Party and Soviet Press

the periodical publications of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and of the organs of Soviet power; one of the principal means for disseminating information and propaganda among the masses. An important instrument of party and state direction of the processes of Communist construction, the party and soviet press is the leading force in the entire press of the USSR. It has continued the traditions of the Bolshevik press of the pre-October Revolution period.

The formation of the party and soviet press network began with the Decree on the Press that was issued on Oct. 28 (Nov. 10), 1917, just after the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution.

The party provides continual supervision of the growth and practice of all components of the party and soviet press. Under the direct supervision of the CPSU and the Soviet government, a well-organized press network has evolved in the USSR during the years of Soviet power. In 1974 the party and soviet press network included the press organs of the Central Committee (CC) of the CPSU, the press organs of the supreme soviets of the USSR and the Union republics, and the joint organs of the CC’s of Communist parties, supreme soviets, and councils of ministers of Union republics. Other components of the party and soviet press include the publications of oblast committees of the CPSU and of supreme soviets and councils of ministers of autonomous republics, as well as the press organs of krai, oblast, city, and raion party committees and local soviets of working people’s deputies. The press organs of industrial enterprises and other institutions are also part of the party and soviet press.

Periodical publications of the CC of the CPSU include the CC organ Pravda; the newspapers Sotsialisticheskaia industriia, Sel’skaia zhizn’, Sovetskaia kul’tura, Ekonomicheskaia gazeta, and Sovetskaia Rossiia (organ of the CC of the CPSU and the Supreme Soviet and Council of Ministers of the RSFSR); and the journals Kommunist, Partiinaia zhizn’, Politicheskoe samoobrazovanie, and Agitator.

The publications of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR are the newspaper Izvestiia, the journal Sovety deputatov trudiashchikhsia, and the bulletin Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR. In the Union republics, bulletins of the republic supreme soviets are published in the local languages. Republic newspapers are published in the language of the republic and in Russian.

The Union republics publish party journals, which are organs of the CC’s of the republic communist parties. Krais, oblasts, okrugs, raions, and cities have newspapers that are jointly published by the respective party and soviet organs. They also have party journals published by the local party committees.

Publications of the Communist Party and the organs of Soviet power are issued by the Pravda Publishing House, the Izvestiia Publishing House, general publishing houses in the republics, and regional and oblast publishing houses. There are party publishing houses attached to the republic CC’s in the Azerbaijan, Georgian, Lithuanian, Moldavian, Uzbek, and Estonian SSR’s.