The Photocor Newspaper (1931–1933): Publication History, Structure and Content

Section: History of Journalism

This article reconstructs the history of the Photocor newspaper, analyzes its structural and content specifics. This unique publication of the early 1930s organized with the participation of the Society “For Proletarian Cinema and Photography” and Soyuzfoto was addressed to a narrow target audience distinguished by professional characteristics, namely to photojournalists. Its circulation fluctuated between 6 000–25 000 copies. In historiography, Photocor has not previously been given due attention, which justifies – regarding the international interest in the photographic culture of the early USSR – the relevance of the study and testifies to its novelty. The newspaper might be referred to the group of special purpose industry publications, and this determined its structural and content features. The author studied 1449 publications from 51 issues (1931–1933) and codified them into 14 thematic groups, analyzing distribution by groups. The following groups proved to be the richest in materials: “The photocor movement in the USSR”, “Activities of individual photographers”, “Development of the photographic industry and photo trade”, which corresponds to the guidelines of the editorial board. More than half of the advertisements are self-advertisements: announcements of publications and the so-called phototrips, calls to subscribe to the newspaper and the Photocor Library book supplement. This, together with a large number of editorial materials about the activities of the Photocor newspaper, testifies to a certain expansiveness of the editorial policy, the desire to struggle for its readers, establish trusting relationships with them, as well as relative transparency of the editorial activities.

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To cite this article: Romakina M.A. (2022) Gazeta «Fotokor» (1931–1933): istoriya izdaniya, struktura, soderzhanie [The Photocor Newspaper (1931–1933): Publication History, Structure and Content]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 10. Zhurnalistika 3: 170–191. DOI: 10.30547/vestnik.journ.3.2022.170191