Paradoxically, the advent of glastnost and the democratization of Soviet society appear to have diminished both agreement with mass media and trust in them. At the same time, the disagreeing audience—as compared to the agreeing one—demonstrates more self-consciousness and social activity, conditions indicating greater preparedness for perestroika and the restructuring of Soviet society. These results were obtained from surveys in 1985 and 1987 of 2,000 Byelorussians aged 16 to 30 in five social class categories: collective farmers, workers, technical employees, secondary and professional school students, and university students. Survey results are compared to a content analysis of reports of problems on Soviet radio and television and in youth newspapers (750 texts in 1985, 850 in 1987). The author concludes that under conditions of “monopropaganda,” in which mass media are managed by a single sociopolitical group, disagreement with the media becomes a socially positive force for the democratization of society.
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