SOVIET PRESS CHANGING

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29219, 1 June 1960, Page 12

SOVIET PRESS CHANGING

News Being Recognised (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON. May ». There was now an increasingly professional attitude to the press in Russia, ’The Times" said today. The days when the editorship of a Russian newspaper was a Communist Party post awarded solely on ideological merit were now over. “The Times” commented:— ‘‘‘Pravda’ means ‘truth’ and ‘lzvestia’ means ‘news,’ and there is an old Moscow gibe that there is no truth in ‘Pravda’ and no news in ‘lzvestia.’ ‘The second half of this accusation is already less justified than it used to be. Since Mr Adzubei. the energetic son-in-law of Mr Khrushchev, started to edit ‘lzvestia* a year ago, its writing and appearance have become livelier, though it is still a sombre production by Western standards. “Now it Is to become an evening paper, leaving *Pravda,* the official organ of the Communist Party, in undisputed control of the breakfast table. “In its new role Izvestia’ may emerge half-way between the two extremes of the Soviet press: the drearily instructive official morning papers, which make up the bulk of Russian newspaper circulation, and the local evening papers of the big cities, which largely limit themselves to a coverage of parochial events. “The million and a half Russians who read ‘lzvestia’ will presumably welcome this change, especially if it brings them more and brighter news. “So will Soviet professional journalists, who are growing in numbers and importance,” “The Times” added.