History Politics Economy Industry Agriculture Foreign trade Transport Education Demographics Government structure Health and social welfare Mass media Resource base Religion Society The mass media in Communist Czechoslovakia was controlled by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ).
Private ownership of any publication or agency of the mass media was generally forbidden, although churches and other organizations published small periodicals and newspapers.
Government concern about control of the mass media was such that it was illegal to own a duplicating machine or to reproduce more than eleven copies of any printed material.
Nevertheless, a fairly wide distribution of underground publications (popularly known as samizdat throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union) that were established during the Nazi occupation continued throughout communist rule into the 1980s.
The radio station Voice of America and the BBC World Service also had some audiences in Czechoslovakia, and their broadcasts were subject to only occasional jamming.