New Man at Izvestia

The Tweedledum and Tweedledee of Soviet journalism--Izvestia (Information), the official daily of the government, and Pravda (Truth), the official daily of the Communist Party--are so packed with pap and propaganda that a few editors have discreetly hinted recently that the two dailies are incredible bores (TIME, June 1). Last week brought a sign that the government had at last decided to print some news that is fit to be read. Named as the new managing editor of Izvestia: round-cheeked Aleksei I. Adzhubei, garrulous and gregarious as his father-in-law, who happens to be Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev.

Adzhubei's appointment is no nepotistic caper. At 34 he is one of Russia's most talented journalists; as editor, he pumped readability into Komsomolskaya Pravda, the Communist youth organ, by ordering firsthand factual reporting on the Russian scene, crusading against erring officials (e.g., a garage manager who had wrongly fired a worker). He helped to push Komsomolskaya Pravda's circulation from 1.500,000 five years ago to 3.500,000.

During a tour of the U.S. in 1955, Adzhubei refused to answer tough questions from American newsmen about Russia, but generally radiated good will, quipped as he made a small wager at a Reno gambling table: "I probably shouldn't do this--I might make a million." (He didn't.) As editorial boss of Izvestia (circ. 1,800,000). Adzhubei may some day give the monolithic Pravda (5,560,000) a run for its kopecks.

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