Imperial Russia's Newspaper Reporters: Profile of a Society in Transition, 1865-1914

THE AUTHOR TRACES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DAILY NEWSPAPER IN TSARIST RUSSIA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE JOURNALISTS WHO CREATED IT. ENTERING JOURNALISM AT A TIME WHEN ALEXANDER IT'S GREAT REFORMS HAD EXTENDED OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOCIAL MOBILITY, NEWSPAPER REPORTERS CAPITALIZED ON THE POTENTIAL OF THE REFORMS TO BREAK DOWN RIGID STRATIFICATION AND INTEGRATE VARIOUS GROUPS INTO A PLURALISTIC SOCIETY. IN THE PRE-COMMERCIAL ERA, NEWSPAPER JOURNALISTS AND READERS ALIKE SHARED A SIMILAR ELITE BACKGROUND. MEDIUM AND MEDIATOR CHANGED IN TANDEM, AND THE READING PUBLIC FOLLOWED SUIT. IN THE VERY ACT OF CARVING OUT THEIR OCCUPATION, REPORTERS PLAYED AN INSTRUMENTAL ROLE IN SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND INTELLECTUAL REFORMATION.