Was there media coverage preceding the fall of communism in Eastern Europe?

It has come to my attention that close to 18 million people have quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations within the last two years. Yet very few media sources have reported it. I’m led to the question: Was there much media coverage sometimes before the obvious phenomena surfaced in Eastern Europe that would have hinted the eventual disintegration of communism in the late 80s? Expertise knowledge in this matter will be much appreciated. Thank you!

For something now described as 'inevitable' it's surprising how few people predicted it. Those that did were often dismissed as cranks and visionaries. The 'practical' people turned out to be the clueless ones.

Yes, there was indeed a lot of media coverage in the 1980s that could now be said to have been predicting the fall of Communism, even though the media at the time may not have itself been so predicting.

The most important set of events predating the eventual fall of the Soviet Union were a series of labor strikes in Poland and other Communist bloc countries. While the Western media didn't get to report on every single detail of those strikes, the leaders got a lot of media coverage (especially Lech Walesa, co-founder of the Solidarity Party). Those strikes proved to be just the beginning of the end for the Soviet Union.

Western media also got unprecedented access to Soviet citizens under the perestroika policies of Mikhail Gorbachev, which in turn gave many Soviet citizens the opportunity to say things that may not have otherwise been willing or able to say. Some of those comments were far less than complimentary to their government.

Last, but not least, every failure of Soviet foreign policy was being well publicized in the media, thanks to the strong pro-American spirit brought about by President Ronald Reagan.

So, in answer to your question, yes there was plenty of media coverage preceding the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe.