Keyword – press control

Takács, Róbert:

Culture, media, and the public sphere in the 1980s during the economic and governance crisis

One of the most frequently used expressions in the 1980s was that of crisis. It occurred 15 times in the first issue of the samizdat periodical Beszélő published in 1981, even though the discourse of official outlets was not dominated by the crisis and reform narrative up until 1986/87. This paper discusses how the public sphere was changing between these two dates, and particularly how the leadership of the party was addressing the growing political and economic crisis.

Keywords: 1980s, commercialisation, change of government, cultural policy, economic crisis, information policy, Kádár era, press control, social deal