SOVIET NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES,

As technological innovations led to the development of an extensive radio and television network in the Soviet Union, mass communications continued to be dominated by the heavily politicized newspapers, with PRAVDA, the party daily, remaining the most authoritative source for information and interpretation. Foreign radio broadcasts to the Soviet Union developed to provide an alternative source of information for the Soviet population, thereby challenging Soviet media to compete for its audience. Pravda was forced to yield its place as the prime source of information to radio, which could transmit news faster. In spite of these developments, the Soviet periodical remains the most influential medium of information in many aspects it also continues to function as a political organizer, educator, and legitimizer of the Party and government, thus playing an integral role in the political system unparalleled by any Western journalistic organ. Author