ABSTRACT
Baschwitz's second book aimed at a larger audience was to be about the freedom of the press, and The newspaper through the ages. Although it was nominally a history covering the entire western world, it more specifically reflected his experiences, feelings, and views about the role of the press in the unstable Weimar Republic between the end of the First World War and Hitler's coming to power. During those days, many thought that controlling of one or more major daily newspapers would also bring control over large swaths of public opinion and thus a receptive electorate. Baschwitz was in a good position to observe this power play, in which governments and parties, banks and conglomerates, tried to capture audiences – and then turn them into electorates.
