Battle for Pravda

As part of an ongoing court battle to claim the ownership of the legendary Communist mouthpiece, Pravda, one among its three successors cele...

As part of an ongoing court battle to claim the ownership of the legendary Communist mouthpiece, Pravda, one among its three successors celebrated the 86th anniversary of the newspaper this week. It did not seem to matter that the newspaper in its new avatar had not yet even made it to its first anniversary.

Communist party leader and presidential hopeful Gennady Zyuganov was present on the occasion to lend weight to its claim as the true successor of the original Pravda. He called this youngest version of the Pravda a reincarnation of the original.

The original Pravda, which means truth8217; in Russian, was closed down by its Greek owners in 1996, who alleged the hardline newspaper was losing money and that its editors drank too much.

Since then three newspapers have emerged bearing the original Pravda logo and the Order of Lenin medals that adorned the old Pravda8217;s front page. But none of the three can claim the original dominance, embroiled as they are in an ongoingtortuous court battle for legal ownership.

Founded in 1912, by Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, Pravda was considered compulsory reading for Soviet citizens, with a circulation of over 13 million at its peak in the 1970s. But it fell on hard times after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In the past five years the paper has been closed down five times. Three times due to lack of funds and twice it was shut down temporarily by President Boris Yeltsin to crack down on his opponents.

In 1992, Giannikos brothers of Greece rescued the Pravda and restarted its publication under a company known as Pravda International. But soon internal struggles set in and the brothers closed the newspaper. The closure triggered its disintegration, leading to the publication of the three new Pravdas in the past years, each claiming to be the real successor of the famous original.

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One version called Pravda Pyat is a less serious tabloid published by the Greek brothers. The otherPravda is supported by the Russian Communist Party but it8217;s a weekly. The third, which marked the 86th anniversary of the Pravda, was started by its former editor Viktor Linnik in 1997. But this youngest version of the newspaper has dropped its traditional Communist line in search of a broader readership. Currently, it has a circulation of 50,000.

8220;We are not stressing any political affiliations,8221; says Linnik, explaining Pravda8217;s editorial policy. 8220;We are putting emphasis on whoever wants to put Russia back together and get it out of the mess it is in now.8221;

For some this is enough proof that all the lobbying for Pravda8217;s name and Communist legacy is no more than a grab for sales in Russia8217;s weak newspaper market.