Evening star., 1945-03-25
Soviet Papers Show
What Russia Thinks
Writer Finds Key to Policy
In Government Journals
By Joseph H. Baird.

By Joseph H. Baird.
The peculiar position of the Soviet
|, press as an instrument Of diplomacy
has come forcibly to the attention of
American officials lately, particularly in
connection with the Moscow -motivated
change of regimes in Romania.
An unusual importance attaches to
the utterances Of Soviet newspapers for,
unlike those in the United States or
Great Britain, they always reflect either
a governmental or Communist party
point of view. The distinction Is not of
great Importance, for the men who con-
troll the party also are the dominant
figures in the government.
The most aggressively outspoken Mos
cow journal is Pravda, official organ of
the Central Committee of the Com
munist party. Izvestia, mouthpiece of
the presidium of the Supreme Council
of the u. s. S. r., represents the official
governmental view and Is usually more
restrained than Pravda. Red Star
speaks for the Commissariat Of Defense,
Red Fleet for the Navy Commissariat,
Trud for the Council of Trade Unions,
and War and the Working Glasses, new
publication, is generally regarded as
presenting the Foreign Once outlook on
world affairs.
There are no privately-owned news
papers in Russia. Even outside Moscow
the lesser known journals are controlled
either by local Soviets, Communist party
units, trade unions or government fac
tories. Hence every Russian newspaper
speaks either for the central govern
ment, the Communist party or some
organization directly responsible to the
government.
Most of the Soviet newspapers are
controlled by editorial boards, although
some have individual editors in chief.
These boards. naturally. include one or
more members of the Communist party
who can be relied upon to see that the
latest curvatures in the party line"
are followed carefully. Keeping watch
full eye on the entire field of publications
is the Sovinform Bureau, headed by
Comrade A. s. Sheherbakov, who also
Is chief of the political administration
Of the Red Army.
1t follows naturally, then, that the
editorial pages of Soviet newspapers are
watched carefully by foreign diplomats
and correspondents in Moscow as well
as by the State Department here. For
what they say is not the reflection of
single editors point of view. Rather
particularly in the case of the principal
Moscow organs-it is a clear indication
of what is going on in the minds of the
men who run the Russian government.
Official American ears grew suddenly
sensitive recently when Pravda launched
q bitter attack on the Romanian gov
ernment of Premier Nichlas Radescu.
He was charged with failing to purge
his country of prof Germans and war
criminals" Pravda thought it was time
for change in the Bucharest admins
tration.
AS usual, Pravda proved remarkable
prescient. Shortly after its attack,
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misar of Foreign Affairs. turned up in
Bucharest, and it was announced that
the Radescu regime had been replaced
by one headed by Deputy Premier Peter
Groza, leader of the left wing of the
National Democratic Front, which takes
its political cue from Moscow.
Now American officials are worried
over just what may lie behind vigorous
attack by War and the Working Glasses
on Senator Vandenberg, Republican, Of
Michigan and member of the United
States delegation to the San Francisco
Conference. On March IL the Moscow
radio broadcast parts of an editorial
appearing in this publication in which
the Michigan Senator was branded as a
''hypocrite" and as one who preferred
"pro-Fascist and pro-Hitler regimes in
the small countries of Europe"
Referring back to a speech Senator
Vandenberg delivered in the Senate
January II, the editorial recalled that
he had asked for an honest and impar-
tlaP' attitude toward our enemies, and
added:
People have a good memory which
will not let them forget what the motto
impartiality' means in the mouth of an
erstwhile appeaser."
About the same time Pravda opened
an attack on the government of Gen.
eralissimo Chang Kai-shek, echoing a
demand of the Chinese Communists for
a liquidation Of the Kuomintang.
Pravda, more than any other Soviet
newspaper, is used as lash on the backs
of those whose words or deeds are not
to Moscow's liking. There is clever rea-
soning behind this fact1 If a foreign
nation or dignitary should protest
Pravda's lambasting, the Soviet Foreign
Office may reply with technical truth
fulness that the journal does not speak
for the government of the u. s. S. r.,
but only for the Russian Communist
party.
Izvestia, the official government or
gan, is much more restrained than
Pravda in its editorial statements. But
as Pravda has the largest circulation of
any Russian newspaper Cor at least it
did before the war; and is regarded by
the public as the most authoritative mir
ror OF Kremlin policy its editorials are
pre-eminent In shaping the thinking of
the Russian people. Therefore, it is log
ical assumption that what Pravda says
is what the Kremlin wants the average
Russian to think.