THE JOURNAL OF REGIONAL HISTORY V.4 No.3
Fake News in the Capital’s Periodicals in the Early Twentieth Century (on the Ex...
THE JOURNAL OF REGIONAL HISTORY V.4 No.3

Fake News in the Capital’s Periodicals in the Early Twentieth Century (on the Example of Articles about the Police in the Newspaper Novoe Vremya)

Authors:
Elena N. Krylova
DOI:
Full text:
The article is devoted to the little-studied issue of disseminating unreliable socially significant information in the Russian capital’s periodicals in the early twentieth century. Particular
attention is paid to the publication of fictitious news (“fake news”) about the activities of the capital police in the newspaper Novoe Vremya in 1899. The study is based on the texts of the articles published in Novoe Vremya and on the memoranda of the mayor of St Petersburg to the Minister of Internal Affairs. The author comes to the conclusion that these articles did indeed use information manipulation techniques which distorted the facts and formed a rather negative image of law enforcement agencies. Legislatively codified system for controlling the press did not allow the authorities to form a positive image of government organs. The main mechanism for countering the emergence of fake news on the part of the state authority in the early twentieth century consisted in the publication of denials, which, as a rule, became an additional newsworthy occurrence to remind the readers of the unpleasant situation with the participation of the capital’s law enforcement agencies. Dissemination of inaccurate publicly significant information in the metropolitan periodicals and the lack of effective response to fake news from the authorities during the period under consideration dictated the need for changes in the regulation of state policy regarding the press and for changes in the approach to the interaction with the private media.
Elena N. Krylova
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor
Pushkin Leningrad State University, St Petersburg, Pushkin, Russia
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2202-6482
hellennak@yandex.r
Akhmetova, D.R. “Imidzh sotrudnika politsii kak vazhnaya sostavlyayushchaya polozhitel'nogo obshchestvennogo mneniya” [The image of a police officer as an important component of positive public opinion]. In Prestupnost' v SNG: problemy preduprezhdeniya i raskrytiya prestuplenii. Sbornik materialov konferentsii (Voronezh, 23 maya 2018 g.) [Crime in the CIS: problems of crime prevention and detection. Collection of conference papers (Voronezh, May 23, 2018)], 225–28. Voronezh: Voronezhskii institut Ministerstva vnutrennikh del Rossiiskoi
Federatsii, 2018. (In Russian)
Ambros'ev, A.V. “Osvedomitel'noye byuro pri Glavnom upravlenii po delam pechati MVD Rossiyskoy imperii: struktura i organizatsiya deyatel'nosti” [The Information Bureau of the Main
Directorate for Press Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire: Structure and organization of activities]. Istoriya gosudarstva i prava, no. 17 (2011): 30–35. (In Russian)
Belyakov, M.V., and O.I. Maksimenko. “ ‘Fake news’ v epokhu informatsionnykh voin” [‘Fake news’ in the era of information warfare]. In Aktual'nye napravleniya fundamental'nykh i
prikladnykh issledovanii. Materialy XI mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii. NITs ‘Akademicheskii’ [Topical Areas of Fundamental and Applied Research XI: Proceedings of the Conference. SPC “Academic”], vol. 1, 153–55. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace, 2017. (In Russian)
Bokhanov, A.N. Burzhuaznaya pressa Rossii i krupnyi kapital. Konets XIX v. – 1914 g. [Russian bourgeois press and big capital. The end of the 19th century – 1914]. Moscow: Nauka, 1984. (In Russian)
Brenton, T. Historically Inevitable? Turning Points of the Russian Revolution. London: Profile Books, 2016.
Cosgrove, S. Review of Russia in Revolution. An Empire in Crisis, 1890–1928 by S.A. Smith; The Russian Revolution, 1905–1921 by Mark D. Steinberg. Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 71, iss. 3 (2019): 513–15. http://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2019.1593630.
