Východoněmecká tisková agentura ADN
The East German press agency ADN

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with the establishment and development of the East German press agency Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst (ADN). The history and main changes and tendencies of the agency are described here from its foundation in 1946 till its closure in 2000 when the name of ADN definitely disappeared. ADN was founded in 1946 originally as a private non-profit company by 14 representatives of East German press of different political affiliations. After six years of existence the agency was nationalized and became de facto a tool of the ruling party SED to exercise its power. The agency ADN had a monopoly in East Germany, no other press agency was allowed to work there. It became a main source of information for other media about national and international news and also acted as a mediator between the leading political elites and the mass media. The fall of GDR brought many problems to ADN and it was not able to continue without state subsidies. Till 2000 ADN existed as part of other press agencies. The paper also gives a brief outline of the history of the Soviet occupation zone of Germany and later the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1945 till the end of 1989. Further, an overview of the GDR media landscape and its main attributes and characteristics are discussed in the paper. The GDR’s media regulatory system in the second half of the 20th century is also discussed.

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