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MongoliaMajor Channels
Channels of communication were government-owned and
government-operated; information and propaganda were woven
together in news, educational material, and entertainment. The
most important body directing the media was the Press Agitation
and Propaganda Section (Agitprop) of the party Central Committee.
Agitprop, in conjunction with the Council of Ministers, published
Unen (Truth), established in 1920. It was the most widely
read newspaper; in 1988 it had a circulation of 170,000 and was
published six days a week. The weekly publication of the
Unen newspaper organization was Shine Hodoo (New
Countryside), aimed at the rural population. Unen also
published eighteen issues annually of the popular satirical
magazine, Toshuul (Woodpecker), which featured cartoons
and light reading material. Namyin Amdral (Party Life),
with a circulation of 28,000, has served since 1923 as the
Central Committee's monthly ideological organ. Ediyn Dzasgiyn,
Asuudal (Economic Questions), also published by the Central
Committee, carried speeches and documents concerned with
political and economic affairs and was published in eighteen
issues annually. Another party periodical, Uhuulagch
(Agitator), emphasized propaganda material and was published
bimonthly, with a circulation of 34,000 in the late 1980s.
Communications media were directed by overlapping and
interlocking government commissions and committees of the
People's Great Hural, the Council of Ministers, and the Mongolian
People's Revolutionary Party. The Presidium of the People's Great
Hural published a quarterly journal, Ardyn Tor (People's
Power), with a circulation of 11,000. The Ministry of Culture,
together with the Union of Mongolian Writers, published a weekly
periodical called Utga, Dzohiol Urlag (Literature and
Art). The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security
jointly produced Ulaan Od (Red Star), a biweekly, and
Ardyn Armi (People's Army), a quarterly magazine. The
Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the Mongolian Society for the
Dissemination of Knowledge published a bimonthly popular science
magazine, Shinjleh Uhaan, Amidral (Science and Life).
Finally, the Office of the Procurator of the Republic, the
Supreme Court, and the Ministry of Justice collaborated in the
publication of the quarterly journal Sotsialist Huul' Yos
(Socialist Legality).
In 1987, a total of almost 130 million copies of 35 national
newspapers and 38 periodicals were being published. In addition,
there were nineteen provincial newspapers, mainly published
biweekly by provincial party and government executive committees.
The cities of Ulaanbaatar, Nalayh, Erdenet, and Darhan also had
their own newspapers. The two major news agencies were Mongol
Tsahilgaan Medeeniy Agentlag (MONTSAME--Mongolian Telegraph
Agency) and Mongolpress. The latter published fortnightly news
bulletins in Russian, English, and French. In 1987 each household
reportedly received four to six publications. Another body, the
Media Information Center, was established in February 1989,
reportedly to expand the range of information available to the
public by providing members of the press and the media with
increased access to high party and government officials.
Various mass organizations also had publishing arms. The
official organ of the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League,
Dzaluuchudyn Unen (Youth Truth), was published biweekly
and carried league speeches and documents. Other youth journals
included Dzalgamjlagch (Successor) and Dzaluu Uye
(Young Generation). The Central Council of the Sukhe Bator
Mongolian Pioneers Organization, together with the Youth League
Central Committee, published 84 issues annually of Pioneriyn
Unen (Pioneers' Truth) and was circulated to 175,000
subscribers.
The leading publications of the Central Council of the
Mongolian Trade Unions was Hodolmor (Labor), published
three times a week, and a bimonthly magazine entitled Mongolyn
Uyldberchniy Eblel (Mongolian Trade Unions). The publishing
organ of the Federation of Democratic Women was the quarterly
magazine Mongolyn Emegteuchuud (Mongolian Women). The
Union of Mongolian Writers published the bimonthly political and
literary journal, Tsog (Spark). The Union of Mongolian
Artists and the Ministry of Culture published a quarterly
journal, Soyol, Urlag (Culture and Art). Another quarterly
journal published by the union was Dursleh Urlag (Fine
Arts).
Most titles of Mongolian publications were translations of
the titles of counterpart Soviet publications, which served as
models for format and content. A Russian-language newspaper,
Novosty Mongolii (News of Mongolia) published 26,000
copies, three times weekly; a Chinese-language journal, Menggu
Xiaoxi (News of Mongolia), was published weekly. Publications
in other languages were scarce in 1989, although the situation
was improving. In 1986 the Mongolia Express Agency for
Publication Data was established to aid in the distribution of
publications and bulletins published in several foreign
languages.
Radio and television were available through Ulaanbaatar Radio
and Mongoltelevidz, both of which were supervised by the State
Committee for Information, Radio, and Television. In December
1988, a new radio and television center, built with Soviet aid,
opened in Ulaanbaatar. It was estimated that in 1989 the center
would increase the volume of broadcasting by 150 percent. Almost
every family, including those residing in rural areas, had access
to a radio receiver in 1989. In 1985 Mongolia had 382
broadcasting centers, providing radiobroadcasts to more than 90
percent of the population and television broadcasts to more than
60 percent. By 1987 radiobroadcasts were available eighteen hours
daily through two programs, with broadcasts in Mongol, Kazakh
Russian, English, French, and Chinese to sixty countries. A 1987
poll of listeners and viewers indicated that the primary sources
of news information for this audience were: radio, 66 percent;
the press, 21 percent; and television, 12 percent.
By 1988 an estimated 64 percent of families residing in
Ulaanbaatar possessed television sets. National television
broadcasts were available five times a week, or for 15,000 hours
annually. Broadcasting also was available from Orbita, a Soviet
satellite communications system that relays television
broadcasts. Almost 60 percent of the Mongolian population viewed
television by late 1987. Mongolian-originated television was
available in Ulaanbaatar, Erdenet, and Darhan; in fifteen
aymag centers; and in forty-eight towns and somon
centers. The Orbita broadcasting was more limited.
The State Publishing House and the Mongolian Academy of
Sciences supervised publishing. Each year they produced a
prospectus of books to be published that year. The Sukhe Bator
Publishing House produced 70 percent of Mongolia's printed
matter, including 400 book titles. There also were publishing
facilities in each aymag, and there were other publishing
houses in Ulaanbaatar. Russian-language books always dominated
the foreign category, but there also were prose and verse from
France, the United States, and India, which offered a view of the
noncommunist world. By 1985 Mongolia had 983 libraries housing
more than 13 million volumes, most of which were located at the
State Library in Ulaanbaatar.
Data as of June 1989
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