Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Losing Pravda
  • Cited by 112
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      22 September 2017
      28 September 2017
      ISBN:
      9781316817117
      9781107171121
      9781316629772
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316817117
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.55kg, 274 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.41kg, 274 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Russian and East European Government, Politics and Policy, Film, Media, Mass Communication, Politics and International Relations, Media, Mass Communication
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    Russian and East European Government, Politics and Policy, Film, Media, Mass Communication, Politics and International Relations, Media, Mass Communication
    Information

    Book description

    What happens when journalism is made superfluous? Combining ethnography, media analysis, moral and political theory this book examines the unravelling of professional journalism in Russia over the past twenty-five years, and its effects on society. It argues that, contrary to widespread assumptions, late Soviet-era journalists shared a cultural contract with their audiences, which ensured that their work was guided by a truth-telling ethic. Post-communist economic and political upheaval led not so much to greater press freedom as to the de-professionalization of journalism, as journalists found themselves having to monetize their truth-seeking skills. This has culminated in a perception of journalists as political prostitutes, or members of the 'second oldest profession', as they are commonly termed in Russia. Roudakova argues that this cultural shift has fundamentally eroded the value of truth-seeking and telling in Russian society.

    Awards

    Winner, 2017 Frank Luther Mott - Kappa Tau Alpha Journalism and Mass Communication Research Award, Kappa Tau Alpha

    Winner, 2018 Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

    Co-winner, 2018 Davis Center Book Prize in Political and Social Studies, Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

    Winner, 2018 ICA Outstanding Book Award, International Communication Association

    Winner, 2018 Journalism Studies Division Book Award, International Communication Association

    Reviews

    ‘Natalia Roudakova brings deep ethnographic research, fluency in social theory, and an engaged ethical sense for the deep urgency of journalism to this thoughtful and essential book. Her account of the surprising career of Russian journalism - from its fall from grace as a moral outlet under the Soviets to its ‘prostitution' in a time of oligarchs, big money, and ‘kompromat' - offers not only a sparkling case study but a vision of the high societal stakes of journalism more generally. Losing Pravda presents us with an uncannily familiar media environment. The conditions that Roudakova analyses, such as fake news, sponsored content, swirling rumors and cynicism, punctuated here and there by the courageous few committed to telling the truth, are not unique to Russia. In a way, Roudakova has helped us understand not only the Russian scene, but also our own in the age of Donald J. Trump.'

    John D. Peters - University of Iowa

    'Changes in Russia’s press are vital to understanding the global media climate of today. … the book offers a thoughtful and useful discussion of how truth can slowly be erased from public discourse. Highly Recommended.'

    J. R. Clardie Source: Choice

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.