Soviet Journalism of the 1960s–1980s and Russian Journalism of the 1990s: Historical Myths and Real Correspondents Practice

Abstract

In the article, the author attempts to rethink some aspects of the work of Soviet journalists. The need for such an analysis is caused by the growing controversy in Russian society about the situation in the Russian media environment. Quite often, the participants of the discussion and opinion leaders turn to the images of the «free 90s» that have become entrenched in the mass consciousness as a golden time for journalism in Russia, comparing them with the «Soviet propaganda» that existed earlier and did not give an opportunity to objectively cover events and life in the country. The romanticization of one era and the demonization of another distort the images of journalism and journalists in historical memory. At the same time, one of the fundamental rules of journalism is an objective reflection of events: coverage of different points of view, demonstration of pros and cons. The Soviet school of journalism has left a rich legacy. Soviet journalists often became writers, perfectly mastering the art of words. The essay, a complex, interesting and almost forgotten genre today, occupied leading positions in newspapers in the USSR. The TASS news agency was not inferior in quality to the world's news agencies. Journalists had the opportunity to write about the painful, to raise acute questions, to polemize, despite the rather strict censorship carried out by Glavlit. Newspapers developed and increased circulation even in the absence of a market economy. This study debunks some of the myths about the work of Soviet journalists on the example of editors and employees of allied publications, as well as correspondents of TASS — the leading information actor in the media system of the Soviet Union.