Establishment of a Periodic Printing System in Polyethnic Regions in 1900-1930s (on the Material of the Press of Kalmykia and Stavropol region)

Abstract

The formation of the system of periodicals in two similar and dissimilar polyethnic regions in the south of Russia – Kalmykia and Stavropol – developed according to the same scheme, but had significant nuances. The Stavropol press, aimed at the Russian majority in the region, appeared earlier (in 1850) and was typologically more diverse and numerous until the 1920s, while the publications created for the Kalmyks were for a long time isolated projects: The Russian-Kalmyk Calendar (1911-1918), a newspaper in the Kalmyk language «Oordin ziang» (1917-1918), leaflets and the first bilingual newspaper «Red Kalmyk» (1919-1920). A new stage in the development of journalism in the regions begins with the establishment of Soviet power after the end of the civil war. The work of the press is under the control of the ruling party, and the unification of the system of regional and local periodicals begins. Gradually, both in Kalmykia and in Stavropol, a harmonious system of periodicals was formed, lined up vertically and horizontally: regional / regional mass sociopolitical newspapers – regional / regional youth newspapers – regional / regional children’s newspapers – district / ulus socio-political newspapers – large circulation newspapers – wall newspapers. In addition to newspapers, instructor magazines for party and Soviet workers, literary and artistic publications of regional writers’ unions were published. The polyethnicity of the regions influenced the information policy of local periodicals and the structure of the press: in Kalmykia there were publications in the Kalmyk language, in Russian and bilingual, in Stavropol, along with publications in Russian, there were bilingual publications in two districts.

Keywords

• polyethnic region
• printing system
• history of kalmyk journalism
• history of stavropol journalism