# The Russian Revolution (Foster)/Chapter 15

XV.
THE PRESS.
Like every other institution in Russia, the press has been profoundly affected by the revolution. Before the great upheaval there were practically no labor papers, now there are hardly any others. About the only journals existing at the present time are those of the Communist Party, the Government, the trade unions, the co-operatives, and other institutions friendly to, or at least tolerant of, the Communist revolution. There is no important oppositional press. By the hard logic of circumstances virtually all of it, imperialist. capitalist, clerical, liberal, and pseudo-socialist, was destroyed in the bitter revolutionary struggles.
From the beginning of the revolution the workers realized that one of the greatest dangers they had to combat was the poisoning of the people’s mind by the enemy press. Hence, making no bones about the matter, they took the situation seriously in hand, set up the Revolutionary Press Tribunal, and declared war on the journalistic hangers-on of the exploiting class. As fast as these were caught in counter-revolutionary activities their journals were put out of business. "Reactionary," "liberal," and "radical" papers alike went down in the struggle, until finally the purely working-class press remained practically alone in the field.
Much adverse criticism has been expressed over the suppression of the so-called liberal and radical press, but it was an imperative necessity of the revolution. In the crisis it proved a buttress for the capitalist system and it had to go. The working-class, beset by a multitude of dangers, was fighting its way out of Czarism and toward liberty. Within the country the whole capitalist and intellectual classes were sabotaging the industries and bringing the people to ruin; while on its borders raged the armies of the whole capitalist world.Defeat for the workers meant the triumph of black reaction and the inauguration of the most terrible massacres in the history of civilization.
In such a desperate situation there could be only two sides to the struggle: that of the workers, and that ​of the exploiters. There was no middle ground. One had to get upon one side or the other of the barricade. This supreme test showed the press in question, mostly pseudo-socialist, to be capitalistic at heart. Its general position was that the raw and undeveloped workers were incapable of operating the complex society alone, and that they should accept the leadership of the capitalist class for an indefinite period. Its practice was to flatly oppose the proletarian Government and to general!y play the game of counter-revolution. So it perished at the hands of the hostile workers. They were not deceived by its fair-sounding words; they properly understood that in the name of petty bourgeois ideals and conceptions it was knifing the working-class revolution.
Most of the non-proletarian papers collapsed in the early stages of the revolution, and have not been ressurected. At present no encouragement is given to such an oppositional press. When the revolution has passed the danger point and is safe, then the utmost freedom for the press will be established. But that time is not yet come; the Russian revolution is still fighting for its existence and it cannot afford to have an organized, poisonous opposition gnawing at its vitals.
The Russian press of the present day is highly specialized. There are no general newspapers, according to our understanding of the term. Each publication represents some particular institution and deals chiefly with matters relating to it. Thus duplication of work is largely avoided. The leading national dailies are "Pravda" (Communist Party), "Isvestia" (All-Russian Soviets), "Labor" (All-Russian Trade Unions), "Economic Life" (Supreme Economic Council), and "Poverty" (a peasant paper). These journals are circulated all over Russia. Besides them there are dailies in many of the larger towns and cities. Usually these are published by the Communist Party, the local Soviets and the trade unions, either separately or in combination with each other.
The National Union of Transport Workers, the largest labor union in Russia, issues a daily for its membership. Occasionally large local labor unions, as for instance the Baku oil workers, also have dailies of their own. The other national labor unions get out either weekly or monthly publications. Likewise, the various ​national departments of the Government issue journals covering their respective activities. Often, also, the workers in large factories publish their own bulletins and educational sheets. So far as I could learn there is no underground press.
Many of the Russian labor journals are veterans in the social war. The most battle-scarred among them is the Petrograd "Pravda." Recently, upon the ninth anniversary of its foundation, this paper published a statement of its early difficulties, from which the following is quoted:
"During a period of two years the "Pravda" had to change its name eight times: 'Pravda,' 'Rabotchaya Pravda,' 'Severnaya Pravda,' 'Pravda Truda,' 'Za Pravda,' 'Proletarskaya Pravda.' 'Putok Pravda,' and 'Peredovaya Pravda.” In the first year of its existence out of 295 issues of the 'Pravda,' 41 were confiscated, tines were imposed 16 times, and the editor was arrested for three issues without bail. During its first two years, until April 5, 1914, of 565 issues of the 'Pravda,' 134 were confiscated, 81 people fined 14,450 rubles, with the choice of being arrested and kept for 87 months, and besides the editors were sentenced to nine months imprisonment without the option of a fine. Thus, in two years' time, the editors served 96 months, or eight years in jail. All sorts of hindrances were thrown in the paper's way, its circulation was blocked, the newsdealers were persecuted and forbidden to sell the paper, the landlords were forced to refuse quarters to the editorial staff, etc. On July 7, 1914, the last 'Pravda' of the period, the 'Peredovaya Pravda' was finally destroyed."
The Russians properly look upon the press as a means for educating the people and they have vested its general supervision and control in the Department of Education. This body also controls the supply of paper and shares it out to the various journals in proportion to their value and needs. As there is now a severe shortage of paper, the chances are slim for any but really revolutionary publications to get supplies. A determined effort is constantly kept up to develop the papers into genuinely educational organs. Hence, the sensational murder trials, scandals, and other trash that goes so largely to make up American newspapers find no place in the Russian press. The latter confines itself to the more important and serious phases of life. It carries no paid advertising matter.
The prevailing paper shortage tends sharply to reduce the size of the Russian papers, most of them being of only four pages. Their contents are boiled down to the last degree. The paper shortage has also cut their circulation to a fraction of what it should be. ​Rigid economy and many unusual devices are used to make the limited number of papers go as far as possible. A favorite method is to post up copies of them on the kiosks and in other public places, where crowds may be seen standing around all day reading them. Likewise, instead of each person getting a separate copy, a number are sent to the factory libraries, where all the workers may read them. In spite of the paper shortage, a number of the journals have a large circulation. The national "Pravda" has 200,000 daily, the "Isvestia" 350,000, while "Poverty" is credited with 700,000.
Even in these revolutionary times the workers permit much freedom of expression in their press. They draw a sharp distinction between the honest, constructive criticism in their own journals and the destructive propaganda of the counter-revolutionary press. Indeed, so startlingly frank are the various papers in criticising the new order that they have been accused of over-doing the thing, of painting the evils too black so that the workers may be frightened into taking the proper corrective measures. No better proof of the freedom of the revolutionary press is needed than the well-known fact that counter-revolutionary writers in other countries depend upon this press to furnish them with at least 95 per cent of the critical and statistical matter which they are using against Soviet Russia. Care is taken by the workers, however, to see that the freedom of their press is not abused. A typical case was that of a prominent editor, who, during the recent Polish war, wrote an editorial attempting to stir up nationalistic hatred against the Polish people. Within an hour after his paper appeared on the streets he had lost his job. He was replaced by a man who would more faithfully represent the international point of view of the Communists.
The Russian workers are keenly aware that the success of the revolution depends very largely upon the extent and quality of their press. They also know that at present it is very inadequate for its great work of education. and they are doing all possible to improve it. It is safe to say that within a few years, when the paper shortage has been overcome and the general economic crisis solved, the workers of Russia will have a system of newspapers which will be unequalled anywhere.