Emashov, Ya.I. “Amerikanskie fake news kak ugroza dlya Rossiiskoi Federatsii” [American fake news as a threat to the Russian Federation]. Azimut nauchnykh issledovanii: ekonomika i upravlenie, vol.6, no. 4 (2017): 314–17. (In Russian)
Fedorov, V.K., and N.V. Afonyushkina. “Sovremennoe zakonodatel'stvo protiv ‘feikovykh novostei’” [Current legislation against ‘fake news’]. In Problemy i vyzovy tsifrovogo obshchestva:
tendentsii razvitiya pravovogo regulirovaniya tsifrovykh transformatsii. Sbornik nauchnykh trudov po materialam I Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii (Saratov, 17–18 oktyabrya 2019 g.) [Problems and challenges of digital society: trends in the development of legal regulation of digital transformations. Collection of scientific papers of the 1st International scientific and practical conference (Saratov, October 17–18, 2019)], edited by N. N. Kovaleva, 179–81. Saratov: Saratovskaya gosudarstvennaya yuridicheskaya akademiya, 2019. (In Russian)
Galakhova, I.S. “Obraz geroya politsii na stranitsakh zhurnala ‘Vestnik politsii’” [The image of the police hero in the journal Vestnik policii]. In Gosudarstvo i pravo: evolyutsiya, sovremennoe sostoyanie, perspektivy razvitiya (navstrechu 300-letiyu rossiiskoi politsii) (Sankt-Peterburg, 29 aprelya 2016 g.: Materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-teoreticheskoi konferentsii molodykh issledovatelei. Sankt-Peterburg, 29 aprelya 2016 g.) [State and law: evolution, current state, development prospects (towards the 300th anniversary of the Russian police). Proceedings of the international scientific theoretical conference of young researchers], 2 vols., 2 vol., edited by N.S. Nizhnik, 226–28. St Petersburg: Sankt-Peterburgskii universitet MVD Rossii, 2016. (In Russian).
Golovatskaya, O.E. “Znachenie i proiskhozhdenie termina ‘fake news’” [Meaning and origin of the term ‘fake news’]. Kommunikologiya, vol. 7, no. 2 (2019): 139–52. (In Russian)
Gribanovskaya, A.M. “Gazeta ‘Novoe vremya’ do A.S. Suvorina” [The newspaper Novoe vremya before A.S. Suvorin]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 8: Istoriya, no. 1 (2017):
44–53. (In Russian)
Halpern, L. The Edwardian Discovery of Russia, 1900–1917. New York: Columbia University Press, 2020.
Kel'ner, V.E. “Sozdanie i deyatel'nost' osvedomitel'nogo byuro pri Glavnom upravlenii po delam pechati: 1906–1917 gg.” [Establishment and operation of the Information Bureau of the Main Directorate for Press Affairs: 1906–1917]. In Tsenzura v Rossii: istoriya i sovremennost' [Censorship in Russia: history and the present], iss. 5, 237–43. St Petersburg: Rossiiskaya natsional'naya biblioteka, 2011. (In Russian)
Khramtsov, A.B. “Vestnik politsii kak istoricheskii istochnik (1907–1917)” [Vestnik politsii as a historical source]. Vestnik Nizhnevartovskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, no. 2 (2014): 43–48. (In Russian)
Krasnozhon, O.V. Vedomstvennaya pechat' Ministerstva vnutrennikh del v sisteme faktorov formirovaniya professional'nogo pravosoznaniya sotrudnikov politsii Rossiiskoi imperii v nachale XX veka [Departmental press of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the system of factors for forming professional legal awareness in police officers of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century]. Moscow: Moskovskii universitet MVD RF im. V.Ya. Kikotya, 2018. (In Russian)
Krylova, E.N. “Formirovaniye polozhitel'nogo obshchestvennogo mneniya o gosudarstvennoy vlasti v Rossii v 1906–1907 gg. (na primere raboty Osvedomitel'nogo byuro)” [Forming positive public opinion about the government authorities of Russia in 1906–1907 (on the example of work of the Information Bureau)]. In Chastnoye i obshchestvennoye v povsednevnoy zhizni naseleniya Rossii. Istoriya i sovremennost' [Private and public affairs in the daily life of Russian population. History and modernity], 2 vols., edited by V.A. Veremenko, vol. 1, 162–67. St Petersburg: Leningradskii gosudarstvennyi universitet im. A.S. Pushkina, 2018. (In Russian)
Krylova, E.N. “Periodicheskaya pechat' kak instrument formirovaniya obshchestvennogo mneniya v nachale XX v. (na primere obsuzhdeniya p'esy ‘Kontrabandisty’)” [Periodical press as an instrument of generating public opinion in early 20th century (on the example of the play Smugglers)]. Vestnik Orenburgskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta, no. 4 (16) (2015): 122–30. http://vestospu.ru/archive/2015/articles/Krylova4-16.html. (In Russian)
Krylova, E.N. Ministerstvo vnutrennikh del i obshchestvennaya initsiativa nakanune Pervoi russkoi revolyutsii [Ministry of Internal Affairs and public initiative on the eve of the First Russian revolution]. St Petersburg: Mediapapir, 2019. (In Russian)
Lauchlan, I. Russian Hide-and-seek: The Tsarist Secret Police in St Petersburg, 1906–1914. Helsinki: SKS, 2002.
