Norwegian Media and the Cold War 1945–1991

Bastiansen, Henrik G.

doi:10.2478/nor-2014-0110

Figures & Tables

Norwegian Media and the Cold War 1945–1991

Years	Norwegian Media:	Cold War Chronology:
1945–1962	The party press, newsreels and the golden age of the NRK radio monopoly. Early TelevisionReconstruction of the party press and the NRK radio after WWII. The newsreel Filmavisen 1945. All media turn visual because of competition. The NRK television 1960 marks the beginning of the Age of Television. Filmavisen ends 1963.	Origin and the Early years of the Cold WarTension between the USA and the USSR after WWII. The Churchill talk about the “Iron Curtain” in Europe 1946. The atomic bomb. Fear for nuclear war. The communist coup in Czechoslovakia 1948. Berlin blockade and western airlift 1948. The origin of NATO 1949: Norway became member. The revolt in DDR 1953. The Hungarian crises 1956. Some brief thaw periods. The U2 affair 1960. The Berlin Wall 1961. Tension reaches climax with the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
1963–1979	The Norwegian Media System at its PeakThe Golden age of the NRK monopoly. Television as the dominant mass medium: all other media adapt. State regulations create the ‘Peak’ of the Norwegian media model. Coverage of the Vietnam war and of the national debate on membership in EEC in 1972. The liberal press starts the dissolution of the party press. Also, debate about the NRK monopoly.	The Era of DétenteLower East-West tension after the Cuban crisis. A telephonic “hot line” between the White House and the Kremlin. Negotiations for peace and disarmament. SALT I in Moscow in 1972. The Helsinki Final Act of 1975. SALT II negotiations. Space race. US engagement in Vietnam escalates under Kennedy and Johnson and continues under Nixon, until the war ends in 1975. Conflicts in the third world show the East-West conflict indirectly. After the Soviet SS-20 nuclear missiles in Europe, the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan and the NATO Dual Track Decision, the Era of Détente ends December 1979.
1980–1985	The Transformation of the Media BeginsThe end of the NRK monopoly 1981. Liberalization, privatization and commercialization of media. New radio and TV channels established. Video and satellite TV. The dissolution of the party press reaches the conservative and agrarian press.	New Confrontation between East and WestNew tension between the Soviet Union and the US. Soviet war in Afghanistan. Western boycott of Olympic Games in Moscow 1980. The Polish crisis in 1980 and the rise of Solidarity. The Soviets shooting down a Korean airliner 1983. President Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech. The death of Brezhnev in 1982. Andropov and Csernenko as Soviet leaders until 1985. Widespread fear of nuclear war. Peace demonstrations and a strong movement against nuclear weapons in Europe.
1985–1988	The Transformation ContinuesMore newspapers declare independence from political parties. Orkla Media starts its expansion in the media sector. New TV Channels: TV3 (1987) and TVNorge (1988). Free market economy ideas transforms the media; investors and stockholders.	The Era of GlasnostMichail Gorbachev and his policy of glasnost (1986), perestroika and new thinking (1987). Four summit meetings between Gorbachev and Reagan. Climax of his policy in 1988 with his speech to the UN General Assembly 7 December 1988.
1989–1991	The Last Days of the Party Press and the Rise of Commercial Media GroupsShaping of big media groups: Schibsted and the A Press as an answer to Orkla Media. End of the party press. TV2 established 1991, starts broadcasts 1992.	Revolts of the Masses and the Fall of CommunismHungary opens the Iron Curtain. The Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989. Communist regimes fall in Eastern Europe. Change to multiparty democracies. Unification of East and West Germany in 1990. Collapse of Soviet Union in 1991. The end of the Cold War.

Periods from the Norwegian Media History in the Cold War Era 1945–1991

Years	Name of period
1945–1950	The Age of the Mass SocietyThe party press and cinema. Radio broadcasting develops NRK 1933. Use of advertising and propaganda during crises and war.
1950–1960	The Media Turn VisualThe Post-War Age. Four big mass media: newspapers, weeklies, film and radio. Competition and popularization leading to market saturation. First experiments with television 1954–60.
1960–1980	The Norwegian Media System at its PeakThe rise of television as dominant mass medium. Competition between five big mass media: all of them adapt to television. State regulations on broadcasting and cinema theaters, state subsidies to books and the press. Dissolution of the party press.
1980–1991	Transformation of the Media SystemEnd of the party press. Breakthrough for market economy: liberalization, deregulation, privatization and commercialization. End of the NRK monopoly. New radio and TV channels: TV3 (1987), TVNorge (1988) and TV2 (1991).

The Cold War Chronology 1945–1991

Years	Period
1945–1962	Origin and Early Years of the Cold WarTension between the US and the USSR. Atomic weapons create fear of a nuclear Armageddon, but also thaw periods. The tensions reach climax with the Cuban crisis in 1962.
1963–1979	The Era of DétenteA long thaw period after the Cuban crisis. Negotiations for peace and disarmament: SALT I in Moscow 1972, the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 and SALT II negotiations. Vietnam War. The Period ends with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the NATO Double Track Decision, December 1979.
1980–1985	New Confrontation between East and WestNew tension between the US and the Soviet Union. Western boycott of Olympic Games in Moscow 1980. President Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech in 1983. A new peace movement and a strong movement against new generations of nuclear missiles.
1985–1988	The Era of GlasnostMichail Gorbachev and his policy of Glasnost, Perestroika and New Thinking. Glasnost reaches its climax with Gorbachev’s speech to the UN in 1988.
1989–1991	Revolts of the Masses and the Fall of CommunismEastern Europe moves from one-party communist regimes to multiparty democracies. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the unification of Germany in 1990 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 end the Cold War.

Norwegian Media and the Cold War 1945–1991

Figures & Tables

Norwegian Media and the Cold War 1945–1991

Periods from the Norwegian Media History in the Cold War Era 1945–1991

The Cold War Chronology 1945–1991

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