The World - News from March 31, 1987

Readers of the Soviet Communist Party daily Pravda called on the newspaper to be more open in its coverage of foreign affairs and to drop slogan-mongering. The calls came in letters published in a new section launched as part of the glasnost (openness) drive encouraged by Kremlin leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. One letter from Siberia complained of “vague reports,” adding: “When will you put an end to these half-truths and half-statements?” Another writer, a Moscow history professor, called on Pravda to drop “stereotyped phrases used extremely emotionally” in commentaries.