When we at Russia Beyond first read Elon Musk’s tweet announcing he was going to create a website called Pravda “where the public can rate the core truth of any article & track the credibility score over time of each journalist, editor & publication,” we thought he was joking. However, it turns out he incorporated Pravda Corp back in 2017.
The reason we think it’s so ridiculous is
Vladimir Lenin reading 'Pravda'
Global Look PressPravda’s offices and printing facilities were so enormous that they occupied a few blocks on - you guessed it - Pravda street. The street is still there but the paper has now shrunk to just a couple of offices on one of the floors of its former building, which today is occupied by other news outlets, travel agencies, and even massage services.
However, the spirit of Communism persists and Pravda’s scaled back newsroom is still adorned with classic Soviet green cloth tables, while a large bust of Lenin occupies the ground floor of the building. The paper, though, doesn’t enjoy the same level of popularity as in Soviet times and now has a circulation of around 100,000 copies, and is published three times a week.
Now you can see the subtle irony in Elon calling his new fake news fighting project Pravda.
If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.
Subscribe
to our newsletter!
Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox