State control of mass media and propaganda under Brezhnev Flashcards
Under Brezhnev film and television culture…
changed
How did film and television culture change under Brezhnev?
There were traditional elements such as films celebrating Soviet victory in the Second World War
How did film and television culture not change under Brezhnev?
During the same period there were more films dealing with working people and their daily lives
Significantly Soviet film makers tended to focus on…
fashionable citizens living in luxurious apartments. In so doing they stoked public desire for consumer goods and fashion
Brezhnev attempted to use television to his…
advantage
How did Brezhnev attempt to use television to his advantage?
The Soviet Government was able to keep tight control of the footage of the war in Afghanistan, and in so doing could keep the truth about the scale and horrors of the war hidden
Soviet officials also ensured that Brezhnev’s speeches were transmitted in full, and that he was at the centre of a great deal of domestic media coverage
Brezhnev attempted to use television to his advantage, however by the late 1970s this tactic backfired - how did it backfire?
The cameras showed a man who was clearly physically and mentally incapacitated, who struggled to make speeches, became confused mid-sentence and had difficulty walking.
Television coverage of Brezhnev continued until the last week of his life; his last television appearance shows him…
struggling to walk up the steps of the Lenin Mausoleum
Television voice-overs praised Brezhnev, but…
viewers could see his physical and mental decline for themselves
Under Brezhnev, Soviet leaders also lost control of the..
print media
Under Brezhnev, Soviet leaders also lost control of the print media. The ___ continued to police _____ publications, particularly the work of _____. However, _____ _____became increasingly available in ____ cities as part of the _____ _____. These tended to be _____ magazines such as ____. While not overtly _____, these magazines undermined ____ in the Soviet _____ by showing the ____ quality of Western ____ and the _____ of Western _____
KGB
political
dissidents
Western
magazines
Soviet
second economy
consumer
Vogue
political
faith
system
quality
goods
luxury
lifestyles
State control of mass media and propaganda conclusion
Control of the media was an essential part of Lenin’s vision for consolidating power. For many years Soviet media control was extremely effective. The Soviet media turned Lenin into the first hero of the revolution and a man that people could identify with. Under Stalin, propaganda focused on the Soviet Union’s god-like leader and his heroic nation of perfect workers. However, with the advent of consumerism and increasing emphasis on consumer choice, the system changed. Consumer choice led to increased magazine circulation, the availability of television sets and even a black market in Western magazines. All of these changed the nature of the media. Under Khrushchev there was an increasing emphasis on ordinary people. Television showed ordinary people who had travelled into space, ordinary people who worked well on collective farms, while magazines carried letters about ordinary people’s lives, and films focused on ordinary people who fought in the Second World War. Finally, television exposed Brezhnev’s frailty and Western magazines revealed the gap between the rich West and the relatively poor Soviet Union, trends which both undermined the Soviet system
