«Khmers Rouge» Regime (1975 – 1979) as Covered by the Soviet Press

This Bachelor’s dissertation examines the materials which were published between 1975 and 1979 in Soviet periodicals on the affairs in Kampuchea or on related themes. What is more, the paper examines some archival sources and some previously published narrative sources related to the professional activities of Soviet pressmen. The analysis centers on the factors and mechanisms of the formation and transformation of the Khmer Rouge regime image in the Soviet print media. Historians have argued that until the end of 1977 Soviet newspapers and magazines did not cover the violence in Democratic Kampuchea. This paper seeks to cast new light on the links between Soviet leadership policy, Soviet ideology, journalists’ ability to collect information about the Khmer Rouge regime and the approaches to present the latter, adopted by periodicals. The dissertation’s layout proposes three stages. Firstly, it reveals the main aspects and conditions of Soviet pressmen’ work on the information about Cambodia. Secondly, it researches those approaches to forming Khmer Rouge regime image, which prevailed in periodicals until the end of 1977. Finally, it studies the transformation of Khmer Rouge regime image during the period from 1978 to 1979.