ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the changes to the mass media since the 1980s and explores the development of electronic sources of information. It examines the changing face of censorship and Vladimir Putin's approaches to the mass media. The end of soviet socialism heralded a different political and economic environment for the mass media. Under soviet socialism the mass media played an important role in promoting Marxism-Leninism as the official state ideology and were part of the Communist Party's (CPSU) ideological and propaganda work. Putin moved decisively to draw the mass media into his managed democracy and to exert, both directly and indirectly, Kremlin control over Russia's major sources of news and opinion. The result was that the range of news and the diversity of reported opinions were dramatically reduced, so that by the 2007 Duma elections and the 2008 presidential elections, it was difficult for opposition voices to find a platform; this helped Dmitry Medvedev's successful election as president in 2008.
