Abstract

When the Nineteenth All-Union Party Conference was taking place, tens of millions of people followed its course. Literally the entire country was drawn into those heated debates in the congress hall. One can say without exaggeration that the conference was a revelation. It showed that it is possible to live differently from the way we have been accustomed, or the way we have learned over many decades, i.e., to say what we think and what we want to say, not somewhere in a back corridor but in public, even at a top Party forum. All this is the result of that mighty revolution in consciousness that began in people's minds that memorable April of 1985. And the press is today playing a special role in that revolution