Early history of The Moscow News
I must admit, I am part of a very strange journalistic tradition. First, editorial rows get resolved by Stalin, then the paper is revamped at the behest of Putin (who visited the place to make sure it was money well-spent). Researching the history of The Moscow News, you see how everything changes - and everything remains the same. It's one thing when you are on the outside, researching what a majority of Russian newspapers went through during the 20th century. It's quite another when you work in one. To learn how to write the truth first you have to learn how to lie. More on this later. But this first historic installment was more than a little scary to write.
The origins of Russia's oldest English-language newspaper go back into such dark recesses of the 20th century that one often shudders, turning its yellowing pages in the archives.
As a Soviet newspaper launched in 1930, it was no innocent bystander dutifully writing the first draft of history and objectively reporting on the often bloody events of the day. It quickly became Stalin's mouthpiece, and as such, its mission was not reflecting reality but helping to mould an alternative one. Over the next half-century and more, that reality would replace the one that The Moscow News took great pains to ignore. (Read More)