''Atmoda'' ('Awakening' in Latvian) was a weekly newspaper in

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

and

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

issued from December 1988 to April 1992. It was published by the

Popular Front of Latvia The Popular Front of Latvia () was a political organisation in Latvia in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the Sąjūdis movement in Li ...

(PFL) and was the first independent, opposition paper in the Latvian SSR. The name of the newspaper is a reference to Latvian revival movements known as the

Latvian National Awakening The Latvian National Awakening () refers to three distinct but ideologically related national revival movements: * the First Awakening refers to the national revival led by the Young Latvians from the 1850s to the 1880s * the Second Awakening ...

s. For most of its run, the chief editor of ''Atmoda'' was journalist Elita Veidemane, and its editorial policy was independent from the PFL leadership. The newspaper was issued in the Latvian and Russian languages, with the English edition ''Awakening'' being published every month. Initially issued under the same name (), in 1990 the Russian edition was renamed to ''Baltijskoje vremja'' (, 'The Baltic Times'). Many Russian people of culture and science in Latvia supported the PFL. The newspaper was popular not only in Latvia, but among the population of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and the Russian edition peaked at 80,000 in circulation. The Latvian and Russian editions had a total print run of 165,000 in 1989. Atmoda, as a token of recognition of rights of

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

by PFL, was a ground of insinuations by competing more radical nationalist political parties, such as Latvian National Independence Movement, that PFL was ridden with Moscow

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

spies to control the national movement in Latvia. In January 1991, Communist functionaries occupied the national print house claiming it was party property, and Atmoda had to be printed in

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

. Both foreign-language editions were discontinued in 1992. In 1993, a dispute erupted about the fate of

mass media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises b ...

in the new independent state. PFL wanted to see Atmoda as an organ of party, while journalists stood on freedom of the press. This resulted in a court suit for the division of assets and the appearance of various splinter newspapers and magazines, notably ''Atmoda Atpūtā'' led by Veidemane which was published until 1996. The last issue of Atmoda was published on April 7, 1992, although the information bulletin version of the paper was issued by the PFL until 1994.

References

{{Reflist * Bruce J. Evensen, ''The Role of Mass Media in a Newly Emerging Democracy: The Latvian Case Study'', 1994 AEJMC Proc. pp. 47–71. * http://www.latvija20gadsimts.lv/apkopojums/notikumu-hronologija/tresa-atmoda/ 1988 establishments in the Soviet Union 1992 disestablishments in Latvia Defunct newspapers published in Latvia Defunct weekly newspapers Latvian-language newspapers Newspapers established in 1988 Publications disestablished in 1992 Russian-language newspapers published in Latvia 1988 establishments in Latvia