Journalists Had No Plans to Give Up

This was a time when most politicians changed direction and started promoting ruthless normalization policies.

Almost from the beginning of the year and certainly from the break of March and April 1968, Czechoslovak journalists did not know the word censorship. Surprisingly quickly, they had started to use creative freedom and inform the public without any communist party intervention or censorship. This was to change quickly after the August events. Censorship ceased to be a half-forgotten notion but became a grim reality.

However even after the implementation of censorship, progressive journalists and publicists were trying to find a way how to continue informing objectively to the public. It was not easy. Supervision was getting stricter and harsh steps soon followed. For example, the Reportér magazine was reprimanded for not observing the guidelines of the newly established Press Authority in November. As though this was not enough, only four days after the reprimand the magazines Reportér and Politika were discontinued. The public reaction to the Government clampdown was overwhelming. People protested against the ban and were offering jobs to the reporters. Also many celebrities joined the protests. For example Luděk Pachman and Mr. and Mrs. Zátopek sent a Press Freedom Manifesto to the National Assembly, Government and Central Committee of the Communist Party. The Manifesto sparked off other petitions. This time public resistance celebrated a victory. The publishing of both the magazines was allowed after one month.

Disagreement with the Warsaw Pact forbidden

At the time of the greatest protests against the limiting of press freedom, Petr Colotka, Deputy Prime Minister at that time, informed press representatives about a decree of the Central Committee which in a way banned any polemics in the press of the Warsaw Pact countries. Instead of criticism, the journalists should concentrate on support of the “normalization” of the situation. According to Communist leaders, this included banning of all political programs on TV and radio, which meant giving up their highest rated programs! Even the Communist Party Committee in the radio was against it and sent a protest letter to the Prime Minister Oldřich Černík.

The criticism by the media continued and about a thousand Prague journalists met in Prague, at Lucerna, on 18th November. In the end of the meeting they passed a resolution. Among others points it was written: … This is not only an attack on press, radio and television; but it is mainly an attack on the possibility of the residents of a socialist country to speak responsibly about significant questions of their country’s progress. If we admitted this, it would be the end of the post-January politics; those are only antisocialist powers which would like to bring us back not only to the pre-January times, but right back to the fifties…

Regional journalists, writers’ associations and also workers joined the resolution. All those believed that the cause was not lost. Unfortunately, they were wrong…

Source: contemporary press and others