Public opposition
The term arose in discourse for alternative opinions on politics and society which were not properly publicised and could not be published by established media institutions.
However, this process, its effects, and its connection with social developments have not been comprehensively analysed and presented on a theoretical level since Negt and Kluge.
Since there were not yet any simple printing or copying methods, the production of magazines was costly and in most cases only possible in connection with institutions or trade unions.
In the later course of the West German student movement, the often well-financed K-Gruppen (communist groups) and organisations with close ties to the GDR emerged, which had sufficient production resources for the public relations of their party.
Inspired by the protest movement, the generations after 1968 also developed new methods of media production, which was, however, hardly agitational and often initially served to help groups or scenes understand themselves.
Meanwhile, the ‘unorganised’ with their majority and experience in event organisation and public relations were able to break the dominance of the K-Gruppen (Communist Groups).
First in the university centres and soon in every larger city, so-called 'Stattzeitungen' (German wordplay for 'anti-newspapers') such as the Blatt in Munich, Klenkes in Aachen, or De Schnüss in Bonn were published.
The alternative movement achieved success with the six-week-long festival of the environment at the radio tower in Berlin in the summer of 1978, which was attended by tens of thousands of interested citizens.
Additionally, a lot of cabaret acts and theatre groups were founded during this phase (for example the Frankfurter Fronttheater and Die Drei Tornados, among others).
The term public opposition now detached itself from its limited political purpose and also incorporated cultural work as well as subject-orientated activities, which became necessary in environmental engagement.
The specialisation allowed the development of respective magazines for the women's movement, tenants' association, environmental groups and eco-groups.
It was not only in Berlin that the possibility of using autonomous spaces was recognised (Kreuzberg) and then extended due to the widespread phenomenon of squatting.
The Russian term samizdat (literally: self-publishing) referred to the spread of alternative "grey" literature that did not conform to the system in the Soviet Union and later on in other parts of the Eastern Bloc.
In addition to demonstrations, the preferred media of public opposition has been printed works (books, brochures, newspapers, posters and flyers) and audiovisual products (films, videos, photos, music on records, tapes and cassettes).
A citizen journalism of its own arose online, web users gave themselves names such as Netizen and rules like Netiquette were established.
In an interview, Alexander Kluge described the potential of the internet as revolutionary: "The current tv or radio media content is broadcast hierarchically from above.
