''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "
Komsomol
The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...
Truth") is a daily Russian
tabloid newspaper,
founded on 13 March 1925.
History and profile
During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' was an all-union newspaper of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and an official organ of the
Central Committee
Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
of the
Komsomol
The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...
. Established in accordance with a decision of the
13th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (b), it first appeared on 24 May 1925 in an edition of 31,000 copies.
''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' began as the official organ of the Komsomol, the
youth wing
A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...
of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
"Hymn of the Bolshevik Party"
, headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow
, general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last)
, founded =
, banned =
, founder = Vladimir Lenin
, newspaper ...
(CPSU). As such, it targeted the same 14 to 28 demographic as its parent organization, focusing initially on popular science and adventure articles while teaching the values of the CPSU. During this period, it was twice awarded the
Order of Red Banner of Labour (in 1950 and 1957), and was also the recipient of the
Order of Lenin
The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...
(in 1930), of the
Order of the October Revolution
The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...
(in 1975), and of the
Order of the Patriotic War
The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...
(in 1945).
The paper is owned by Media Partner, which in turn is owned by ESN Group (), an energy company led by
Grigory Berezkin, who has close links to
Gazprom
PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the larges ...
. In December 2000 the Norwegian media company
A-Pressen bought 25 percent plus one share of the paper. It is published in tabloid format by "Izdatelsky Dom Komsomolskaya Pravda" (Komsomolskaya Pravda Publishing House).
[
''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' reached its highest circulation in 1990 when it sold almost 22 million daily copies. In 2001 it was the ninth-top European newspaper with a circulation of 785,000 copies.] It was the top-selling newspaper in Russia in 2006 with daily circulation ranging from 700,000 to 3.1 million copies. Its March 2008 circulation, certified by the NCS, was 660,000 copies and it was the most read paper in the country based on the findings by the TNS Gallup Media. In the same year the online version of the paper was also the most visited news website.[
In January 2015 a front-page article in ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' suggested that the United States had orchestrated the ]Charlie Hebdo shooting
On 7 January 2015, at about 11:30 a.m. CET local time, two French Muslim terrorists and brothers, Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper '' Charlie Hebdo'' in Paris. Armed with ...
.[
]
In May 2017, columnist Alisa Titko went viral for writing that the English city of Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
was "full of fat people" and that she found the sight of same-sex love "disgusting".
In 2021, the tabloid published an article in which former Kontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey League (KHL; russian: Континентальная хоккейная лига (КХЛ), Kontinental'naya khokkeynaya liga) is an international professional ice hockey league founded in 2008. It comprises member clubs ba ...
coach Andrei Nazarov
Andrei Viktorovich Nazarov (russian: Андрей Викторович Назаров; born May 22, 1974) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player and head coach of HC Sochi of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He has formerly manag ...
accused New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...
winger Artemi Panarin
Artemi Sergeyevich Panarin (russian: Арте́мий Серге́евич Пана́рин; born 30 October 1991), nicknamed the "Breadman", or simply "Bread", is a Russian professional ice hockey winger and alternate captain for the New York ...
of sexually assaulting an 18-year old Latvian woman in Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
. The team released a statement condemning the allegations as a "fabrication" and “intimidation tactic” against Panarin after speaking out against “recent political events”, most notably expressing his support for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny
Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, Russian opposition ...
, who was detained upon return to Russia]from Germany.
