ABSTRACT
In the Russian language the word "glasnost" conjures up a whole succession of associations: It is "voice," but it is also "eye." The Soviet media was only allowed to comment on official statements reported in Pravda. Hence the unanimity and "single voicedness" of Soviet pre-glasnost newspapers, whose correspondents just parroted the central party daily. Before glasnost, the Soviet Union, according to the Soviet media, was a society without any grave problems or contradictions; no disputes were necessary. Glasnost is a form of public self-government and self-control. And its task, in the words of Lenin, is to have an informed public that can make judgments about everything and can make conscious decisions. The unprecedented spread of glasnost has reached beyond official publications and can be seen also in the greatly enlarged freedom for unofficial publications. The struggle for glasnost, the battle with the opponents of glasnost, continues to unfold.
