Smashing initial hopes for more radical and speedier changes in Russia, elements of the Soviet system of managerial and ideological control proved to be obstinately persistent. Certain practices reminiscent of the informal functioning of the Soviet nomenklatura continue unabated primarily in politics, but also in Russian media. This article argues that nomenklatura practices are still a fixed part in organization management in Russian media today, securing the loyalty of journalists and controlling the output of the news media. The analysis of 30 semi-structured interviews and three case studies, scrutinizing media managers’ professional biographies, directs to a non-intuitive development; namely, that it is not necessarily those who have experienced the Soviet nomenklatura closely and in person who were most active in applying and perpetuating nomenklatura practices, but also those who were either remote from these power structures or too young.
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Jill Dougherty, “Putin’s Iron-Fisted Message”, The Huffington Post, 23 March 2014, available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jill-dougherty/putins-ironfisted-message_b_5044092.html, accessed 30 August 2016.
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See, Ivan Zasoursky, Media and Power in Post-Soviet Russia (London: Routledge, 2003); Olessia Koltsova, News Media and Power in Russia (London: Routledge, 2006); Arkady Ostrovsky, The Invention of Russia: The Journey from Gorbachev’s Freedom to Putin’s War (London: Atlantic Books, 2015); Kristin Roth-Ey, How the Soviet Union Built the Media Empire that Lost the Cultural Cold War (Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 2011); Ellen Mickiewicz, Split Signals: Television and Politics in the Soviet Union (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988). Ellen Mickiewicz, Changing Channels: Television and the Struggle for Power in Russia (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
In 1985, out of the 21 Pravda editorial board members, 4 were Politburo members, 3 were candidates to the Politburo and the remaining 14 were members of the Central Committee. Raymond E. Zickel, ed. Soviet Union, a country study (Washington: Library of Congress, 1989).
Dmitri Bykov, “The State of Russian Media, 1990-2000”, Seans, no. 4 (2001): 41.
Aleksandr Yakovlev, “Restoration of the nomenklatura in Russia”, New Perspectives Quarterly 21, no. 2 (2004): 45–48.
Karen Dawisha, Putin’s Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia? (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014), 252–273.
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Nataliya Rostova, “Kogda Gorbachev uznal o raskole v ‘Komsomolke’, on sam razyskal nas”, Slon, 15 December 2010, available at https://slon.ru/russia/kogda_gorbachev_uznal_o_raskole_v_komsomolke_on_s-509616.xhtml, accessed August 30, 2016.
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All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 670 | 97 | 21 |
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Smashing initial hopes for more radical and speedier changes in Russia, elements of the Soviet system of managerial and ideological control proved to be obstinately persistent. Certain practices reminiscent of the informal functioning of the Soviet nomenklatura continue unabated primarily in politics, but also in Russian media. This article argues that nomenklatura practices are still a fixed part in organization management in Russian media today, securing the loyalty of journalists and controlling the output of the news media. The analysis of 30 semi-structured interviews and three case studies, scrutinizing media managers’ professional biographies, directs to a non-intuitive development; namely, that it is not necessarily those who have experienced the Soviet nomenklatura closely and in person who were most active in applying and perpetuating nomenklatura practices, but also those who were either remote from these power structures or too young.
All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 670 | 97 | 21 |
Full Text Views | 283 | 8 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 86 | 17 | 0 |