
The Library
A voice for East Germany : developing the BBC German Service’s East Zone Programme
Tools
Oliver, Emily (2019) A voice for East Germany : developing the BBC German Service’s East Zone Programme. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 39 (3). pp. 568-583. doi:10.1080/01439685.2019.1643111 ISSN 0143-9685.
|
PDF
WRAP-voice-East-Germany-developing-services-programme-Oliver-2019.pdf - Accepted Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (633Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/01439685.2019.1643111
Abstract
Originally conceived as part of Britain’s psychological warfare effort during the Second World War, the BBC German Service continued to broadcast from London to Germany throughout the Cold War. In 1949, in response to rising tensions between
the Western Allies and the Soviets, the German Service created the East Zone Programme, specifically targeting listeners in what was to become the German Democratic Republic. This article analyses the perspectives and voices adopted by the East Zone Programme when addressing East Germans during the first decade of its existence, and the mutual risk-taking of broadcaster and listeners during the early Cold War. Drawing on scripts, correspondence, and policy documents from the BBC Written Archives Centre and the German Broadcasting Archive, the article examines
contributions by British presenters such as Lindley Fraser and Richard O’Rorke, wartime German-speaking emigres including Bruno Adler, Robert Lucas and Erich Fried, and East German letter writers and defectors, asking who was best placed to
speak to and for listeners in the German Democratic Republic. An analysis of listener reactions to the East Zone Programme shows listeners’ gradual disillusionment with the BBC External Services’ non-intervention policy for broadcasting to states behind the Iron Curtain.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain D History General and Old World > DD Germany P Language and Literature > PD Germanic languages P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting |
||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > German Studies Faculty of Arts > School of Modern Languages and Cultures |
||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | BBC World Service -- History, International broadcasting -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century, British Broadcasting Corporation, Cold War in mass media | ||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television | ||||||||
Publisher: | Routledge | ||||||||
ISSN: | 0143-9685 | ||||||||
Official Date: | 25 September 2019 | ||||||||
Dates: |
|
||||||||
Volume: | 39 | ||||||||
Number: | 3 | ||||||||
Page Range: | pp. 568-583 | ||||||||
DOI: | 10.1080/01439685.2019.1643111 | ||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | “This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television on 18/07/2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/01439685.2019.1643111 | ||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
Copyright Holders: | International Association for Media History | ||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 2 October 2019 | ||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 18 January 2021 | ||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
|
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
![]() |
View Item |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year