Opposition Press Research Articles

Nyilasok Komáromban és környékén az első bécsi döntést követően

This study aims to provide a detailed exploration of the Arrow Cross movement in southern Slovakia. In particular, it examines the history of the Arrow Cross movement in and around Komárom (Komárno) between 1938 and 1945, i.e. its actions in the so-called “Hungarian times” following the First Vienna Award of 2 November 1938. It is clear from archival documents and opposition press articles that the Arrow Cross movement had already begun to organise in the Upper Lands immediately after the annexation. After the ‘return’ of Hungary, Arrow Cross ideas also spread among the inhabitants of Komárom and its environs, and the economic difficulties of the town played a part in this. By the end of 1940, along with the central party organisation in Komárom, Arrow Cross party offices were established in the municipalities of the district. Arrow Cross ideas were also popular in the city among former communists, who saw the Arrow Cross party as representing workers’ interests. Many of them, however, soon became disillusioned with the party and joined the next far-right Hungarian Renewal Party (Magyar Megújulás Párt), of which Andor Jaross was one of the leaders, which was founded in October 1940. It was only after 16 October 1944 that the Arrow Cross could become a dominant factor in the town. Shortly after the Szálasi coup, there were also exchanges of officials and acts of terror against ‘enemies’ of the regime in and around Komárom.

Transnational Strategies of Legitimation in the 1990s: The Togolese Regime and its Exiled Opposition in Ghana

AbstractAfter a failed transition to democracy in the 1990s in Togo, the opposition took refuge in Ghana, outside of the regime’s reach. Why and how did the regime react to transnational dissent? Analyzing an unpublished RPT-produced press review and the opposition press in Ghana and Togo, Raunet argues that the Togolese regime used the foreign press, the language of legality, and the politics of belonging to consolidate itself and shape a public image of apparent legitimacy. She suggests that the skillful adaptation of legitimation narratives is key in understanding the “internal logic” of authoritarian regimes and their prospects of survival.

Ukrainian oppositional press during the late 1980s – the early 1990s: social-communicative aspect

The article is researched with the problem of the socio-communicative influence of the Ukrainian opposition press of the late 1980s and early 1990s on Soviet and post-Soviet society. The researchers established that the founders of such publications were activists of public organizations, including the Ukrainian Helsinki Union and the People's Movement of Ukraine. The role of the famous Ukrainian political figure, dissident and journalist Vyacheslav Chornovil in the development of the press service of the UHU has been clarified. Namely, V. Chornovil initiated the establishment of “Ukrayinskiy Visnyk”, the independent information agency UNVIS. During 1989-1990 members of opposition organizations established press services network in Moscow, Kyiv and Lviv, and also actively cooperated with well-known information organizations such as Radio Liberty. The independent information agency UNVIS created by Vyacheslav Chornovil with like-minded people became an important factor in the establishment of a number of independent newspapers and publications, and foundation of self-publishing libraries.

Italian Fascists and the Rewriting of American History

Italian Fascists and the Rewriting of American History

Distortion of reality in news journalism: determinants and socio-cultural implications

The article presents the results of a round table devoted to the analysis of factors that provoke the distortion of reality in the media news, we show the ambivalence of assessments and the difference in defining the essence of news and news journalism. The authors of the discussion identify the role of technological, economic, political and ideological factors that influence the distortion of reality in the news, consider the causes of “fakes” in news reports, their beneficiaries and the bonuses received, and also make an attempt to identify shortcomings in the legal framework in the area of responsibility of communicators for the unreliability of news messages. During the discussion, the news texts of both the opposition press and the media of a loyalist bias were analysed from the standpoint of assessing and interpreting political events, meaningful and axiological priorities; the specifics of the formation and presentation of news from the point of view of reality distortion techniques are considered. As a result, the participants of the discussion came to the following conclusions. Firstly, the distortion of reality in the mass media is of a massive nature, which is due to a number of factors – technological, economic, political and ideological. Secondly, this situation is perceived as a problem only by few journalists and editorial offices, which indicates a decrease in the professional and ethical level of journalism and a radical transformation of ideas about professional responsibility. Thirdly, the identified trends are typical for both regime and opposition media, which is confirmed by the results of empirical studies.

