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Reporting Glasnost: The Changing Soviet News in a Norwegian Daily, 1985–1988

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Media and the Cold War in the 1980s

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media ((PSHM))

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Abstract

This is a study of the perception of the Soviet Union in Western mass media during the late 1980s, when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev led his country into a dramatic era of reform, marked most notably by “glasnost,” a policy of open public debate and freer journalistic practice. How did Gorbachev’s glasnost policy influence big national newspapers abroad, like Aftenposten in Norway? Bastiansen identifies Aftenposten’s earliest use of the term, its breakthrough as a course of action, and the media’s later coverage of it. He shows how the encouraging news reports on glasnost must be viewed as contributing to the more positive image of the Soviet Union held by the general public between 1985 and 1988—as confirmed by the polls.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Volda University College, Volda, Norway

    Henrik G. Bastiansen

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  1. Henrik G. Bastiansen
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Correspondence to Henrik G. Bastiansen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Volda University College, Volda, Norway

    Henrik G. Bastiansen

  2. New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Martin Klimke

  3. Volda University College, Volda, Norway

    Rolf Werenskjold

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Bastiansen, H.G. (2019). Reporting Glasnost: The Changing Soviet News in a Norwegian Daily, 1985–1988. In: Bastiansen, H.G., Klimke, M., Werenskjold, R. (eds) Media and the Cold War in the 1980s. Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98382-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98382-0_11

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98381-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98382-0

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

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