Soviet Union: The Presentation of American Cultural Events in the Press

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the presentation of American cultural events by selected Soviet newspapers and magazines. It was found that the Soviet mass media have, to a certain extent, an easier time of establishing trust in foreign reporting, because only approximately one per cent of the population have travelled outside the country or have extensive and regular access to foreign publications. The research questions centered on which American cultural events were featured in the Soviet press in a selected time period and how the event or artist was presented. The content analysis comprised the following domestic and foreign categories: performing arts, visual arts, general, literature and cultural relations.This content analysis showed that no generalizations could be made about the presentation of American cultural events in the Soviet press. It was Impossible to discern why the Soviet press chose to cover certain events while totally ignoring others.