Слежка и цензура. Сети слежки и цензуры прессы в революционной Мексике, 1911-1923

Controlling information and keeping an eye on enemies were two fun-damental activities for the different revolutionary factions in the revolu-tionary decade (1910-1920) and in the early years of the post-revolutionary stage. The armed struggle has aspects that have been little explored and that reflected the concern to watch over and censure its en-emies. Francisco I. Madero failed in his attempts to neutralize the op-position forces; Venustiano Carranza, on his part, managed to monopo-lize information and build the foundations of intelligence networks that would make it possible for the Carrancistas to stop possible uprisings. The assassination of Carranza in May 1920, far from ending these prac-tices, led the new group in power ― headed by Generals Álvaro Obregón and Plutarco Elías Calles, as well as Adolfo de la Huerta ― to improve their confidential intelligence services and closely monitor the opposition press.

“Dirty Period”: Freedom of Speech in the Russian Province in 1905–1913 through the Eyes of the Local Administration

Using memoirs, journalism, business correspondence, and heads of provincial administration late Imperial Russia, this article examines attitudes to freedom of speech imposed by the Manifesto of 17 October 1905. The democratic freedoms granted from the crown at one of the most tense moments of the first Russian revolution were immediately and actively used by the liberation movement to fight the existing system, which predetermined the further negative attitude towards them from the tsarist bureaucracy. The owners of the provinces were not used to open criticism of their actions by various social forces, and the identification of government repression with their names in the opposition press was perceived as a threat to their own lives. The heads of the provincial state apparatus expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that freedom of speech had ruined their monopoly on the interpretation of state policy and evaluation of social processes. Administrative repression and prosecution prevented the bureaucracy from fully taking control of the independent press, which was the main expression of freedom of speech in this historical period, and in the eyes of local administration leaders, the main troublemaker in provincial society. In relation to freedom of speech, representatives of the provincial administrative elite regret the inability to squeeze this phenomenon of public life into the usual bureaucratic framework. Their administrative mentality, formed by a long career in the autocratic bureaucracy, did not allow them to adequately perceive democratic changes in public life.

Осетино-ингушский вооружённый конфликт 1992 года в освещении российской центральной печати

The article examines the coverage of the Ossetian-Ingush armed conflict in the publications of the largest Russian mass media during the hostilities in the Prigorodny District in autumn 1992. The author analyzes the most typical reportages from the scene as well as the interviews with high-ranking military commanders and officials published in such central newspapers as Krasnaya Zvezda, Trud, Izvestiya, Kommersant, Literaturnaya Gazeta, Moskovskie Novosti, and some others. In addition to the media mentioned above, the author analyzes materials from the regional press, such as the Yaroslavl newspapers Severniy Krai and Zolotoe Kol'tso. These publications contained official documents and other valuable information relating to the growth of criminal activity in the North Caucasus in the early 1990s, the battles between the Ossetian and Ingush people in the Prigorodny District, the objectives of the federal troops’ peacekeeping operations, and information about the exploits of military personnel. The authors of the publications under analysis made it clear that it was the Russian security forces that prevented a real war in the Caucasus. The Ossetian or Ingush fighters who opposed the federal forces were presented in their coverage either as deceived people whose nationality was not even mentioned or as bandits. At the same time, the democratic media published articles describing ethnic cleansing of the Ingush population in the Prigorodny District during and after the hostilities. Publications in the left-wing media emphasized the illegality of the Ingush actions, and the sympathy of the authors was clearly on the side of the Ossetians. Sometimes the opposition press (the newspapers Sovetskaya Rossiya and Pravda) even drew parallels between the actions of the Ingush and the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany. The author concludes that the Russian authorities and security services managed to terminate the conflict relatively quickly in 1992. However, the Ossetian-Ingush armed conflict of 1992 can still be seen as a precursor to the First Chechen war of 1994–96 during which the balance of power in the information field remained similar.

“Free Speech Is Sometimes a Dangerous Privilege”: Western Editors’ Support for Press Suppression during the US Civil War

ABSTRACT Little research has been undertaken that examines editors’ views on freedom of the press during wartime. This research explores how and why editors in the far Western states and territories supported, encouraged, and rationalized press suppression during the American Civil War. Despite their distance from the fighting, the majority of the West’s Republican editors believed passionately in the Union cause and pledged their loyalty to the nation. Many members of the Democratic press did, as well. But two-party partisan hostilities motivated editors to encourage press suppression, as did fear of the opposition press’s power. Economic concerns also proved a motivating factor for press suppression in some communities. Western press members often used popular, rather than Constitutional, definitions of treason to support, explain, and encourage suppression of fellow editors whose newspapers appeared disloyal.