Lyasovich, T.G., and A.E. Knyazeva. “Imidzh sotrudnika politsii kak sotsial'nopsikhologicheskii fenomen i osobennosti ego formirovaniya v sovremennykh usloviyakh” [The image of a police officer as a socio-psychological phenomenon and specific features of its formation in modern conditions]. In Aktual'nye problemy psikhologii pravookhranitel'noi deyatel'nosti:
kontseptsii, podkhody, tekhnologii (Vasil'evskie chteniya – 2019): materialy mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii (Sankt-Peterburg, 25 aprelya 2019 g.) [Topical issues of law enforcement psychology: concepts, approaches, techniques (Vasilyevsky readings – 2019): proceedings of the international scientific and practical conference (St Petersburg, April 25, 2019)], edited by Yu.A. Sharanov, V.A. Shapoval, 210–13. St Petersburg: Sankt-Peterburgskii universitet MVD Rossii, 2019. (In Russian)
Maslow, A. Motivatsiya i lichnost’ [Motivation and personality]. Moscow: Direkt-Media, 2008. (In Russian)
McCarthy, L.A. Trafficking Justice: How Russian Police Enforce New Laws, from Crime to Courtroom. London: Cornell University Press, 2015.
Menchikova, K.Yu., and D.V. Zakharov. “Imidzh sotrudnika politsii kak pokazatel' effektivnosti deyatel'nosti pravookhranitel'nykh organov” [The image of a police officer as an indicator of the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies]. In Obshchestvo. Nauka. Innovatsii (NPK–2018). Sbornik statei XVIII Vserossiiskaya nauchno-prakticheskaya konferentsiya (Kirov, 2–
28 aprelya 2018 g.) [Society. Science. Innovation (NPK–2018). Collection of articles of the 18th All-Russian scientific and practical conference (Kirov, April 2–28, 2018)], 3 vols., vol. 3,
Gumanitarnye i sotsial'nye nauki [Humanities and social sciences], 479–87. Kirov: Vyatskii gosudarstvennyi universitet, 2018. (In Russian)
Nizhnik, N.S., and N.S. Sidorenko. “Politicheskii diskurs obraza politsii v sotsialisticheskoi pechati Rossii nachala XX veka” [Political discourse of the image of the police in the socialist press of Russia in the early 20th century]. Trudy Akademii MVD Respubliki Tadzhikistan, no. 1 (41) (2019): 54–60. (In Russian)
Nizhnik, N.S., and O.V. Krasnozhon. “Pechat' na sluzhbe MVD” [The press at the service of the Ministry of the Interior]. Na strazhe zakona, no. 9. (2014): 9–18. (In Russian)
Osipova, T.S. “Tekhnologii protivodeistviya fake news v mirovoi praktike” [Technologies for countering fake news in the world practice]. Nauchnyi elektronnyi zhurnal Meridian, no. 4 (38)
(2020): 30–32. (In Russian)
Privalova, D.V. “Issledovanie yavleniya ‘fake news’ ot istorii k sovremennosti” [The study of the phenomenon of ‘fake news’ from history to modernity]. In Luchshaya studencheskaya stat'ya 2019. Sbornik statei XIX Mezhdunarodnogo nauchno-issledovatel'skogo konkursa (Penza, 25 fevralya 2019 g.) [Best student article 2019. Collection of articles of the 19th International research competition (Penza, February 25, 2019)], edited by G.Yu. Gulyaev, 226–29. Penza: Nauka i prosveshchenie, 2019. (In Russian)
Proshina, M.V. “Fake news kak novyi trend v politicheskikh kommunikatsiyakh” [Fake news as a new trend in political communications]. Diskurs-Pi, no. 3 (36) (2019): 164–71. (In Russian)
