrum. This is mainly the reason why 1953 was used in this paper as a frame year to limit the focus of this paper on a particular period of time. Of course the influence of RIAS did not end with the year 1953, on the contrary. There were many events such as the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 or Kennedy's visit to Berlin in 1963 to which RIAS and its reporting had a lot to contribute. However, these events after the revolts in 1953 will be left out in this paper.
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations
1. Introduction
2. The beginnings - from DIAS to RIAS
3. The elections of 1946 and Operation Back Talk
4. RIAS and the Berlin Blockade
5. A program for the East
6. Reactions from the East
7. RIAS and June 17th, 1953
8. Conclusion
9. Works Cited
List of Abbreviations
illustration not visible in this excerpt
1. Introduction
“RIAS has always been more than just the initials of an American post-war operation in divided Berlin. For many people in Berlin and in East Germany RIAS Berlin was and still is a part of their life; a piece of their very personal biography“(Kundler 2002: preface)
This statement was made by Siegfried Buschschlüter, RIAS broadcasting director, in October 1993, a few months before RIAS’ history ended and the one of its successor, Deutschlandradio, began. RIAS, short for Rundfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor was established in Berlin by the United States Information Agency in 1946 and has played a significant role in German media history in the post-war era. Its motto “A free voice of the free world” proves the objective of the station and the position it saw itself in. The paper at hand aims at investigating this role and will elaborate on the question why this station was so special to the people - especially to the people in East Germany and later the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Measuring the impact of RIAS on the people in East Germany and the GDR might seem impossible, since in these areas it was officially forbidden to listen to the station. Still, people did listen, since radio had the important advantage that it could be received almost everywhere while Western press was not legally and easily available for the people in East Germany (Soldat 2008: 184). According to Nicholas J. Schlosser, there are three basic things one can look at when seeking to measure 'influence' of RIAS: polls, listeners' letters and “reactions of the SED and East German government” (Schlosser 2011: 625).
Therefore, it is very important to note that this paper's objective is twofold: it does not only look at the perception of RIAS by its target listeners in East Germany/the GDR but also at the way how East Germany's government perceived and reacted to the station. The most important historical event bringing together those two sides is June 17th, 1953, since this day, RIAS and its reporting triggered the strongest reactions from both sides of the spectrum. This is mainly the reason why 1953 was used in this paper as a frame year to limit the focus of this paper on a particular period of time. Of course the influence of RIAS did not end with the year 1953, on the contrary. There were many events such as the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 or Kennedy's visit to Berlin in 1963 to which RIAS and its reporting had a lot to contribute. However, these events after the revolts in 1953 will be left out in this paper.
Many papers and books have also been published on RIAS' organizational structure and its financing methods and problems and it is out of the question that this German-American co-operation has a very unique structure that is worth having a look at (cf. Galle 2002). However, this paper is more concerned with the perception of RIAS and its role as a radio station at the time of the German post-war occupation. The paper at hand will give an overview of the development of RIAS in its beginnings in 1946 and will then present some key historical events that the station is somehow connected with or has had an impact on in several different ways. The historical events will be laid out and looked at chronologically. However, since many things were happening simultaneously, there will be slight deviations in the course of the paper.
2. The beginnings - from DIAS to RIAS
After World War II, Germany entered the “hour zero” - concerning its infrastructure, economy, politics and also concerning its media. The German population wanted to erase the previous years and just make a fresh start concerning everything. During the war, Nazi propaganda had been the majority of information people were allowed access to. This was an aspect the occupying forces wanted to change drastically by installing their own media channels in Berlin, a “newspaper city” (Schultze 1995: 14) at that time. In February 1946, DIAS was brought into existence - Drahtfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor. The station was created by orders of the United States Information Agency (USIA) as a reaction to the Soviet military which had refused to let the broadcast center in Masurenallee fall under shared allied control of all occupying forces (cf Galle, Schuster 2000: 7). DIAS “was initially intended to inform and entertain only the residents of the American occupation zone” (Browne 1966: 120). The first broadcast went on air on February 7, 1946 with the following words, “Here we are - we’d like to welcome all you listeners out there. And don’t worry, there won’t be any formal inaugural speech” (Grunert 1994: 00:01:08 - 00:01:18). However, DIAS was only broadcasting over a wire signal and could therefore only be received over telephone lines by a small number of people in Berlin. The post estimates that the first broadcast could be received by about 1500 households in the American Sector (Derenburg 1986: 15). In September of the same year, this changed because the US Military Government enabled its station to send its signal over medium-wave broadcasting (Galle, Schuster 2000:14). As a result, DIAS became RIAS - Rundfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor.
The administrative structure of RIAS has always been very complex. First it was supposed to become a German limited liability company, however, Berlin's magistrate insisted on RIAS remaining an American operation (Kundler 2002: 26). This was a very important step in the history of the station and also of US foreign policy. According to Petra Galle, it was a decision that was widely accepted by society because it guaranteed that the Americans were not going to leave Berlin any time soon (Galle 2002: 398). Also, the decision was “an expression of the change from US isolationism towards US intervention in world politics“ (ibid.). However, even though RIAS remained an American operation, the majority of employees have always been German journalist. Also, through its 47 years of broadcasting, the station has always had German Program Directors, the first one being Dr. Franz Wallner-Basté (Müller 2002: 5).
