ABSTRACT
The German Sub-Committee remained responsible for all British plans for long-term control of the German press with special regard to the question of the financial basis of the German newspaper industry and to that of paper supply. When the licensing process under its new civilian chiefs eventually started, it worked at first in a very pragmatic way, with a liberal interpretation of the directives to be observed. The issue of the different policies pursued by the Information Services Control Branch towards the licensing of German newspapers in the British and the American Zones respectively, no doubt also needs to be seen against the background of political developments in the Russian Zone. Anxieties concerning the possible ruin of the system of licensed papers made the British and the American authorities take precautions against possible undesirable consequences of what has been called the end of the monopoly or the opening of the free market.