Sitkovskii, A.L., et al., eds. Formirovanie ‘mediinogo obraza’ sotrudnika organov vnutrennikh del Rossiiskoi Federatsii: uchebnoe posobie [Shaping a ‘media image’ of an employee of the internal affairs bodies of the Russian Federation: a tutorial]. Moscow: Akademiya upravleniya MVD Rossii, 2019. (In Russian)
Smith, S.A. The Russian Revolution: An Empire in Crisis 1890–1928. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. Solov'ev, A. “Fake news kak sredstvo propagandy: fal'shivye novosti priznayutsya pravdivymi, a real'nye – feikami” [Fake news as a means of propaganda: fake news is recognized as true and real news, as fake]. In Mezhdunarodnaya zhurnalistika–2017: ideya integratsii integratsii i mediamaterialy VI Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii (Minsk, 16 fevralya 2017 g.) [International journalism–2017: the idea of integration of integrations and media materials of the 6th International scientific and practical conference (Minsk, February 16, 2017)], 296–301. Minsk: Izdatel'skii tsentr BGU, 2017. (In Russian)
Steinberg, M. The Russian Revolution: 1905–1921. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Sultanov, A.Kh., R.R. Karimov, and I.A. Aseev. Obraz sotrudnika organov vnutrennikh del v rossiiskoi i sovetskoi khudozhestvennoi literature XIX–XX vv.: kontsept, realii i vozdeistvie:
(istoriko-pravovoe issledovanie) [The image of an employee of the internal affairs bodies in Russian and Soviet fiction of the 19th–20th centuries: concept, realia and impact (historical and legal research)]. Ufa: Ufimskii yuridicheskii institut Ministerstva vnutrennikh del Rossiiskoi Federatsii,
2018. (In Russian)
Tishchenko, A.V. “Imidzh Rossiiskoi politsii kak uslovie formirovaniya institutsional'nogo doveriya grazhdan” [Image of the Russian police as a condition for the formation of institutional
confidence of citizens]. Ekonomicheskie i gumanitarnye issledovaniya regionov, no. 2 (2019): 194–98. (In Russian)
Ushkin, S.G. “Fake news i problema doveriya: sotsiologicheskoe izmerenie” [Fake news and the problem of trust: a sociological dimension]. In Materialy IX mezhdunarodnoi sotsiologicheskoi Grushinskoi konferentsii ‘Sotsial'naya inzheneriya: kak sotsiologiya menyaet mir’ (Moskva, 20–21 marta 2019 g.) [Proceedings of the 9th international sociological Grushin conference “Social engineering: sociology changing the world” (Moscow, March 20–21, 2019)], 53–57. Moscow: AO “VTsIOM”, 2019. (In Russian)
Zlokazov, K.V., K.V. Orlov, and V.S. Pletnikov. Formirovanie polozhitel'nogo obraza sotrudnika politsii v sredstvakh massovoi informatsii [Creating a positive image of a police officer
in the media]. Yekaterinburg: Ural'skii yuridicheskii institut MVD Rossii, 2014. (In Russian)
Keywords:
fictitious news, fake news, fake news in the 20th century, Novoe Vremya, image of the police in the newspaper Novoe Vremya, image of the police, capital’s newspapers about the police in early 20th century, government policy on regulating fake news, unreliable socially significant information in early 20th century
For citation:
Krylova, E. “Fake News in the Capital’s Periodicals in the Early Twentieth Century (on the Example of Articles about the Police in the Newspaper Novoe Vremya).” Historia Provinciae – The Journal of Regional History, vol. 4, no. 3 (2020): 765–98, http://doi.org/10.23859/2587-8344-2020-4-3-3

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

ISSN 2587-8344 (Online)