Editors in chief of ''Komsomolskaya Pravda''
The newspaper's editors in chief, in reverse chronological order, have been:
* 1997–2022 – Vladimir Nikolayevich Sungorkin
* 1995–1997 – Vladimir Petrovich Simonov
* 1988–1995 – Vladislav Aleksandrovich Fronin
* 1981–1988 – Gennadiy Seleznyov, Gennadiy Nikolayevich Seleznyov
* 1978–1980 – Valeriy Nikolayevich Ganichev
* 1973–1978 – Lev Konstantinovich Korneshov
* 1965–1973 – Boris Dmitriyevich Pankin
* 1959–1965 – Yuriy Petrovich Voronov
* 1957–1959 – Aleksey Ivanovich Adzhubey
* 1950–1957 – Dmitriy Petrovich Goryunov
* 1948–1950 – Anatoly Blatin
* 1941–1948 – Boris Sergeyevich Burkov
* 1937–1938 – Nikolay Aleksandrovich Mikhaylov
* 1932–1937 – Vladimir Mikhaylovich Bubekin (1904–1937)
* 1925–1928 – Taras Kostrov (Aleksandr Sergeyevich Martynovskiy)
* 1925 – Aleksandr Nikolaevich Slepkov
Notable journalists
* Vsevolod Kukushkin
Vsevolod Vladimirovich Kukushkin (russian: link=no, Всеволод Владимирович Кукушкин; born 3 May 1942) is a Russian journalist, writer and ice hockey administrator. He has written for ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'', TASS, RI ...
, ice hockey and sports correspondent
* Dmitry Steshin, war reporter
* Alexander Kots, war reporter
Related and similar publications
A "European" edition (''Komsomolskaya Pravda v Evrope''), aimed in particular at the Russian diaspora
The Russian diaspora is the global community of ethnic Russians. The Russian-speaking (''Russophone'') diaspora are the people for whom Russian language is the native language, regardless of whether they are ethnic Russians or not.
History
...
in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, as well as Russian-speaking tourists on the Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
n Adriatic
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
coast, is distributed in several EU countries, while a special Baltic-region edition is available in Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, and Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
A number of similar, but independently owned, newspapers can be found in other member or associate-member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
(CIS):
*Belarus – ''Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belorusi''
*Moldova – ''Komsomolskaya Pravda v Moldove''
*Kazakhstan – ''Komsomolskaya Pravda v Kazakhstane''
*Ukraine – ''Komsomolskaya Pravda v Ukraine'' (renamed '' KP'' in January 2016 in order to comply with Ukrainian decommunization laws
Ukrainian decommunization laws refer to four Ukrainian laws of 2015. These laws relate to decommunization as well as commemoration of Ukrainian history. Such laws have been referred to as " memory laws".
As a result of the law mandating the remov ...
Komsomolskaya Pravda in Ukraine newspaper renamed under 'decommunization' law
Interfax-Ukraine
The Interfax-Ukraine ( uk, Інтерфакс-Україна) is a Kyiv-based Ukraine, Ukrainian independent news agency founded in 1992. The company does not belong to the Russian news corporation Interfax Information Services. The company pub ...
(12 January 2016))
See also
* Eastern Bloc media and propaganda
Eastern Bloc media and propaganda was controlled directly by each country's communist party, which controlled the state media, censorship and propaganda organs. State and party ownership of print, television and radio media served as an important ...
* ''Sovetsky Sport
, logo = SovSport.png
, image = Sovetskiy Sport nameplate May 19 1988.png
, caption = ''Soviet Sports'' nameplate on the May 19, 1988 issue
, type =
, format =
, own ...
''
Notes
External links
*
Baltic edition of the ''Komsomolskaya Pravda''
Belarusian edition
Ukrainian edition
Moldovan edition
Kazakh edition
Kyrgyz edition
Czech edition of the ''Komsomolskaya Pravda''
"Komsomolskaya Pravda" digital archives in "Newspapers on the web and beyond"
the digital resource of the National Library of Russia
The National Library of Russia (NLR, russian: Российская национальная библиотека}), located in Saint Petersburg, is the first, and one of three national public libraries in Russia. The NLR is currently ranked amo ...
{{Authority control
1925 establishments in the Soviet Union
Russian-language newspapers published in Russia
Newspapers published in Moldova
Newspapers published in Belarus
Newspapers published in the Soviet Union
Eastern Bloc mass media
Komsomol
Gazprom
Publications established in 1925
Communist newspapers