I. Introduction This master’s thesis represents study of female newspaper and magazine editors in Azerbaijan based on Western and Soviet definitions of journalism with explanation of local national features of this p

Table 2: Criteria of Objectivity according Westerstahl Source: Valiyev 2008

Yet, if the reader remembers the joke from the previous chapter, Soviet journalism operated with values completely opposite to those of Western journalism. American sociologist Alex Inkeles in his book Public Opinion in Soviet Russia (1950) provided first accounts of the Soviet mass communication system. Later in 1968 in his second book Social change in Soviet Russia Inkeles noted:

“Bolshevik theory rejects the notion of freedom of the press as it is understood in the West. Objectivity as a goal of journalistic effort is similarly rejected. The resultant concept of what is news is remarkably different from that held by Western journalists. The private affairs of prominent persons in political and artistic life, and many other elements which are important as news in the United States, play no role in the Soviet newspaper. The main ingredients of Soviet news are those events which have come to characterize the effort of the Communist Party to cement its control of Soviet society and to press the people on against all obstacles toward rapid industrialization of the country. (Inkeles 1968: 276-277)

The reason for the Soviet journalism to turn a blind eye on Western sensationalism and celebrity dirty laundry coverage is the initial Lenin’s guidelines given in the 1917. After 1917 the press was taken from private ownership and transferred to state institutions (see table 3). The Great Soviet Encyclopedia offers following information:

The party routinely manages the development process and practice of all chains of party-Soviet press. During the years of the Soviet rule and under the direct leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet government a throughout press system was implemented in the USSR. In 1974, the press system of party-Soviet press consisted of following: printed media of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the USSR Supreme Council, the Supreme Councils of Soviet Republics; joint media outlets of Central Committee of the CP and the Councils of Ministers of Soviet Republics; regional committees of the CPSU, the Supreme Councils and the Councils of Ministers of Autonomous Republics; media outlets of regional, provincial, municipal and district party committees and local worker committees; press organs of factories and institutions.

In formulating its task, Lenin insisted that primary task of media is to propagate the Communist party’s policies and engage in the ‘raising’ and ‘education’ of the ‘masses’. (Inkeles, 1950) Brian McNair gives us more elaborate explanation to the observation made above by the pioneer of Soviet journalism studies.