3. The elections of 1946 and Operation Back Talk
In the first years after its creation, RIAS tried to keep its reporting relatively neutral. Political controversies were more or less ignored by RIAS since all four occupation powers were at least trying to pretend a ‘shared’ occupation policy (Rexin 2002: 17). However, the first post-war city council elections in the fall of 1946 marked a turning point in the relation of the occupation powers. The elections were planned for October 20, 1946 and for RIAS the reporting was the first big challenge as many live-broadcasts and additional programs had to be set up to ensure a broad news coverage (Kundler 2002: 51). On October 19, 1946, the British radio commentator Lindley Fraser1 announced to the people of Berlin over RIAS,
“I have a wish for the Berliners. That you, when you go to the ballot boxes tomorrow, vote freely and fearlessly - just the way your principles, your beliefs and your hopes for the future demand it” (RIAS Berlin Commission).
The outcome of the election led to a hardening in tone between the Soviet and the Western zones (cf Kundler 2002:55). The SED, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, also referred to as the East German Communist Party, had not been able to get the needed majority to be the leading party in city council. Therefore, their aim was now to at least gain more influence in the East sector of Berlin (Schultze 1995: 28). The tensions between the Western allies and the Soviet Union were stronger than ever before (ibid.).
In 1947 the term 'Cold War' came up, presumably coined by US author Walter Lippman (Graf 2002: 47). “Soviet propaganda forced RIAS to react and change its more or less neutral tone...On February 12, 1948, even before the Berlin blockade, US military Governor General Clay started 'Operation Back Talk' (Rexin 2002: 24). This operation allowed RIAS to rectify false Soviet reporting and to criticize occurrences in the Soviet sector (Müller 2006:7). Operation Back Talk marked a change of emphasis in RIAS' reporting. From being just a source of information for the German population, RIAS had now become an instrument of Cold War reporting, actively fighting communism (Galle 2002: 398). The station received clear orders from the State Department,
− to clean the Communistic or extreme Leftist personnel (both German and American) out of RIAS2
− to change the policy of RIAS from neutrality to one of active anti- Communism
− to obtain the facilities and talent and direction to make this station the most powerful American voice in Germany (Galle 2002: 185).
This did not only mean a change in tone but also a change in program. For instance, the relatively apolitical program Belin im RIAS3 was changed to Deutschland im RIAS, with a deeper political focus (Schultze 2002:55). RIAS became one of the most important sources for reliable information for Eastern Germany and the later GDR. Even though the goal of the station was fairly clear, RIAS' reporting was complete and extensive. “Neither were information left out that were derogatory for the West, nor were news formulated or presented in a propagandist judgmental way, as it was usual business in the Soviet sector” (Rexin 2002: 25). This way of presenting was very important for the station's credibility, as RIAS “was aware that overt propaganda could have detrimental impact on its efforts to reach listeners” (Schlosser 2011: 618).
RIAS was at the core of it all when the tensions resulting from the elections escalated during the time of the blockade in 1948. The township and the city council were both located in the Soviet sector of Berlin at that time. “Communists took this as an advantage to more and more often disturb council hearings and negotiations” (ibd: 29).
When Louise Schröder, short-term mayor of Berlin at the time, announced in the council meeting of September 6, 1948, aimed at SED Party members, “You will have to listen to this again tonight on RIAS”, the situation got out of control. “Stop this cheap propaganda station! Down with the Americans! Get the RIAS out”, SED members shouted while storming city hall and starting to rip out the microphone on the speaker’s desk (ibid.). Peter Schultze was RIAS reporter at that time and was present at the council meeting. He writes that he and a colleague had to be brought back to the station in a military jeep so that nothing would happen to them. “We were told that many RIAS listeners had listened to the whole thing and we were seen as the ‘heroes of the day’”(Schultze 1995: 30).
By this event alone, one can see that the Soviet Union seemed to have been aware of RIAS' influence and power all along. In the course of history, propaganda and measurements against RIAS in form of anti-RIAS billboard campaigns and jamming signals will be used against the station to limit its influence in the East of Berlin. Another important historical event that proved the importance of RIAS to its listeners will be discussed in the next section of the paper - the Berlin Blockade and the airlift of 1948.
4. RIAS and the Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade and the airlift of 1948 mark two other very important events in the history of RIAS. It certainly has to be said that the blockade mostly affected West Berliners and not the Eastern zones. However, RIAS' reporting at that time triggered the anger of Soviet and other Eastern officials and as already stated in the introduction, also the reactions of those people are an important indicator of the impact of RIAS. Therefore, the Berlin Blockade is an important chapter in RIAS' history and must not be left out.
In June 1948, strange things were happening in East Berlin. The tensions between the Soviet forces and the Western allies were becoming stronger due to disagreements concerning a German currency reform. The Soviets reacted in their own manner: first, one bridge to Berlin was blocked because of ‘urgent repairs’ which caused disturbances for traffic inside and out of Berlin (Schultze 1995: 34).
[...]
1 Lindley Fraser was one of the most popular English people in Germany. He worked for the BBC among others and has helped the Germany, especially during the Nazi regime, to receive valuable and truthful information over the German BBC service. The Süddeutsche Zeitung wrote an obituary for Fraser who died in 1963, stating that 'he truly wanted our best - our shared best as Europeans' (cf Kundler 2002: 59)
2 Before, in 1946, there had also been huge and stationwide denazification measurements in RIAS (cf Galle 2002: 165).
3 All RIAS programs mentioned in this paper will remain untranslated and keep their German titles.
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