NEWSPAPER AS AN ACTOR OF HISTORICAL MEMORY CONSTRUCTION (CASE OF ZAPORIZHZHIA CITY)

Abstract

The article explores the Victory Day issues of Zaporizhzhia newspapers of the years 1970, 1990 and 2000 to reveal the role of the press in the WWII historical memory construction. The research methodology comprises descriptive, illustrative, systematic, objective, and consistent methods, as well as historicism principle. Special attention was paid to the WWII myths emerging in the USSR throughout the Stagnation period (1970-ies to 1982). Closely controlled by the Communist party, the Soviet media, including the newspapers, were deprived of the tiniest possibility to express the alternative point of view on historical events. The first signs of the media getting out of the Party’s control and gaining independence can be traced back to the Perestroika times; at the turn of the XXI century, the editorial policies were established by the media owner rather than by political power. However, the geographical division of the press established in the Soviet period of Ukranian history (regional, national, and state-wide) persisted after the country gained independence, with state-wide newspapers replaced by the Russian franchises published in Ukraine. As a result, throughout the whole chronological period under analysis, the population of Zaporizhzhia shared the informational space with the Russians. Even after the independence of Ukraine had been proclaimed, the regional Zaporizhzhia newspapers either failed to debunk the Soviet WWII myths or supported them directly and indirectly, thus contributing to the regional pro-Russian sentiment flourishing for decades.