Comprehensive and centralized control of the means of communication has been a hallmark of Soviet party rule since early
in the existence of the regime.1 The party's monopoly over what a Soviet writer has called "the ideological process" covers the elaboration of theory, guidance of culture, and political education and communication.2 The latter functions are performed by a dense and differentiated network of oral, print, and broadcast media, all under the immediate direction of territorial party commitees situated in each administrative jurisdiction of the country. Through them, the leadership endeavors to shape popular consciousness and to prevent the dissemination of facts or ideas antithetical to the regime's doctrinally-based legitimacy.