Mass Media — means of mass information. The most authoritative outlets, and all print media collectively, are referred to as the press.
The Nature of the Phenomenon
Technologically speaking, mass media are means of mass processing of public consciousness. What distinguishes major media outlets is that they are used to pacify the population and are financed by Authority.
Characteristic Examples of Reports
Chronicle of Nizhny Novgorod Pre-Revolutionary Newspapers
|
Bolshaya Pecherskaya St. Bolshaya Pecherskaya Street …Due to reckless driving… the local wealthy have made life unbearable. What a thrill it must be — to fly down the street like an arrow, watching in delight as the small fry scatter in terror, fall into the snow, and look around in fright!… Nizhegorodsky Listok. — 1901, 1 March.
|
|
|
|
The revaluation commission is increasingly encountering instances of resistance from wealthy property owners regarding the reassessment of their assets. Commission members unanimously note that less affluent property owners provide more accurate information about their holdings. Nizhegorodsky Listok. — 1901, 5 March.
|
|
|
|
A characteristic phenomenon. If an educated Russian wishes to live by the work of his own hands, he must go… to America. … Nizhegorodsky Listok. — 1901, 5 March.
|
|
|
|
Absence of lighting. During the visit of the Minister of the Interior (Sipyagin), certain central city streets were illuminated at night, but at present residents are deprived of this essential convenience, even though the nights have grown dark and movement without lighting… becomes difficult. Nizhegorodsky Listok. — 1901, 11 July.
|
|
|
|
Theft at the cemetery. The theft of flowers, icons, oil lamps, wreaths, and other grave ornaments at the Petropavlovskoye cemetery continues unabated. … Items are stolen from graves enclosed by wire fencing. Someone plants flowers before the morning service, and by the time it is over, half of what was planted is gone. Nizhegorodsky Listok. — 1902, 17 May.
|
|
|
|
A new kind of beggar has appeared on the streets. Instead of the usual pleas, they say: "I am returning from City of Sarov." Volgar'. — 1903, 24 July.
|
|
|
|
At the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, the watchman committed a vile assault upon a girl collecting alms in the premises where church property was stored. The perpetrator is being brought to justice. Volgar'. — 1903, 14 August.
|
|
|
|
The clergy of the Trinity Church have petitioned the city council to have the area around the church paved. "We have been waiting forty years," the clergy writes. Volgar'. — 1903, 15 October.
|
|
|
|
The City Manager is receiving complaints about incorrect calculation of water charges based on meter readings… Volgar'. — 1903, 4 November.
|
|
Interesting Facts
The only publication in the USSR that was never subject to censorship (never "litovano" — approved by a censor) was the magazine Vesyolye Kartinki ("Funny Pictures").
In particular, the magazine did not carry the notices obligatory for all press outlets announcing changes in Soviet state leadership. When Brezhnev died and a directive was issued to print his portrait in a mourning border on the covers of all publications, the editorial staff of Vesyolye Kartinki managed to demonstrate that against the backdrop of the magazine's title, this would look entirely inappropriate.