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The Soviet Press I have tried — i n a limited fashion — to be a part-tim e So viet citizen by studying Russian newspapers. I could not sacrifice more than a week for this pur pose. But, reading them th o r oughly, I found some features which reveal the sense and con tents of the Soviet press. The coverage of the news is extrem ely biased as to the sub ject m atter, and its presentation. The tone is at tim es educational, but frequently dow nright didac tic. The main purpose is this all- encompassing idea, this all-per m eating W eltanschaung, which is their dom inant characteristic, namely, the love of the great Soviet M otherland which, under the superb leadership of popular ly chosen men, is converting the whole world. It would be wrong to give the impression th a t this belief is constantly overtly stated. R ath er, the editors and w riters try to create a feeling of together ness, in a society, th a t is step by step trying to become a model one. The togetherness is fu rth er stressed by poems on popular m atters. Expressed in these po ems are sentim ents of workers who encourage everybody to over-fulfill th eir norms, citizens who find beauty in the expand ing economy. Each successful sa tellite attem pt is greeted by a volley of verse in praise of the men (intellectuals and techni cians) who made this possible. News from inside the USSR al ways serves a purpose. Some tim es it is th e evocation of pride in the achievements of th is or th a t collective. Often th e news is about certain new m ethods in agriculture. Sensational stories on m urder, divorce, etc., are few ; and serve as examples of how not to act. There are also feature stories driving home the same point, such as the story of the bad fath er who abandoned his children. These sins are chas tised in articles which resemble secular sermons. Every issue has quite a few of such sermons, which are euphemistically called feature articles. Through them the press aktiv is trying to re form the individuals in society and make them aware of the de mands of society. One article, for instance, was entitled “You are not alone in the world,” and call ed for public courtesy at all times. Foreign affairs are treated one-sidedly. N aturally news det rim ental to the W est is blown up, and vice versa. Yet the pre sentat i on m ay be believed, as it actually is, by people not inform ed of the true state of affairs. The events in the so-called un der-developed countries (never called th a t in the Soviet press) are given wide coverage. Race conflicts are specially popular. Latin-Am erican affairs, espe cially the Cuban revolution, are closely and favorably followed. There are small articles which present glimpses of Soviet life. Children born in the first years of the Soviet regim e were given odd names. The enthusiasm of their parents for th e Communist ideal frequently m anifested it self in exotic names. Thus, one girl was called THE GREAT WORKER. A boy was given a name of abbreviations of L E NIN. One child was named Col lectivization; and a few others as extraordinary. Now, these children as adults, resent this custom. The author quotes m any examples, based on th e records of one high school teacher, who made the collection of such names his hobby. The article ends w ith a plea for nam ing future children in good Russian fashion. None ever cried because his name was Nicholas. In names, a t least, th e revolution is ended; and tradition takes over where it left off. The them e of “Togetherness* ’ is carried furth er, identifying each reader w ith the m ass of So viets. Articles are signed often by two, three or even four and five authors, done to create the impression of collective meaning. Through the slogan of togeth erness, every article is a hum an interest story, every achieve m ent an accomplishment of the Soviet peoples. Thus, K hrush chev is photographed w ith vari ous humble workers, th eir con versations w ith him printed alongside the texts of all his speeches. Incidentally, there are not too m any panegyrics in hon or of Khrushchev. The m ost in teresting praise which I have come across was by a journalist who said th a t Khrushchev is the g reatest w riter and orator pos sible. We have no way of checking if the average Soviet citizen reads the press. The newspapers, reviewed in this report are ob viously w ritten for th e average m an in the street. We see slight indications th a t th e inhabitants do not have reform ed th eir na tu re quickly enough; and th a t they still rem ain in a significant m anner, bourgeosie. The Revo lution and w ar have passed. The people w ant stability. They m ust be given reasons why this can not yet be so. The Soviet press supplies these reasons. Their purpose is clearly visible. Martha Bohachevsky 1 6 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ — СІЧЕНЬ, 1961. Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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