European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 8, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A a a a 1 a overhauled pravda trying to make it in capitalist Russia by Thomas Ginsberg the associated press the huge wooden letters that used to stand proudly atop the Headquarters of the communist party newspaper pravda now lean splintered and peeling in a storeroom of the aging office building in Moscow. They spell the past and future of a once mighty institution. Known around the world As the voice of soviet communism pravda a Quot truth Quot a is struggling today with Market economics and political Disfavour As an opposition newspaper. In its decline pravda endured internal revolts that mirrored the communist parly s own after the collapse of the soviet Union the paper ironically was saved by a foreign capitalist publisher Only to face new questions about its finances. The newspaper founded by Vladimir Lenin s bolsheviks was an Organ of the party s Central committee. That made it the most authoritative daily in the country whether haranguing America during the cold War or preaching Mikhail Gorbachev s Quot perestroika Quot and  at first glance pravda was surprisingly thin for a paper of such weight and size 13 million subscribers at its Peak. It rarely ran More than eight pages mostly filled with formulaic party announcements stodgy articles and dogmatic commentaries. Still it was among the most closely read papers in history. Diplomats historians and journalists combed its turgid reportage for hints about new policies and leaders. Its pronouncements were Kremlin gospel Quot the press is the Only weapon with whose Aid the party Speaks every Day Quot Josef Stalin wrote in pravda in 1917. Sixteen years later Stalin then dictator made pravda the official arbiter for All soviet Media. It Drew journalists from across the soviet Union where local party branches ran papers like pravda Vostok truth of the East and pravda Ukraine truth of Ukraine. Many staffers Cut their Teeth at Komsomol Skaya pravda pravda s Junior publication that was influential in its own right. Quot pravda was t an orthodox right Wing newspaper Quot says sex editor Viktor Gubarev Quot it was a paper in Tine with the party Hierarchy that was extremely conservative reflecting. The interests of a narrow Circle of  pravda propagandized promulgated doctored and distorted information in the interest of the elite starting with the motto that graced its front Page for decades Quot founded May 5, 1912, by Vladimir  although Lenin had haired the meeting of bolsheviks in 1912 that decided to create the paper he had Little input after that. He was in Paris when the first Issue was printed in St Petersburg by two comrades we cd according to two Western historians turned out to be double agents for the Czar. Party infighting infused pravda from the Start. Lenin s rivals toned Down and even discarded some of his articles. Soviet leaders and Central committee members have played a tug of War Over Content Ever since. One of its first and most freewheeling editors Nikolai Bukharin printed Many biting critiques of party policy until Stalin loyalists in the Central committee sacked him in 1928, ten years later Bukharin was executed. Pravda came under strict control and Stalin later ordered All Media to follow its Lead. Pravda was the top paper among an elite few that were exempt from review by state censors. For Many soviets the Only Way to read pravda was not to read it at All. A joke compared it to the government newspaper Izvestia news Quot there s no truth in news and no news in  still pravda sat at the Pinnacle of soviet Media. Quot pravda its Quot a As staffers were known a worked in a modern 12-Story building in a quiet Northern neighbourhood. They had direct Access to Kremlin leaders not to mention a Black sea resort apartments cars and a country estate outside Moscow. Party politics not news or moneymaking dictated Content Viktor Afanasiev editor in chief from 1976 to 1989 and a Central committee member said he knew Gorbachev was the Kremlin heir apparent for months before his appointment in March 1985, Afanasiev s pravda hinted at the news with prominent pictures of Gorbachev and references to his speeches a giving readers their first clues about the next soviet Leader. Quot but of course we could t write anything about this Quot outright Afanasiev said. Under Lenin s Creed of secrecy and Unity pravda would print the scoop Quot Only when he was elected by a session of the  optimism swept the country with the ascent of a new Young Leader although pravda at first was cautious a photograph of Gorbachev without his fed Birthmark was published. Afanasiev at first sided with the party s reformist Wing. Taking his Cue from Gorbachev and new propaganda chief Alexander Yakovlev he printed a groundbreaking attack on party functionaries on feb. 13,1986. The article titled cleansing is considered to have been the Green Light for glasnost or greater openness. Couched As a review of Reader mail the article by Tatiana Samolis said readers had condemned Quot the poisonous roots of bureaucratic mentality abuse of official positions nepotism and love of the Good life at the state s  Quot pravda was the first to Start the talk about the state of the party Quot according to Afanasiev who now has a Low profile Job at the Academy of sciences. Under glasnost pravda Only was supposed to publicize certain shortcomings not engage in free critical journalism. Afanasiev says pravda s role was to Quot take part in glasnost As a conservative  it soon was overtaken by bolder publications such As Yegor Yakovlev s Moscow news Vitaly Korotich s Ogo Nyok and even Komsomol Skaya pravda. The party rifts however began to Divide pravda s own 450 journalists. T Many became disillusioned with a Gorbachev either for betraying the party or continuing to stick by it a a some pravda its began demanding the paper break from the Central committee to become a Quot general party newspaper Quot reflecting what they at its Peak pravda had a circulation of 13 million readers. It Seldom ran More than eight pages but had a staff of450journalists. Gennady Seleznev took Over As pravda editor when