Lesson 1-How effective do you think were the Soviet government in controlling mass media and propaganda?

Question 1

Glavlit

Answer 1

Censorship office of the Soviet government

Question 2

Pravda

Answer 2

‘Truth’
Newspaper of Communist party

Question 3

Izvestiya

Answer 3

‘News’
Newspaper of the government

Question 4

Partiinost

Answer 4

Party mindedness

Question 5

Trud

Answer 5

‘Labour’
Newspaper of government-controlled trade union

Question 6

When was the ban on all non-socialist newspapers?

Answer 6

Nov 1917

Question 7

When was the development of the voice radio in the USSR?

Answer 7

1921

Question 8

What decade did the cult of Stalin develop?

Answer 8

1930s

Question 9

When did the mass production of televisions begin in the USSR?

Answer 9

1958

Question 10

When were all non-Bolshevik newspapers banned?

Answer 10

1920

Question 11

Through what ways was Soviet media controlled by the state?

Answer 11

Nationalisation
Restriction of information
Censorship

Question 12

What did Lenin view newspapers as?

Answer 12

The mouthpiece of the bourgeoisie

Question 13

In what ways did the Soviet government control newspapers?

Answer 13

1. Journalists were employees of government, members of the Union of Soviet Journalists and Party members.
2. Approval from Glavlit needed for every article written
3. Party and government newspapers introduced

Question 14

What were Pravda and Izvestiya used as?

Answer 14

A vehicle of propaganda used for highlighting the achievements of the government and Socialism.

Question 15

Purpose of Pravda and Izvestiya.

Answer 15

To act as an instrument of propaganda, agitation and organisation.

Question 16

What did the government do to ensure that their newspapers had high readership?

Answer 16

Made them cheap
Copies pasted on boards by pavement so people could read them for free

Question 17

Pravda and Izvestiya were mass newspapers. How many copies of Pravda were in circulation in 1983?

Answer 17

10.7 million

Question 18

How many copies of Trud were in circulation by 1983?

Answer 18

13.5 million

Question 19

Give an example of the details of the achievements of Socialism that the newspapers include.

Answer 19

Production figures of the latest economic plan (usually telling people that the plans had been overfulfilled)

Question 20

Give examples of prohibited topics from newspapers.

Answer 20

Plane crashes
Natural disasters

Question 21

Examples of prohibited titles being excluded from newspapers.

Answer 21

Nuclear waste explosion 1957 was never reported.
People only became suspicious when 30 small communities disappeared off maps.
Took gov 2 years to evacuate unsafe areas because the disaster was not acknowledged

Question 22

Examples of groups magazines and journals were aimed at.

Answer 22

Groups of workers e.g., farmers, soldiers or teachers

Question 23

Examples of areas banned in the magazines and journals

Answer 23

Religion and crime

Question 24

Why was it easier for the government to control radios in 1917?

Answer 24

Radios were a more recent development

Question 25

By what year were programmes being broadcast on the radio?

Answer 25

1921

Question 26

Give an example of a radio agency.

Answer 26

The Spoken Newspaper of the Russian Telegraph Agency

Question 27

What did The Spoken Newspaper of the Russian Telegraph Agency feature?

Answer 27

News and propaganda material

Question 28

What did The Spoken Newspaper of the Russian Telegraph Agency have little emphasis on?

Answer 28

Music

Question 29

Since radio receivers were expensive, what was done?

Answer 29

Loud speakers were installed in public areas

Question 30

What did group listening of radio ensure?

Answer 30

There was a collective response and that everyone got the intended message

Question 31

Through what was the control of radio centralised?

Answer 31

The Commissariat for Posts and Telegraph

Question 32

By what year did Moscow have a well-developed broadcasting station?

Answer 32

1922

Question 33

To what percentage of the illiterate population did radios enable the government to get their message across to?

Answer 33

65% of the population who were illiterate

Question 34

Who were radio stations controlled by?

Answer 34

The government

Question 35

When was the speed by which the government was able to convey its message through radio invaluable?

Answer 35

During the German invasion of 1941

Question 36

How did the government ensure radio access was restricted to government stations only?

Answer 36

Most new apartment blocks were wired for radio reception

Question 37

Until 1964, how many Soviet radio stations were there?

Answer 37

1

Question 38

Under Brezhnev how many Soviet radio stations where there?

Answer 38

3

Question 39

Give an example of what the Soviet radio stations included.

Answer 39

Radio Maiak (Lighthouse) which played some foreign music and was popular with Soviet youth

Question 40

How did the government try and restrict access to foreign stations?

Answer 40

Produced cheap radios with limited reception. Jammed signals from stations such as BBC

Question 41

Why was limiting the amount of information the population received through the radio important?

Answer 41

Limited the level of debate

Question 42

Compare how many TVs there were in 1950 in comparison to 1958.

Answer 42

1950 = 10,000 1958 = 3 million

Question 43

How was the price of the TVs more within the reach of most of the population?

Answer 43

Became mass produced in the 1950s

Question 44

Give examples of government stations TVs included.

Answer 44

Mix of news Documentaries Achievements of socialism Ballet Classical arts Feature films Children's programmes

Question 45

How was life under the SU presented in comparison to life under Capitalism?

Answer 45

Under SU presented as joyous compared to under Capitalism which was presented as rife with crime, homelessness and violence

Question 46

Why did the TVs fail to spark the enthusiasm of the people?

Answer 46

It was pretty uninspiring stuff

Question 47

By 1985, how many television channels were there and what did they have more emphasis on?

Answer 47

2 Light entertainment

Question 48

Problems that arose during the Soviet control on mass media and propaganda.

Answer 48

1. Soviet public got used to reading between lines 2. Rise of computers was a demanding challenge to a gov wishing to restrict its population's access to information