Books Are Weapons: The Polish Opposition Press and the Overthrow of Communism. by Siobhan Doucette, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017. 331 pp. $29.95 paper.

<i>Books Are Weapons: The Polish Opposition Press and the Overthrow of Communism</i>. by Siobhan Doucette, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017. 331 pp. $29.95 paper.

Za církev a vlast: Soudní proces Jana Evangelisty Bílého a Beneše Metoda Kuldy za tiskový přečin spáchaný brožurkou Církev a společnost

As a result of the December laws and the emergence of Austria­‑Hungary, Czech society experienced a short period of revolt between years 1868 and 1869 against the new organization of the monarchy. The monarchy responded by tightening the censorship of the opposition press. Because of this situation, the preachers Jan Evangelista Bilý and Benes Metod Kulda were condemned for publishing brochures promoting religious and patriotic thoughts. The trial, however, ended up being counterproductive and was used to promote exactly the same ideas which the priests had been arrested for. The study is based primarily on source research in the fund Benes Method Kulda, which is deposited in the Literary Archives of the National Literature Memorial and based on an analysis of the press, which tracked the entire legal trial with the priests.

“Determined to Suppress Everything Like Free Speech”: Lincoln’s Private Letters Reveal Aggressive Use of Newspaper Censorship

ABSTRACT This research contrasts two times President Abraham Lincoln suppressed the American Civil War opposition press. Original letters from Lincoln and those involved in the suppressions shed light on Lincoln’s involvement. The findings suggest that Lincoln himself allowed press suppression to continue even when it would influence a local election. Contrary to some beliefs, it appears Lincoln did not soften his approach to press suppression during the latter part of the Civil War. The question “What did the President know and when did he know it?” has never been properly answered. This research examines the actual letters among suppression principals including President Lincoln to acquire a feeling for what was specifically being said, and not being said, at the time, specifically, Lincoln’s attitude toward free speech. At the time, some suggested Lincoln allowed speech to be suppressed, while others have claimed he did not. Many books have documented Lincoln’s public words on the subject, but Lincoln’s private letters are even more revealing in the case of press suppression.

GENUINE METAPHOR AS A WAY OF REPRESENTING RUSSIA’S IMAGE IN MODERN OPPOSITION MASS MEDIA

The article explores cognitive and linguistic aspects of genuine metaphors used in the modern political mass media subdiscourse. The author has analyzed 375 metaphorical uses, not recorded in lexicographic sources, singled out by means of continuous sampling of 120 publications (75,000 words), dealing with the characteristics of the socio - political and socio - economic situation in Russia and its position in the world as described in various materials published in 2017 in online editions of oppositional social and political newspapers of communist, national - patriotic and liberal orientation. The methodological basis of the study rests on the idea of the metaphor as a cognitive and modeled phenomenon playing an important role in the representation of the linguistic worldview and in the declaration and promotion of views corresponding to the ideological preferences of communication subjects. The purpose of the article is to identify the pragmatic functions of genuine metaphors and the cognitive principles of their formation in relation to language models of metaphorization. The analysis uses a complex method of systemic contextual, semantic and cognitive analysis of language phenomena. The paper establishes the types of genuine metaphors according to their creativity; reveals the system of linguistic conceptual models of genuine transfer of meaning; analyzes the role of genuine metaphors in the representation of the linguistic worldviews of the publication authors. It is noted that in all mass media under analysis, preference is given to relatively creative transfers, thus preferring the accessibility and comprehensibility of the text by the addressee rather than its exclusivity. It is emphasized that genuine metaphors in most cases extend the scope of such linguistic conceptual models of metaphorization as horizontal spatial, material, biological and artifact ones. A characteristic feature of the formation of genuine metaphors is the combination within one context and one meaning of several conceptual models, thereby increasing the expressiveness and the manipulative function of the transfer of meaning. There is a certain consistency in this kind of contamination. For the same purpose, actualization of the inner form / direct meaning in a metaphorical usage is regularly used. It is emphasized that conceptually, productivity marks those parts of cognitive models of metaphorization, which are associated with a negative characteristic of the socio - economic, political, or moral situation in Russia and its position in the world community. In conclusion, it is argued that in general, the functioning of genuine metaphors in the opposition press adequately reflects the ideology of the authors of publications and their understanding of the development of Russia in 2017.

