Week 1 Topic 2 - Goebbels

Goebbels expresses how the radio's purpose 'is to teach, entertain and support people', reaching 'the people' and 'works for the people'. At first glance you would think that this would be a benefit, however it seems that Goebbels use of the radio were for other reasons, ultimately this being for political gains. He speaks of the radio like its a political party; it has to have its 'own rules', 'eliminate excessive organisation' (to which he refers to rival political party the national socialists) and also speaks of how the use of radio is to introduce the 'leadership principle'; much like the Nazi party that he's affiliated with, even the term propagaganda was used. Therefore it may seem like Goebbels is working 'with the people', but maybe for selfish reasons, mainly using radio for personal gains, trying to make the German nation believe that their nation or even the Nazi party was the most notable. As Goebbels said 'One People, one Reich, one will and a glorious German future'.

Today radio might have completely different functions. It still may be used 'to teach, entertain and support people', but with technological advancements, there are many other mediums to either offer the same or even different purposes. Some people might use the radio for entertainement, tv for learning new things and the internet as a form of support. Radio itself has changed, theres not so much of a structure, with a range of radio stations, from classical stations, to stations that are dedicated to sport. Goebbels had a structure which meant that it would be more likely for a mass audience to be listening to the same radio station and therefore be more powerful. However with the ever increasing choice between stations and mediums, appealing to a mass audience might be harder nowadays.

Today the radio still has the capabilities to communicate with people. Radio may even be more accessible being that theres many stations that arent funded by the public, whereas german radio listeners in the mid 1900's had to pay a fee. The radio still a good source of feeding information, but this time doesnt resemble a political party. It could be argued that instead of 'working for the people', the people work for the radio, with people allowed to phone-in to express their opinions, request songs, send photos through via the internet etc.

Joseph Goebbels, "Der Rundfunk als achte Großmacht," Signale der neuen Zeit. 25 ausgewählte Reden von Dr. Joseph Goebbels (Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP., 1938), pp. 197-207