the regime remained fully authoritarian throughout all four periods, and whatever!
             "limited pluralism" did exist was restricted to those conservative-to-ultraconservative political factions, and to upper-stratum social and economic groups which supported the regime. Limited as these changes may have been, however, they had a significant impact on the communications media.
             Totalitarian and authoritarian regimes do not differ greatly with regard to control of the communications media (Linz 1974, 1496-7). Despite the gradual disappearance of the regime's totalitarian features in the 1940s, its press restrictions did not change significantly. With some variations, these same policies were applied to radio and, beginning in the 1950s, to television. Only during the final ten years of franquismo were privately owned newspapers able to benefit from some liberalization, enabling them to play an important role in the crucial period immediately preceding the death of Franco and throughout the democratic transition. Strict government control of radio, television and the state-owned press, however, remained unchanged throughout the life of the regime.
             The Press Law Of 1938: Censorship And Orders
             The basic framework for the franquist regime's communications policy was established by the Press Law of 1938. Although established on a "provisional" basis during the civil war, it remained in effect for nearly three decades. Its markedly totalitarian provisions were modeled after fascist legislation enacted in Italy in 1923 (Terrón 1981, 55-56). The law required state authorization for publications of any kind, and provided for the suspension of any publication without appeal. In addition, it enabled the state to intervene in the appointment and dismissal of newspaper managers and editors, even in the case of the privately owned press. Journalists were under especially strict control. Many were purged following the civil war, and all had ...