Abstract
In spite of a recent proliferation of Internet-related studies in the past few years, as Martin Štoll argues, It is crucial to explore the role of television as a means instate of political and socio-cultural communication and the role that this has played in recent history. The study of a country’s television history is at the same time a study of the history of the state in itself. (p. 2)
This is precisely what he does in his book on television in Czechoslovakia during communism. Although he acknowledges that this focus might be seen as too narrow, the book has an important broader story to tell about ‘a country which wound a long path from democracy, to Nazi occupation, to communism, revolution and back to democracy’ (p. 3). The book is based on archival research. It is split into three main parts. The first substantive chapter follows immediately after the ‘Introduction’ section and it discusses precisely this broader trend of Sovietization across Eastern Europe and more specifically in Czechoslovakia. Part I, ‘PRELUDE: Television as a concept between democracy and Nazism’, then consists of four chapters looking first into the radio context, then the pioneers of television, television as a political matter and ‘of all-state importance’ (p. 55), and the aftermath of the Nazi occupation. Part II, ‘THE MAIN ACT: Television should serve the Communist ideology’, comprises of eight chapters exploring chronologically the development of television during communism, including at key moments, such as the Prague Spring and the Velvet Revolution. The final part, ‘CODA: Towards public service’, has only one chapter in it looking at ‘the birth of a public broadcaster’ (p. 235). The ‘Conclusion’ section then summarises the five main stages of development of Czechoslovak Television and discusses ‘the dependence or the intensity of interconnectedness with the governing regime’ (p. 241). Crucially, it also recognises the important role television played in the democratisation of the country. All in all, the book offers a fascinating historical account of the development of Czechoslovak Television, which would be of interest to scholars and students of Central and Eastern European media, communist regimes and beyond.