La caricatura de oposición en los congresos de la época de Juárez, 1861-1872

El artículo estudia las caricaturas de oposición durante la administración de Benito Juárez (1861-1872). Se concentra en dos periódicos emblemáticos con caricaturas de la época: La Orquesta y El Padre Cobos. Propone que la prensa de oposición debe entenderse más como creadora de un imaginario colectivo — sin que importe tanto si es real o ficticio — que de un impacto real en la población en general. A pesar de que decía representar el pueblo, la caricatura política mexicana se limitaba a avivar la esfera pública de las elites periodísticas y de la clase política de su momento.

Books Are Weapons: The Polish Opposition Press and the Overthrow of Communism

Books Are Weapons: The Polish Opposition Press and the Overthrow of Communism

Book Review: Siobhan Doucette: Books are Weapons: The Polish Opposition Press and the Overthrow of Communism

Book Review: Siobhan Doucette: <i>Books are Weapons: The Polish Opposition Press and the Overthrow of Communism</i>

Books are Weapons: The Polish Opposition Press and the Overthrow of Communism. By Siobhan Doucette. Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017. xix, 331 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Illustrations. $29.95, paper.

Books are Weapons: The Polish Opposition Press and the Overthrow of Communism. By Siobhan Doucette. Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017. xix, 331 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Illustrations. $29.95, paper.

From Atas Pokok to Sawah Padi: A Critique on Malaysian Political Malfunction and Social Oppression by Dinsman

The resurrection of Malaysian modern drama began with the revitalization of Malaysian theater after 1930s. Since then, Malaysian modern drama has expanded values to various forms in terms of narrative, issues, genres and performance elements. Many research have been done in general by focusing on individuals dramatic work but none of the documentation is collected comprehensively to show the contributions and values of the published drama that activated by the modern theater groups movements construction of its upsurge glorious of Malaysian social development. In addition to individuals, there are several groups that appear in the evolution of the drama movements in Malaysia peculiarly in the 1970s. These group are the main stimulus of active and open social commentary. The only active dramatist who enthusiastic emersion from the inception until to this date is Dinsman. Since the 1970s, Dinsman and his group calling themselves the Grup Teater Elit (GTE) have astounded the country's theater industry with experimental and controversial works that shows freedom of discourse in addition served as current social and political commentary. Many works identified and procure attentiveness by the Malaysian political opposition press of the dissident party. The latest two play that directed by Dinsman were Teater Atas Pokok (TAP) and Teater di Sawah Padi Muzika Uda dan Dara (TdSPMUD). These play were made to show the subaltern voce of the repression in current situation which is caused by economic pressures and current urban development. It aims to highlight a matter of serious discussions amend for the imbalance of Malaysian political malfunction and social oppression hegemony in various sphere especially inward developing countries.

Abu Naddara: The Forerunner of Egyptian Satirical Press

Abu Naddara was an early satirical journal that was first published in Cairo in 1878 by Yaqub Sannu. After Sannu's collision with Khedive Ismail and eventual departure to Paris, he continued to publish it there for almost three successive decades uninterruptedly, however under various changeable names. This journal was by all means the forerunner of satirical opposition press in modern Egypt. In a relatively very short time, Abu Naddara gained tremendous success through its humorous but rather bold and scathing criticism of Khedive Ismail's and later Khedive Tewfik's regime that helped turn public opinion against them. No wonder, it soon won popularity because it gave a voice to the downtrodden masses who found in it an outlet for their long-bottled anger. In other words, it turned to be their Vox populi that addressed their pressing problems and expressed their pains. Accordingly, it emerged as a political platform that stood in the face of corruption and social injustice, called for an all-encompassing reform, and most of all raised country-wide national awareness in the hope to develop grass-root activism. This paper investigates the role played by the journal of Abu Naddara in spearheading the national opposition against Khedival excesses together with the growing foreign intervention within the closing years of Ismail's reign and the opening years of Tewfik's one that ended up with the British occupation of Egypt. The paper focuses lens mainly on the journal's early formative years (from 1878 to 1884) that shaped its orientations, defined its identity and carved its path for years to come. It also tracks the historical context in which it appeared and examines its notable impact on the Egyptian society in general and the political arena in particular amidst such turbulent milieu.

Control and Suppression of the Zagreb Opposition Press during the 1921-1929 period

Control and Suppression of the Zagreb Opposition Press during the 1921-1929 period