Governmental Regulations on 'Penny Press' in St. Petersburg (1905-1914)

This research focuses on the censorship of cheap mass periodicals (“penny press”) in the late Russian Empire in 1905-1914. The Russian Revolution of 1905-1907 revealed the state crisis in the management of the emerged mass type of society. The Manifesto of October 17, according to which the preliminary censorship was abolished, was a concession to the revolutionary demands. Along with a huge requirement from the mass audience, the abolition of the key censorship tool resulted in the growth of cheap periodicals and the formation of mass press. At the same time, the censorship agency continued its work, and its main duty was to watch publications related to the supreme power since the maintaining the image of autocracy was regarded to consolidate the state. In that way, the purpose of this work is to study instruments of censorship regarding the new type of printing. Overall, this research is devoted to attempts to preserve the traditional image of autocracy for the mass audience, provided the popularity and commercial success of cheap mass press and significant functional changes of the censorship agency. The conceptual framework is based on the studies of civil societies in the late Russian Empire (by Ilya Gerasimov and Joseph Bradley) and the problem of preserving the autocratic “scenario of power” within the mass society (by Richard S. Wortman). The methodology is guided by the cultural history approaches and methods of history of reading (Roger Chartier) because the main research subject is the perception of a new type of periodical press by officials and the mass audience and the comparison of results. The general conclusion of the work consist is that the perception of censors, determined by the “scenario” of the autocratic power, obstructed their comprehension of the needs of the mass audience and, along with the organizational problems of the censorship agency, impeded the requested influence on the urban community.