Der schwarze Kanal

The black channel was a political and agitational mission of the East German television in the Cold War.

In the opening credits of the show is always a short animated film was grotesquely distorted melody: the federal eagle lands on a TV antenna forest, bouncing back and forth looking for the balance and crashes headlong from. His black -white- red chest band should be a national conservative attitude of the Western television symbolize the crash of an - attempt to spread Western propaganda media lies and half- truths - foiled by the commentator on the broadcast Karl- Eduard von Schnitzler.

History

The mission launched on 21 March 1960. The original idea was adopted by the broadcast in the Federal Republic of Germany 1958-1960 series The red optics, Thilo Koch grappled based on broadcast clippings with the television propaganda of the German Democratic Republic. The title is an allusion to this mission and is meant as a synonym for West German television. In later years, was due to its similar polarizing effect of the emitted 1969-1988 ZDF magazine with Gerhard Lowenthal as a pendant.

About the reasons for his " polemical and aggressive hate speech " to Schnitzler expressed at the beginning of the first shipment as follows:

"The Black Channel, we think, my dear ladies and gentlemen, leads filth and sewage; but instead of flowing sewage on how it should be really, he pours every day in hundreds of thousands of West German and West Berlin households. It is the channel on which West German television broadcasts his program: The Black Channel. And him we will devote ourselves today every Monday at this hour, as wastewater treatment plant to a certain extent. "

The black channel was deposed on 30 October 1989 by 1519 Follow in the wake of political change. In 1992, a the end of 1991, newly produced " very last black channel" with self-written and - presented comments from Schnitzler was broadcast from the ORB.

Concept

In the Black channel excerpts were shown on Monday evenings from the Western television and commented by Karl- Eduard von Schnitzler. Representing acted Günter Heinz Herlt and Grote, who used a less aggressive ductus.

Intention of the program was to (eg officers of the NVA, where consumption of Western television broadcasts were forbidden, teachers, journalists ) to present "multipliers" and interested citizens selected Western news along with ideological interpretation. The West German news and magazine programs were in turn represented as propaganda of the class enemy in propaganda style.

Reception

The German Broadcasting Archive throws Karl- Eduard von Schnitzler of having manipulated by distorting cuts of scenes and specially ordered sequences of excerpts statements.

Karl- Eduard von Schnitzler, who originally worked at the Northwest German Broadcasting Corporation, was one of the best known commentators on the GDR media. He was known in both parts of Germany under the insulting name " Sudel - Ede ". In most cases, he was called in respectful - ambivalent manner " Karl- Eduard". In the proverbial GDR joke he was referred to as " Schni " to express that even before the full pronunciation of his name the TV is off or switched. Wolf Biermann also reviled Schnitzler on 1 December 1989 in his ballad of the corrupt old men as " Sudel - Ede ," the " in the grave nor the worms lie " must.

The show was at times, especially in the 1960s and considered in the early 1970s in some areas as a kind of required course. Thus the contents of the black channel was used for example in the political lessons from the army (NVA or border troops ) and for the civics lessons in school. The hung but on the particular teachers and schools and was regionally very different. The program was repeated early Tuesday at 11:30 clock, like all programs of the respective previous evening.

In the East German district of Dresden and in other places where no Western reception was possible ( colloquially: " Valley of the Clueless " ) The black channel bot creates an opportunity to see at least excerpts from news of ARD and ZDF, these, however, were often greatly reduced and taken out of context, so that they could hardly serve as a neutral source of information.

The German Broadcasting Archive has archived the Sehbeteiligungskartei the show from 1965 to 1990. In the first years came the black channel - except repetitions - on odds of usually 14 to 25 percent with large deviations of individual shipments. In the late 1970s they barely reached double-digit levels and continuously declined further with average odds by three to five percent to the setting.

Whereabouts of the mail

What is running on the websites of the German Broadcasting Archive as executor of the GDR television, in magazine programs such as the Black Channel by GDR television alone box office movies, but not recorded the live sound commentaries and introductions of the presenters, but for which the black channel were due to is the polemical comments of the author and presenter Karl- Eduard von Schnitzler known until today. In the case of the black channel, however, the film inserts, which consisted of excerpts of Western television, usually a few days after the broadcast on your statement by Schnitzler were out destroyed.

Nevertheless, approximately 350 of the 1519 episodes of the Black channel have been preserved, which were recorded by Western institutions during the live broadcast of the GDR television and now owned by the German Broadcasting Archives. In the wake of German reunification this recording collection have been added to the full written transmitting manuscripts of Karl- Eduard von Schnitzler's comments all shipments of the black channel, which can be downloaded as PDF files on the websites of the DRA.