the newspaper finally severed its ties to the communist party. A considered More moderate views of the rank and file. The rebellion was supported by about one third of the staff at its Peak according to those involved. In 1989, Gorbachev seized a Chance to shake up the paper after editors launched a desperate bungled attack on Boris Yeltsin then a Maverick communist who was dividing the party. Pravda had reprinted an article on sept. 18 from the italian newspaper la Republica that claimed Yeltsin had turned his tour of the United states that month into a virtual drinking and shopping Binge. Whether True or not the article unleashed a political storm. Yeltsin looked like the victim of smear tactics and his popularity soared. Gorbachev ordered Afanasiev to apologize then replaced him with Ivan Frolov who reined in the paper. News favourable to Gorbachev was played More prominently. Criticism was limited to occasional Quot discussion bulletins Quot similar to what Bukharin had printed decades earlier. As the communist party began to collapse the paper suffered too. Circulation was Down to 9.73 million when Frolov took Over. It hit 7.7 million. Three months later and 3.2 million within a year after the party gave up its monopoly on Power. When hard liners in the party launched their coup against Gorbachev on aug. 18,1991, Frolov was in Germany. Current and former pravda its say they had no Advance word of the. Putsch. On monday As tanks began rolling in Moscow pravda had Only one reference to coup Quot accusations Quot that had been made the previous week by an sex Gorbachev aide and reported by Western journalists. Although pravda its were not involved in or aware of the coup Many staff members were sympathetic to its leaders and at first the paper looked like an official newsletter for the coup plotters state committee for the state of emergency. When the coup collapsed three Days later Many pravda its thought the party leaders would go with it. On aug. 23, editors declared Independence from the Central committee and proclaimed pravda Quot a general political newspaper Quot of the communist party within hours however Yeltsin shut Down the paper and five others for supporting the coup. Though pravda its still Call the crackdown unjust some concede it was a Blessing. The staff held a Marathon meeting and decided to go fully Independent under Gennady Seleznev and it reappeared aug. 31 a answerable to nobody but itself pravda replaced its monotonous prose with biting criticism ran Cheeky headlines and even carried advertising but it also had to Cut its staff to about 300. Subsidies dried up in March and the paper dosed for three weeks. While Seleznev held a news conference to criticize Yeltsin workers callously stripped the Golden letters Quot pravda Quot from its building. Steeled on an opposition course Seleznev struck a Deal in july with Yannis Zannikos a publisher of soviet books and onetime communist guerrilla who Felt indebted to pravda for defending him after the greek civil War. Pravda International publishing co was formed with Zannikos Cyprus based steel Light holding owning 55 percent and the newspaper owning 45 percent. Neither Side would quote the size of Zannikos investment. Now pravda has begun to operate like a real business a paying off debts accepting More advertising and plastering its own name in to commercials and on billboards. The paper has been attacked by Media rivals and government investigators who Haven t forgotten it was the Community party Organ. But so far the paper has weathered the criticism and various probes of its financing. Quot this is a paper that will remain for a Long Long time says Viktor Linnick a former Washington correspondent. Quot when Many of the other papers a sensational and successful ones a Are Long gone pravda will still be  v \ v a \ if. Or 4 i a the Story that pravda hoped would help Gorbachev and Hurt Yeltsin accomplished just the opposite. Yeltsin came out looking like a victim. The Yeltsin affair expose that backfired one of the Pivotal moments in pravda s decline came in september 1989, while Boris Yeltsin was touring the United states. Then a heretical communist in the soviet legislature Yeltsin was dividing the party led by Mikhail Gorbachev. Party loyalists wanted to Stop him an Opportunity arose when the italian paper la Republica alleged in an article published sept. 14 that Yeltsin spent most of his . Trip drinking and shopping. The soviet news Agency Tass relayed the article on sept. 17, a sunday Over a special wire to top editors in Moscow including those at pravda s 12-Story Headquarters. Yeltsin s enemies at the paper saw the article As a Bombshell. If reprinted it could Embarrass the Gorbachev rival and pravda could blame the report on the Western press. But there was a Small irony editor in chief Viktor Afanasiev had had a few drinks himself that sunday afternoon by his own admission. Senior writer Viktor Gubarev the duty editor that Day goes further he said Afanasiev was Quot completely  i Gubarev says he took matters into his own a hands. With Afanasiev s assent Gubarev pushed the editors to reprint the article on their own authority. No party higher  were consulted. Nobody was called to verify the article no attempt was made to get comment from Yeltsin who later said he was not drunk at All but suffering from the effects of Jet lag. The publication on sept. 18 unleashed a political storm Gorbachev a whom Afanasiev says was Quot not unhappy Quot with the article a ordered the editor to apologize then y a 4 fired him ending a 13-year reign that m 3?%. 7 started under Leonid Brezhnev. He was replaced by Gorbachev loyalist Ivan Frolov. Yeltsin came out looking like the victim of a smear and his popularity soared. Two years later As russian president he closed the paper after the hard line coup against Gorbachev failed. Quot in principle it was intended to help Gorbachev but the result was the opposite Quot Afanasiev recounts. He added that he would not print the article Aga in if he had the Chance. Flom Yeltsin closed pravda after a Thomas Ginsberg the hard liners coup failed. 18 a the stars and stripes monday March 8, 1993 the stars and stripes a 19