Wall Newspaper

in the USSR, a typed or handwritten newspaper posted on a wall or special stand by a labor, educational, or military collective.

A wall newspaper discusses the chief activities of the collective that publishes it. Labor collectives may report on the workers’ struggle to fulfill production goals and socialist pledges and to improve work discipline. Educational wall newspapers print information on the rapid progress of students and on communist educational programs. Military collectives offer insights into the political and combat training of troops.

Wall newspapers are published one to four times a month. They are produced by an editorial board headed by an editor, elected at a general meeting of the collective or at a trade union meeting or conference. On the basis of the goals of the collective, the board defines the newspaper’s editorial policies, plans each issue, and organizes production. Worker, village, and youth correspondents contribute to articles in wall newspapers. Each editorial board reports on its work to the collective that elected it.

Wall newspapers were first printed during the early years of Soviet power, simultaneously with the development of the worker and village correspondents’ movement, which the newspapers supported. The CPSU regards wall newspapers as an important element in its ideological and organizational work. Party committees and bureaus directly guide the editorial boards of wall newspapers. The resolution of the Thirteenth Congress of the RCP(B) of 1924 On the Press and the decree of the Orgburo of the Central Committee of the RCP(B) of 1924 On Wall Newspapers recognized the growing importance of wall newspapers in the building of socialism and the need to fully develop the newspapers.

The following decrees of the party’s Central Committee include provisions on wall newspapers: The Immediate Tasks of the Party in the Area of the Worker and Village Correspondents’ Movement (1926), On the Restructuring of the Worker and Village Correspondents’ Movement (1931), and On the Improvement of the Leadership of the Mass Movement of Worker and Village Correspondents of the Soviet Press (1958).

In the course of the building of socialism and communism, wall newspapers have proven to be an important ideological tool used by party organizations. In 1975, approximately 2 million wall newspapers and supplemental production reports, special notices, and satirical commentaries were published in the USSR. Tens of millions of people contribute to wall newspapers as writers and participate in worker and village correspondents’ visiting and on-the-spot inspections. The journal Raboche-krest’ianskii korrespondent (The Workers’ and Peasants’ Correspondent), which is published by the editors of the newspaper Pravda, provides methodological and professional instruction for those active in the production of wall newspapers.

Based on the example of the USSR, the production of wall newspapers has also developed in other socialist countries.