(a) The Pressepolitisches Amt (Press Political Office).
(b) The Pressepersonalamt (Press Personnel Office), which was in charge of training journalists and keeping files on German and foreign journalists.
The vertical organization of press controls, corresponding to that of the Reichspropagandaleitung, included Gau-, Kreis- and Ortsgruppen departments. Each was headed by an Amtsleiter, or press warden, who was responsible for the entire Party press within his sphere of jurisdiction. He supervised the editorial policy of the Party press, issued information bulletins about the activities of the Movement, and served as liaison officer between the Party and non-Party press. He also transmitted local information to headquarters for distribution and made recommendations concerning the appointments of local party editors. The Gau- and Kreis- press wardens, at the same time, served as regional and local representatives of the Home Press Division of the Propaganda Ministry and of the Reich Press Chamber. (2319-PS; 2315-PS)
(3) The Reichsleiter fuer die Presse (Reich Press Leader).
The Reich Press Leader, Max Amann, was charged with supervising all matters concerning the German publishing business. The Organisationsbuch der NSDAP (1937) described his function as follows:
“He is charged with the creation of a press for the German people, which is responsible and answerable to him, and which reflects the life and experiences of the German people’s community. In addition, the Reichsleiter for Press has the function of issuing regulations necessary to carry out the demands concerning publication policies established in Article 23 of the Party Program and to supervise their execution.” (2319-PS)
Article 23 of the Party Platform referred to above, provided, inter alia, that (a) all editors and newspaper personnel must be “members of the nation”; (b) non-Germans are prohibited from financial participation in, or influence of, newspapers; (c) the publication of papers “which do not conduce to the national welfare” is prohibited; (d) tendencies in art or literature “of a kind likely to disintegrate our life as a nation” will be prosecuted; and (e) “institutions which militate against the requirements mentioned above” will be suppressed. (1708-PS)
Thus the Reich Press Leader was not only empowered to control all publishing houses of the Party, but was assigned the task of bringing the entire German press into line with National Socialist ideology. To this end he was given wide and specific powers.
His sphere of jurisdiction included specifically:
(a) The administration, publishing, and financing of the Party press;