What happens when journalism is made superfluous? Combining ethnography, media analysis, moral and political theory this book examines the unravelling of professional journalism in Russia over the past twenty-five years, and its effects on society. It argues that, contrary to widespread assumptions, late Soviet-era journalists shared a cultural contract with their audiences, which ensured that their work was guided by a truth-telling ethic. Post-communist economic and political upheaval led not so much to greater press freedom as to the de-professionalization of journalism, as journalists found themselves having to monetize their truth-seeking skills. This has culminated in a perception of journalists as political prostitutes, or members of the 'second oldest profession', as they are commonly termed in Russia. Roudakova argues that this cultural shift has fundamentally eroded the value of truth-seeking and telling in Russian society.
When facts are run roughshod over in media and politics, and with the planet in peril, of what real use are the realms of language and ideas? The Work of Literature in an Age of Post-Truth is a defens
Those who are in shock that truth doesn’t seem to matter in politics miss the mark: politics has never corresponded with the truth. Rather, political struggle is about the formulation and materializat
When facts are run roughshod over in media and politics, and with the planet in peril, of what real use are the realms of language and ideas? The Work of Literature in an Age of Post-Truth is a defens
