I read in the Moscow Times that Pravda, the organ of the Soviet Government, which struggles on in a much reduced form today, is celebrating its 100th birthday.
Described as the 'probably the dullest newspaper in the world' the newspaper, whose name means 'truth', was first published on 5th May 2012 in St Petersburg. In a play on its name along with that of the daily paper Izvestia, which means 'news', Russians used to say that there was no truth in Pravda and no news in Izvestia.
The excerpt below comes courtesy of the Moscow Times, an English language newspaper that is a must for all Russia watchers.
"In a secretive country where news was hard to come by for Soviet citizens, and often censored, Pravda would occasionally announce major developments such as the death of leaders.
One joke told how every morning a man would come up to a newspaper stand, buy Pravda, look at the front page and then toss it angrily into the bin. The newspaper seller, intrigued, eventually asked why he did this.
"I'm only interested in the front page. I'm looking out for an obituary," the man says.
When the newspaper seller points out that obituaries only appeared on the back page, the man says: "I assure you, the obituary I'm looking for will be on the front page."
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