engleski

Agitprop among Journalists. Establishment of the Communist State and Control over the Media

Control over mass media was one of the basic elements of the communist rule in all the countries, including Croatia and Yugoslavia as a whole. The Communist League of Yugoslavia was well aware of the importance of media for the stability of its rule. Therefore, it tried to eliminate independent media from the start and establish a completely new media system. Until 1952, this was the focus of attention of agitation and propaganda (Agitprop) institutions, which were a constituent part of the Communist Party. Superintendence was implemented by the highest party bodies. To maintain full control, various mechanisms were applied, ranging from coercion, paper allocation measures to indoctrination of the staff employed in the media. A system of directives and control was established. Ensuring appropriate distribution of printed media and increasing the readership also became important. The basic mechanism of media control was appointing party-affiliated and Agitprop-related staff to the editorial boards. These people were supposed to ensure that newspaper content serves the needs of the Party. However, there was a lack of reliable party cadre who were qualified for the job. The situation was additionally aggravated by the conflict with Cominform, and the clash with its real or imaginary supporters which resulted in removal of a considerable number of communists from the media. The situation was very serious and, due to insufficient number of staff members, the efficient operation of certain editorial boards was at risk. Although the authorities easily managed to eliminate the publishers which operated outside the control of the authorities, the Party actually struggled with providing a sufficient number of capable members of editorial staff.

Agitprop, communist regime, media, control

prijevod rada objavljenog u zborniku projekta: "Stvaranje socijalističkog čovjeka. hrvatsko društvo i ideologija jugoslavenskog socijalizma"