The first functional category has two aspects: the press and radio are
instruments of political and social indoctrination, and they help to
raise the educational and cultural levels of the masses. In practice,
however, these two aspects are often combined--that is, in the process
of education, Marxist-Leninist ideology is usually interjected. In
general, the educational function has been performed by conducting
campaigns against illiteracy and ignorance, encouraging maximum
utilization of the educational and cultural facilities set up throughout
the country, and making literary works accessible to the population (see
ch. 5, Social System).
The media, in the final analysis, are used to saturate the population
with Marxist-Leninist ideology. The content of the media--whether it is
news, music, or literature--is structured to promote the goals of the
Party and designed to further the building of a Communist society. In
order to facilitate ideological indoctrination, content is devised to
appeal to sentiments of Albanian nationalism. The development of
communism, for example, is related to the theme of developing the nation
and preserving its independence; and Enver Hoxha, the Party leader, is
quoted as frequently as are Marx and Lenin.
One of the most important uses of the press and radio, which falls into
the category of organization, has been to mobilize the people actively
to support, and participate in, the implementation of specific policies,
such as the fulfillment of economic plans or antireligious campaigns.
Often, in conjunction with mobilization campaigns, the media are used to
transmit specific information that is necessary for the implementation
of various aspects of the policies. In the economic sphere, for example,
discussions of industrial processes or agriculture often appear in the
press.
The media are also means of Party control over officials at all levels
of the government and the Party hierarchies, as well as over the
population in general. This function is performed primarily through
exposure of corruption, negligence, and inefficiency on the part of
various officials or workers or by issuing warnings against such crimes
and behavior. In addition, the press and radio are channels through
which the top leaders issue directives or communicate changes in the
Party line to the lower level administrators and activists throughout
the country.
The importance of the pervasive role of the press was stressed in the
following statement by Enver Hoxha that was quoted in the December 1965
issue of _Rruga e Partise_ (Party Path): "Without the press there can be
no education of the masses; without the press there can be no
conscientious mobilization of them, organization, nor solution to the
problems of the economic and cultural construction in the new socialist
society." Although the article dealt specifically with the press, it can
be assumed that the role assigned to it also pertains to the other media
of communication.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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