People's Pravda

People's Pravda

Type	Newspaper
Format	Online newspaper
Owner(s)	Socialist Party
Publisher	Wordpress
Editor	Alastair Song
Political alignment	Left-wing
Language	English
Headquarters	Bowburn

The People's Pravda is a left-wing democratic socialist online newspaper owned and operated by the Socialist Party of Northumbria. Though named after the Russian Pravda, the newspaper has never endorsed a Marxist-Leninist line. It is one of the 'big two' newspapers (alongside the Military Tribune) and maintains a large readership. It is also the oldest newspaper currently operating in Northumbria, tracing its history back to the early days of the Sorrenian Federation when it was created by the Socialist Party of Sorrenia. Since then, it has been owned by various left-wing political parties. Since its foundation the Pravda has been produced in Bowburn, County Durham, and spearheaded the emergence of a unique left-wing subculture within the town.

The Pravda, though owned by the Socialist Party, has steadfastly protected its editorial independence. It is considered on the party's 'left', and certain editors promote a libertarian socialist line. Whereas the Socialist Party is officially neutral on the existence of the monarchy in Northumbria and its official religion, the Pravda has regularly called for the monarchy's abolition and the creation of a secular state.

History

Sorrenian Federation

The People's Pravda was the first newspaper to be founded in Sorrenia in 2013, and was created to provide both news and commentary. Owned and maintained by the Socialist Party, the Pravda contributed to the emergence of several partisan newspapers which were created to counter the Socialist narrative. This tradition continues to this today, with most contemporary Northumbrian newspapers operated by a political party.

The Pravda's media monopoly was ultimately broken by the creation of Llais y Gwirionedd (Light of Truth), established in 2014 as a state-owned newspaper, intended to provide citizens with an unbiased alternative to the partisan newspapers. Llais y Gwirionedd quickly developed a large readership, and was almost unanimously acclaimed for its neutral reporting. Though the Pravda continued to regularly release articles, it gradually played into its partisan credentials, including commentary in almost every article. The Pravda comfortably remained Sorrenia's second-largest newspaper however - the third largest, the New Democratic Times was never able to approach the readership of the Pravda.

Kingdom of Sorrenia

After a long hiatus, the People's Pravda was re-established by The Republicans, a left-wing dissident force opposed to the existence of the Sorrenian monarchy. The paper regularly criticised the Sorrenian monarchy and the New Monarchists. Editorial independence was retained however, and when Harold Wanton removed several far-left members from the Republican-led cabinet, the Pravda openly called for his resignation, supporting Michelle Livennson's successful bid to oust Wanton from the leadership.

At this time, the paper was to the left of The Republicans on several issues, and was perceived as more vociferous and zealous in their desire to abolish the monarchy. Polls released by the Pravda during election periods were often accused of bias, and the editorial team was accused several times of maintaining communication with Adam Scargill and the Socialist League who continued to agitate for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Sorrenia.

Kingdom of Northumbria

After a second hiatus, the Pravda once again began releasing articles in early December of 2020 shortly after the creation of the Kingdom of Northumbria. The nationalist authoritarian National Democratic Party quickly proscribed the Pravda, banning its publications as illicit material. Nevertheless, the Pravda continued to criticise the government heavily, and was successful in securing a large readership; until March of 2021, it was by far the most read newspaper in Northumbria, and was seen as the only source of criticism of the NDP. This journalism contributed heavily to a wave of protests in favour of democratisation, which forced Prime Minister Rilgar Ompastre to significantly reform Northumbria's constitution in early 2021. Nevertheless, the existence of the Pravda remained a contentious issue, and the government remained unanimous in their refusal to legalise the publication. At the time, the Pravda was de facto legal and operated by Northumbria's second largest party - the NDP government however retained the legal right to block its material and even raid its offices. This power was overturned by a coalition government headed by the Socialist Party in November of 2021, when the Pravda was finally legalised.

Contribution to 'Little Havana' culture

Bowburn has long been regarded as one of Northumbria's most left-wing towns; since its creation the Pravda has been located within Bowburn, and helped foster this distinct radical tradition which is so significant as to give Bowburn the nickname Little Havana, in reference to the communism of Cuba. The Pravda is now but one element of a broader left-wing organisational infrastructure centred in Bowburn; the Socialist Party's headquarters are also located in the town, and traditionally the Socialist League also based itself in the area.