Izvestia (“News”) was founded in 1917 as the newspaper of the Petrograd Soviet and became the official newspaper of the Soviet government, published by the Central Executive Committee and later the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. While Pravda spoke for the Communist Party, Izvestia spoke for the state, and the two together set the line for the rest of the Soviet press. Its editors included Nikolai Bukharin in the mid-1930s and Aleksei Adzhubei, Nikita Khrushchev’s son-in-law, from 1959 to 1964.

During the Cold War, Izvestia was one of the main outlets that repeated anti-Western themes and disinformation first placed in foreign media by Soviet active measures. After 1991 it became a commercial newspaper and passed through several owners; since the late 2000s it has been controlled by National Media Group, associated with Kremlin-connected banker Yuri Kovalchuk.

Sources

• Hopkins, Mark W. Mass Media in the Soviet Union. Pegasus, 1970.
• U.S. Department of State. Soviet Influence Activities: A Report on Active Measures and Propaganda, 1986-87. August 1987.

Summary entry. A fuller, document-based profile is in preparation.