Another Day Without News

The death of a head of state is portrayed in the media of democratic communities as news of discontinuity, a turning point. The message conveyed in authoritarian countries that faced the same circumstances was the opposite: even though the head of state had died, nothing was going to change. Everything was going to stay as it was before. After Tito, there would be another Tito. Even though Fidel Castro is gone, an entire regiment of Fidels marches behind. Standing behind Stalin, an entire politburo.

In March 1953, the newspaper Moskovskaya Pravda published a photo of the politburo. Part of the photo included the inscription “Lenin, Stalin”. Whoever succeeds Stalin will continue whatever Lenin started. Stalin’s photo in the newspaper Ural Rabotnik tells the story of a benevolent leader, a leader who was especially fond of children in the Pioneer movement.

In May 1980, Borba, Vjesnik and Delo used the same picture for their front page to announce that Joseph Broz had passed away. Still, in the days that followed, they reported that after Tito, Tito would remain.

Cuba is Fidel, reported the newspaper Granma, the Cuban Communist Party newsletter in November 2016.

Nothing happened. Even the day the leader died was just another day without news.