The Event of the Century and the Invention of the Century: The Apollo 11 Broadcasts of Yugoslavian and Romanian Television as Reflected in the Press

Yugoslavia and Romania are among the states of Eastern Europe where the first manned moon landing in July 1969 was broadcast live on television. Both non-aligned Yugoslavia and Romania, a member of the Warsaw Pact, oriented themselves politically strongly toward the West in the second half of the 1960s. This also applies to the television stations of both countries. The paper at hand traces to which extent and in what manner Yugoslavian and Romanian television covered the moon mission Apollo 11. It examines which social self-descriptions emerge in light of the moon landing and its broadcast. Since the original footage of the broadcasts has not been preserved, contemporary newspapers and magazines are used as primary sources. At first glance, the press of both countries frames the moon landing predominantly as a seemingly apolitical scientific-technical achievement of all mankind. This paper shows, however, that especially in the press coverage of the television broadcast, perceptions of the event’s character differ—as well as corresponding self-images. For the Yugoslav press, the moon landing is a global media event. The television coverage of Apollo 11 proves the country to be a natural part of a global communication community, from which countries like the Soviet Union and China deliberately refrain. The Romanian press largely ignores the media aspect of the moon landing and focuses on its scientific significance. In doing so, it ties the events in space to an inward-looking discourse of modernization whose central points of reference are the nation-state and head of state Nicolae Ceaușescu.