Kotsyubinskiy D.A., Semykina E.V. The Rasputin Sensation on the Pages of the Russian Press. The Construction of the Analytical, Oppositional, and “Yellow” Approaches to Reporting this Topic. May– June 1910

Abstract: This article is devoted to the research of the little-studied aspects of the formationand evolution of Rasputin’s media myth, which at the beginning of the 20thcentury became one of the most important factors in the general political crisis onthe eve of the February Revolution of 1917. The authors analyse in detail theprocess of the publicist diversification regarding the topic of Rasputin on the pagesof Russian newspapers that lead to the appearance of three main journalisticapproaches to this topic: impartial-analytical, liberal-oppositional, and “yellow”(tabloid). Each of these approaches is subjected to a comprehensive review,including a comparative analysis with other types of approaches. The article notesthe role socio-political, as well as journalists’ commercial motivation in presentingthe Rasputin question. The author identifies the different aims that journalists andthe media pursued, which developed each of the three approaches respectively. Theanalytical direction was characterised by its interest in Rasputin as a separatefigure, as well as a professional approach to facts, which were published withreferences to their sources and were strictly separated from personal commentaries.The aim of oppositional publications, devoted to “the elder”, was his ultimatediscretisation and, through him, of the whole ruling regime. The “yellow”approach sought only to “escalate passions” and was deprived of an analyticalcomponent, placing its main emphasis on rumours of erotic nature about Rasputin

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