Parliament Deputy Speaker proposes federal agency similar to Soviet department for ideology

he Deputy Chairman of Russia's State Duma, Alexander Romanovich (from the political party A Just Russia), is proposing the creation of a unified center for the coordination of state propaganda efforts, which resembles the Soviet Communist Party's Department for Ideology.

In the 70s and 80s, a formidable propaganda machine existed in the Soviet Union, says Deputy Romanovich. The Office for International Information at the Department for International Affairs oversaw the production and output of Soviet propaganda.

“These government structures, which were operation at that time, are [now] destroyed. The creation of similar structures today would allow for the coordination of propaganda work,” said the Deputy Chairman at a parliamentary hearing on the theme “Russia and the West: What will Prevail—The Logic of Confrontation or the Logic of Cooperation?”

In addition, Deputy Chairman Romanovich said in the USSR a training institute for international journalists once existed, but now this kind of training does not take place. “We do not have propaganda and counter-propaganda training installations,” he said.

“There needs to be a drastic strengthening of our propaganda institutions,” says Romanovich. “We are not succeeding in advancing our policies. It is necessary to increase spending in this direction, and we have the legislative proposals that can locate the funds for these goals.”

Russia Today, also referred to as RT, is considered a core pro-Kremlin propaganda tool. RT's international arm incorporated Russian news agency RIA Novosti in 2013.