Noch schwankt der Boden: Die katholische Presse in der Gegenwart (II)

Abstract

Zunehmend interessieren sich auch die publizistischen Fachzeitschriften für die konfessionelle Presse', kehrt die Zukunft für die katholische Presse zurück 2, sorgen die großangelegten Werbekampagnen etwa der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Katholischer Presse (AKP)3 für innerkirchliche Aufmerksamkeit, so ist doch vor einem falschen Optimismus zu warnen, der leicht zu einem sanften Ruhekissen werden kann. Denn trotz aller Anstrengungen - etwa der Medien-Dienstleistungsgesellschaft (MDG) - und wohlgemeinten Festreden zum jährlichen "Tag der sozialen Kommunikationsmittel" sieht die Wirklichkeit an der Basis oft anders aus. (...) 

English 

In thc past decadc thc Catholic Church in Germany has made every ellort to solve the crisis of the Catholic Press. After the closurc of thc wcckly "Publik", Catholic Media planners directcd thcir attcntion to the Diocesan wecklies and publ1cations such as "Rheinischer Merkur" (weekly) and "Weltbild" tbi-monthly), and to the strengthcning ofthe Catholic News Agency tKNA) and improving training. This was neccssary on account of the dccrease in circulation and the gap bctwcenthe media and the Church. One ofthc mosl importanl dcvelopments in Catholic Communications work has been the establishmcnt of a Media Service Company tMcdicn-Dienstlcistungsgcsellschaft MDG) in Munich in 1975. This was part ofthe communications cmcrgcncy planning at the Synod oftheGerman Dioceses in 1972. The association of the Catholic PressAKP- also helped towards a revival. New and improved cooperation among the diocesan wecklies- important instruments of dialogue within the Church- was developed. The author, in describing these developments, does not confine himselfto 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, butthat a strcnuous effort is needed to im plant this samepress firmly into the German 
secular communications media.