Party Leadership of Radio Broadcasting in the Buryat-Mongol ASSR During the War

Section: History of Journalism

This article examines an important period of operation of republican radio broadcasting during the Great Patriotic War on the example of the Buryat-Mongol ASSR. The authors present the results of the first ever done quantitative and qualitative analysis of the decisions made by the Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks preserved in the party fund of the State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia. The materials of wartime documents devoted to the issues of radio installation, radio broadcasting and political radio propaganda were thoroughly studied and introduced into scientific circulation. Notably, some archival files remain classified. Data analysis shows that the radical restructuring of radio broadcasting in the republic was successful and this was because of the party’s skillful use of organizational and methodological tools. Due to its common sense leadership, the quality of radio service of the population improved, the broadcasting network became wider and radio propaganda was widely developed. In this matter, the radio committee of Buryatia and the network of rural radio editors also played an important role. Workers, collective farmers, those working in medicine, education, science and culture took an active part in the broadcasts of the radio committee and rural radio editions. During the Great Patriotic War, interest in radio transmissions grew unusually, and the proficiency of the Russian language among the national audience noticeably improved.

Bolotova L. D. (2015) Radioveshchanie v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny [Radio Broadcasting During the Great Patriotic War]. In O. V. Tikhonova (ed.) Radio v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy vojny: sbornik nauchnykh statey [Radio During the Great Patriotic War: a collection of scientific articles]. Moscow: MSU Faculty of Journalism Publ. Pp. 11–18. (In Russian)

Evteev A. A (2018) Deyatel’nost’ organov gosudarstvennoy vlasti Buryat-Mongol’skoy ASSR v 1941–1953 gg. [Activities of State Authorities of the Buryat-Mongol ASSR in 1941–1953]. Vestnik BGU. Gumanitarnye issledovaniya Vnutrenney Azii 2: 60–66. DOI: 10.18101/2305-753X-2018-2-60-67 (In Russian)

Glazer M. S., Potapov N. M. (eds.) (1982) Radio v dni voyny [Radio in the Days of the War]. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ. (In Russian)

Glazer M. S. (1989) Radio i televidenie v SSSR. Daty i fakty (1917–1986) [Radio and Television in the USSR. Dates and Facts (1917–1986)]. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ. (In Russian)

Golubev E. A. (1985) Boevoy rupor partii [Battle Mouthpiece of the Party]. In I v tylu kovalas’ pobeda: sbornik statey [Victory Was Built on the Home Front, Too: a collection of articles]. Ulan-Ude: Buryat Publishing House. Pp. 117– 130. (In Russian)

Goryaeva T. M. (ed.) (2007) Velikaya kniga dnya...Radio v SSSR. Dokumenty i materialy [The Great Book of the Day. Radio in the USSR. Documents and Materials]. Moscow: ROSSPEN Publ. (In Russian)

Goryaeva T. M. (ed.) (1999) Istoriya sovetskoy radiozhurnalistiki (1917–1945 gg.). Dokumenty, teksty, vospominaniya [History of Soviet Radio Journalism. Documents. Texts. Memoirs]. Moscow: Moscow St. Univ. Publ. (In Russian)

Gurevich P. S., Ruzhnikov V. N. (1976) Sovetskoe radioveshchanie: stranitsy istorii [Soviet Radio Broadcasting: Pages of History]. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ. (In Russian)

Romanov A. S. (2015) Radiotranslyatsionnaya set’ Leningrada v gody Blokady [Radio Broadcasting Network of Leningrad During the Siege]. In O. V. Tikhonova (ed.) Radio v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny: sbornik nauchnykh statey [Radio During the Great Patriotic War: a collection of scientific articles]. Moscow: MSU Faculty of Journalism Publ. Pp. 25–34. (In Russian)

Sanzhiev B. S. (1995) Obshhestvenno-politicheskaja zhizn’ i nacional’no-kul’turnoe stroitel’stvo sovetskoj Burjatii v kanun i gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny [Social and Political Life and National and Cultural Construction of Soviet Buryatia on the Eve and During the Great Patriotic War]. Irkutsk; Ulan-Ude: ONTs Sibir’ Publ. (In Russian)

Shagdarova B. B. (2013) Zhurnalistika Buryatii v pervoy polovine XX v. [Journalism of Buryatia in the First Half of the XX Century]. Ulan-Ude: Buryat St. Univ. Publ. (In Russian)

Tikhonova O. V. (2015) Otechestvennoe mestnoe radioveshchanie: voennaya retrospektiva [Domestic Local Radio Broadcasting: a Military Retrospective]. In O. V. Tikhonova (ed.) Radio v gody Velikoy Otechestvennoy voyny: sbornik nauchnykh statey [Radio During the Great Patriotic War: a collection of scientific articles]. Moscow: MSU Faculty of Journalism Publ. Pp. 53–64. (In Russian)