Party leadership of the Soviet regional printing of the second half of the 1940s (on the example of “Tambovskaya Pravda”)

Abstract

We analyze the activities of the party organization at the editorial office of the newspaper “Tambovskaya Pravda” in the second half of the 1940s based on archival data. Particular attention is paid to how the authorities influenced the work of the local press. As a matter of fact, the purpose of the research is to study the specifics of the relationship between the editorial office of the newspaper “Tamboskaya Pravda” and the authorities. It is especially important to trace how the authorities had a direct influence on mass media. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that this interaction is little studied at the local level. It is proved that the newspaper, which is the main mean of propaganda, mobilized the masses for labor achievements during the first post-war five-year plan. In addition, the newspaper brokered a dialogue with the authorities through letters that were regularly delivered to the editorial office. It is substantiated that there was control over the activities of the main newspaper of the Tambov Region and any deviation from particular rules was punished and condemned. Sometimes one or another newspaper material became the subject of discussion at the meetings of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union(b). Among other things, a lot of attention was paid to the ideological and political education of the editorial staff of the newspaper “Tambovskaya Pravda”.