Daily newspaper circulation in the U.S. and Soviet Union 1970-1989

During the Cold War, printed media in the Soviet Union was under the control of the Communist Party, and newspapers were the primary method of communication with the public. In the U.S., however, almost all newspapers were privately owned, and freedom of the press meant that censorship was prohibited under the U.S. Constitution. The most popular newspaper in the USSR was Pravda, which continues to be among the most popular Russian publications today.In terms of the circulation of daily newspapers in the 1970s and 1980s, the U.S. figures remained steady between an average of 62 and 63 million copies per day, whereas circulation in the USSR grew from 82 million in 1970 to 138 million in 1989. As the population difference remained roughly forty million in these years, the contrast in circulation cannot be explained by this; instead, the comparatively low figures in the U.S. were due to the consumption of media from other sources, as well as variations in societal trends.

在冷战时期，苏联的印刷媒体受到共产党的严格控制，报纸是向公众传达信息的主要途径。然而，在美国，几乎所有报纸均为私人所有，新闻自由意味着根据美国宪法，审查制度是被禁止的。在苏联，最受欢迎的报纸是《真理报》，该报至今仍位居俄罗斯最受欢迎出版物之列。就20世纪70年代和80年代的日报发行量而言，美国的平均发行量保持在每天约6200万至6300万份，而苏联的发行量则从1970年的8200万份增长至1989年的1.38亿份。尽管在这些年中人口差异大致保持在4000万左右，但发行量的对比并不能由此解释；相反，美国相对较低的发行量归因于其他媒体来源的消费以及社会趋势的变化。