3-GORBACHEV+Ali,+Mateen

Gorbachev and The Media Before Gorbachev was the premier there was a complete lack of freedom of speech, as the media was very restricted. The media was not allowed to comment on the government in a negative light or image. The people as a whole were massively misinformed and given no chance to know what was happening in or around the government, leaving them in the dark. The policy of Glasnost reflected how Gorbachev “believed that the path to economic and social recovery required the inclusion of people in the political process. Glasnost also allowed the media more freedom of expression, and editorials complaining of depressed conditions and of the government’s inability to correct them began to appear.”

“Gorbachev's conceptualization of glasnost was restricted to signify a more democratic and open society, and not the endangerment or abandonment of the fundamentals of Soviet communism” in which the media had free reigns upon what they were able to document in the media. They took this as a green light to print whatever they were able to find out about the communist government over the years.

As Gorbachev said, "The idea of restructuring [perestroika] . . . combines continuity and innovation, the historical experience of Bolshevism and the contemporaneity of socialism." which led to the idea that the Media was able to utilize any information they were able to find throughout their times.

Works Cited

Beyersdorf, Frank. "glasnost." //World History: The Modern Era //. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. "Mikhail Gorbachev: quote on perestroika." //World History: The Modern Era //. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. "Russia". //Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. // Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2014. Web. 03 Mar. 2014 < [] >.