Their Newspapers

“Problems of urban anti-authoritarian and anti-imperialist struggle with West Berlin as an example.” This is the title card that opens Farocki’s film, made in the context of student protests against the Springer press group, publisher of popular dailies such as Bild-Zeitung and Berliner Zeitung.

By following a number of newspaper readers through the streets of Berlin, Their Newspapers presents the manipulative role of the tabloid press. With their blend of sensational news, subjective reporting and the mobilization of readers against left-wing activism, these papers exert a strong influence on German public opinion. In 1968 this fueled broad support for the role of the United States in the Vietnam War.

The critical and analytical approach to media and image-making that runs as a common thread through Farocki’s oeuvre is already apparent in this short film from his early years. But here the film goes beyond analysis; it is also a call to collective struggle, with paper playing a key role—what better way to fight an adversary than with their own weapon?