Die Anstrengungen lohnen sich: Die katholische Presse in der Gegenwart (III*)

Abstract

"Heute werden im Bereich der Presse, des Hörfunks, des Fernsehens und des Films nicht weniger Anstrengungen und Opfer gefordert, wie sie die mittelalterlichen Städte zur Errichtung ihrer Kathedralen haben leisten müssen." Ein kühner Satz aus der Feder des Präsidenten der "Päpstlichen Kommission für die Instrumente der sozialen Kommunikation", Bischof Andreas Maria Deskur. Geschrieben im Jahr 19771. Im gleichen Jahr befand der sozialdemokratische Bundeskanzler Helmut Schmidt: "Eine spezifische Aufgabe der katholischen Publizistik sehe ich in der Vermittlung zwischen den notwendigerweise divergierenden Auffassungen innerhalb der Gesellschaft." (...)  

English 

In the past decade the Catholic Church in Germany has made every effort to solve the crisis of the Catholic Press. After the closure ofthe weekly "Publik", Catholic Media planners directed their attention to the Diocesan weeklies and publications such as "Rheinischer Merkur" (weekly) and "Weltbild" (bi-monthly), and to the strengthening ofthe Catholic News Agency (KNA) and improving training. This was necessary on account ofthe decrease in circulation and the gap between the media and the Church. One ofthe most important developments in Catholic Communications work has been the establishment of a Media Service Company
(Medien-Dienstleistungsgesellschaft- MDG) in Munich in 1975. This was part ofthe communications emergency planning at the Synod oftheGerman Dioceses in 1972. The association of the Catholic Press- AKP- also helped towards a revival. New and improved cooperation among the diocesan weeklies - important instruments of dia1ogue within the Church - was developed. The author, in describing these developments, does not confine hirnself to publications, but also refers to press officers ofthe diocese and to publications from religious communities and missionary societies which have an important role in the press today. He feels that the crisis of the Catholic Press has been overcome, but that a strenuous effort is needed to implant this same press firm1y into the German secular communications media.