The Transformation of the Media System of the Former German Democratic Republic after the Reunification and its Effects on the Political Content of Newspapers

Abstract

Whereas the structure of the broadcasting system in the newly formed eastern states very much resembles the structure in the western states, the local and regional print media markets in the newly formed German states today still resemble the situation in the German Democratic Republic in that the dominating newspapers are the ones that already dominated before 1989. These papers were taken over by West German publishers in 1989. But the great majority of journalists working in the newly formed states today had already been working as journalists there before the Wall came down. However, a content analysis including 10 papers from the newly formed states and 10 from the West German states reveals only minor differences between papers from the eastern and the western parts of Germany. Journalists in the newly formed states were a bit more careful about voicing their opinions. Only the number of some political main actors and their evaluations differed to any great extent between eastern and western papers.