Soviet and Russian Press Coverage of the United States : Press, Politics and Identity in Transition

This text examines changing Soviet and Russian press coverage of the United States from the emergence of Mikhail Gorbachev through the re-election victory of Boris Yeltsin as Russian president in 1996.

Becker argues that due to the absence of a language to support the reform strategy, the Soviet press presented positive images of its chief ideological and military opponent, the United States, as a means of supporting political, social and economic reform.

He suggests that the end of the Cold War and the emergence of a more self confident Russia means that the symbolic and discursive significance of the United States for Russia has diminished.