University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2014 Reporting Socialism: Soviet Journalism and the Journalists' Union, 1955-1966 Mary Catherine French University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation French, Mary Catherine, "Reporting Socialism: Soviet Journalism and the Journalists' Union, 1955-1966" (2014). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1277. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1277 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1277 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Reporting Socialism: Soviet Journalism and the Journalists' Union, 1955-1966 Abstract This dissertation is a historical investigation of the Journalists' Union of the Soviet Union, the first creative union for media professionals in the USSR, and the first study of a creative profession after the death of Stalin. While socialist journalism had existed since before the 1917 revolutions, journalists were not incorporated into a professional body until 1959, several decades after their counterparts in other creative professions. Using sources from Russian and American archives together with published documents, I investigated the reasons for the organization's formation and its domestic and creative work to "develop professional mastery" in its members at home while advancing the Soviet cause abroad. Chapter one explores the reasons for the Journalists' Union's formation, and the interrelationship between Soviet cultural diplomacy and domestic professionalization. Chapter two describes Journalists' efforts to make sense of the immediate aftermath of de-Stalinization, through a case study of the Communist Youth League's newspaper. The third chapter describes the creative union's formal establishment and the debates about journalism's value at its inaugural congress. Chapter four is devoted to the creative union's international work, specifically its management of the International Organization of Journalists, a front organization based in Prague, demonstrating that journalists were key participants in the Soviet Union's effort to establish a positive international reputation, especially in the developing world. Chapter five features the debates about genre and audience engagement that preoccupied elite journalists in the years after the creative union's formation. Chapter six describes the changes in the journalism profession under Brezhnev, and journalists' efforts to reshape the creative union in its second decade. The epilogue traces the fate of my protagonists and the challenges to professionalization in Putin's Russia. Throughout the study, I describe how journalists articulated and promoted their own ideas about the meaning and value of their profession even as they acknowledged the leading role of the Communist Party and frequently responded to political interventions in their work. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group History First Advisor Warren Breckman Subject Categories History This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1277 REPORTING SOCIALISM: SOVIET JOURNALISM AND THE JOURNALISTS’ UNION, 1955–1966 Mary Catherine French A DISSERTATION in History Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Supervisor of Dissertation ______________________ Warren Breckman Professor of History Graduate Group Chairperson ________________________ Benjamin Nathans Ronald S. Lauder Endowed Term Associate Professor of History Dissertation Committee Warren Breckman, Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania Kevin M.F. Platt, Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures Vladislav M. Zubok, Chair in International History, Department of International History, London School of Economics REPORTING SOCIALISM: SOVIET JOURNALISM AND THE JOURNALISTS’ UNION, 1955–1966 COPYRIGHT 2014 Mary Catherine French This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ny-sa/2.0/ For Dan, with love and thanks iii Acknowledgements Graduate school has its unpleasant aspects. But to look back and celebrate everyone who has made this journey possible is a great joy. My parents, Kevin and Betty French, always encouraged my passion for books and learning, even when it took me half a world away. I cannot thank them enough for their love and faith. My sisters, Kelsey, Sarah, and Morgan, have always prevented me from taking myself too seriously. This is an underrated and invaluable contribution. Amanda Miller, as my oldest and dearest friend, has read more of my writing than anyone. She has taught me so many lessons about kindness and friendship. Amanda, you were also the first to teach me that distance is only a minor obstacle to connection. Thank you for everything. Jenn Moerman has been there since I discovered European history and helps me remember the very best of my past. Thank you for never asking when I was going to be done and for reminding me of the outside world at regular intervals. In college, I met a community of rich and fascinating people I am proud to remain connected to. Even as it’s been far too long since our last Aromachino, Sidney Foster has reminded me over and over why I set out on the journey and has loved many versions of me. Trey Comstock has an uncanny gift for asking the right question at the right time. I also thank the sisters of Nu Kappa Epsilon, for being a truly amazing group of women and bringing out my best self. Audrey Lockwood, Emily Bannister, Laura Miller, Adrienne Dykstra, Sara Campbell, Hillary Huttenhower, Pam Bailey, Christina Thames, and Grace Condro all deserve special mention. iv Julia Kriz Dzierwa, Julie Magdalena Courtwright, Jen Huff, and Susannah Lee Myers have kept me on my toes on Facebook and reminded me that I really do study interesting things. Most importantly, they have insisted that I am interesting in my own right. Looking back on my time at the University of Pennsylvania, I should acknowledge the material base for my work before moving to its emotional superstructure. I thank the School of Arts and Sciences for five years of fellowship support and a Summer Research Fellowship in 2012. Penn’s Slavic Department facilitated my Russian language study at Indiana University, which was crucial to my personal and professional growth. My time at Penn is memorable as much for meaningful relationships as it is for writing or study. I am particularly grateful to the members of my dissertation committee. Warren Breckman’s commitment to ideas, my own especially, has been a real inspiration. I could not have asked for a more compassionate or committed advisor for the project. Kevin Platt has worked with me since I first came to Penn, and much of my thinking about culture, power, and the past has come from our conversations. His willingness to support me through unpredictable periods is something I will always be grateful for. Vladislav Zubok has been a thoughtful and patient reader of various versions of the dissertation. His work has been a great influence on me, and my writing and ideas are immeasurably better for his contributions. I should also thank my mentors from coursework, many of whom have remained involved in with the dissertation in various ways. Kathy Peiss provided the best introduction to history I could have asked for and advocated for me in ways I never v expected and can never repay. Thomas Childers has my eternal thanks for supplying letters of transit when I needed them most. He has demonstrated over and over again that compassion is at the heart of all humanistic inquiry. Kristen Stromberg Childers’ dedication to scholarship is matched only by her courage and integrity, and I am truly inspired by her example. I thank Ronald Granieri for his gift for cynicism and good cheer. I would never have finished graduate school without the help of dear friends in my favorite city. I begin with the debt that is hardest to put into words. It is impossible to imagine graduate school, and life, without Rachel Guberman. Our friendship began as an unexpected gift, and I hope it has made us both better. Rachel, thank you for letting me be scared, helping me be brave, and laughing in the face of absurdity when that was the only thing left to do. Susan Epting reminded me to never apologize for where I come from and to bring it with me everywhere I go. Without her good sense and passion for justice, I would not be writing these acknowledgements. Nick DiLiberto’s willingness to share his knowledge and cheer on colleagues is unparalleled. Sean Dempsey’s good humor helped me keep the faith, in more ways than one. Matthew Mitchell’s wit and encouragement have stayed with me since our first year. Maryan Soliman’s cheerful interest at times when my own energy flagged is much appreciated. When I returned to Philadelphia in 2012 to begin writing, I never expected to find a truly interdisciplinary community of neighbors and friends. vi I thank Bets Beasley and Tiffany Holder for cat pictures and coffee breaks. Returning from Moscow was a real challenge, but Bets and Tiffany welcomed me into their lives without reservation. Bets, thank you for fierce hugs. Tiff, thank you for many videos and your dry wit. Sal Nicolazzo’s dissertation salon gave me an intellectual home when I had previously resigned myself to isolation. I am always astounded by her energy, her ferocity, and her willingness to cross disciplinary boundaries. Sal, thank you for reminding me that the proper appreciation of space utopia is always a sound basis for friendship. Kate Aid’s warmth and kindness have sustained me at unexpected moments. Our conversations about work, feminism, and academe strengthened my resolve to finish and to live and work on my own terms.