Hitler and the Nazi regime systematically controlled the press through a combination of legislation, intimidation, consolidation of ownership, and censorship. This apparatus was overseen by the Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, led by Joseph Goebbels, and was a core part of establishing and maintaining the dictatorship. [1, 2, 3] 
A centralized propaganda ministry
In March 1933, shortly after Hitler became chancellor, the Nazi government created the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. This new ministry:

• Assumed control over all aspects of German media and culture, including newspapers, radio, film, and theater.
• Issued daily directives to all newspapers dictating exactly what could or could not be published.
• Constantly adjusted the regime’s message based on informant reports about public opinion. [1, 3, 4, 5] 

Legal and professional control
The regime quickly moved to dismantle any semblance of press freedom through new laws and regulations.

• The Editors’ Law (Schriftleitergesetz): This 1933 law required all journalists to register with the government-controlled Reich Press Chamber.

• To be registered, journalists had to be “racially pure,” which excluded Jewish and non-Aryan individuals.
• Journalists were made public servants, accountable to the Propaganda Ministry rather than their publishers.
• The law mandated that editors omit anything “calculated to weaken the strength of the Reich abroad or at home”.

• Suppression of opposition: The Nazis used political terror and emergency decrees to shut down hundreds of newspapers associated with outlawed political parties, such as the Communist and Social Democratic parties.
• Severe punishments: Journalists and editors who failed to follow instructions or deviated from the official line could be fired, imprisoned in a concentration camp, or even executed. [1, 3, 7, 8] 

Ownership and market control
The Nazis seized control of the newspaper industry to eliminate competition and increase the reach of their message.

• “Aryanization” of publishing houses: The regime took over Jewish-owned publishing companies, forcing families like the Ullsteins to sell their businesses.
• Nazi Party acquisitions: The Nazi Party’s publishing house, Franz Eher, bought non-Nazi newspapers at below-market prices. This increased the party’s share of total newspaper circulation from just 3% in 1933 to over 80% by the 1940s.
• Resource rationing: Towards the end of World War II, the government restricted newspapers to just a few pages due to shortages of paper and ink, eliminating almost three-quarters of all papers in Germany. [1, 5] 

Technological and cultural outreach
The Nazi regime exploited modern technology to maximize the reach of its propaganda beyond print media.

• “People’s Radio” (Volksempfänger): The Propaganda Ministry subsidized the production of cheap radios, allowing millions of Germans to afford a set.

• The radios were designed with a limited range, restricting access to foreign broadcasts and confining listeners to state-controlled announcements and speeches.

• Newsreels and film: Newsreels, once produced by independent companies, were nationalized and strictly controlled by 1940. All films, even entertainment, were subject to censorship.
• The “Hitler Myth”: Goebbels worked to build and promote the public image of Hitler as a strong, stable leader, using the press to circulate images of him as heroic and family-oriented. [4, 5, 9, 10, 11] 

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-press-in-the-third-reich
[2] https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-propaganda-and-censorship
[3] https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/ministry-of-propaganda-and-public-enlightenment
[4] https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/writing-the-news
[5] https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/propaganda/1933-1939-dictatorship/voices-of-the-excluded
[6] https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc504092/
[7] https://arolsen-archives.org/en/news/nazi-germanys-schriftleitergesetz-the-end-of-freedom-of-the-press/
[8] https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/timeline-event/holocaust/1933-1938/editors-law
[9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UF6zAqDSJE
[10] https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/life-in-nazi-occupied-europe/controlling-everyday-life/media/
[11] https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zn8sgk7/revision/3