Control of Uncontrolled Migrations: How the Slovenian Newspapers Reported on Defections from Yugoslavia 1945–1965

Abstract

The paper addresses how Slovenian newspapers reported on defections from Yugoslavia in the period from 1945–1965. During the time when departures from the SFRY were restricted and regulated, defections were sanctioned and the media were instrumentalized as a state ideological apparatus. It seems that defections were not a very common topic in the newspapers. When they did appear in newsprint, they were criminalized and not infrequently subjected to a fair amount of moralizing. When the defectors themselves were given voice, they expressed remorse and contrition, with the message that going abroad meant suffering, misery or even ruin.