The making of state control of the media’s system in the central black earth region during the period of the provisional government (March – October 1917)

The article is devoted to the history of censorship activities in the provinces of Central Black Earth region in March-October 1917, when the Provisional government was in power. Up to the present time the issues of organization of censorship and state regulation of mass media in the country during this period have been poorly studied and there were no researches of that issue in the context of the Central Black Earth region. The author used different acts of the Provisional government and documents from the state archives of Kursk, Orel, Tambov regions and from the Russian State Historical Archive. The article contains the analysis of state regulation of the periodic press and entertainment events’ development in Russian provinces since March to October 1917. The Provisional government proclaimed the freedom of speech and initiated the Special Commission on the Elimination of the Main Department for Press Affairs. Monitoring of the press and public perceptions in the province was entrusted with the Commissar of the Provisional government whose activity provided the legal order of the press’ functioning. The author makes parallels between the organization of supervision over the media in Russia after 1905 and in 1917 noticing: the abolition of censorship and the proclamation of freedom of speech; the establishment of actual procedure for new periodicals; the absence of a special officer for the supervision of mass media in the province, and the performance of these duties by the representatives of the provincial administration; introduction of a special military censorship in the conditions of military time. The author stresses different approaches to the implementation of the supervision of mass media in different provinces. In the provinces of Central Black Earth region the pre-revolutionary tendencies were preserved such as the absence of specially trained and qualified people, the arbitrariness of local officials, the lack of regulatory acts from the centre.