Sovetskaya Latviya was a major Russian-language

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 newspaper in the Latvian SSR

Latvian SSR

The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Latvian SSR for short, was one of the republics that made up the Soviet Union. Established on 21 July 1940 as a puppet state during World War II in the territory of the previously independent Republic of Latvia after it had been occupied by...

.

It was an official publication of the Central Committee

Central Committee

Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...

 of the Communist Party of Latvia

Communist Party of Latvia

Communist Party of Latvia was a political party in Latvia.- Latvian Social-Democracy prior to 1919 :The party was founded at a congress in June 1904. Initially the party was known as the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party . During its second party congress in 1905 it adopted the programme of...

 and the sister newspaper to the Latvian-language

Latvian language

Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...

 daily, Cīņa

CINA

CINA is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts multicultural programming at AM 1650 in Mississauga, Ontario.Approved by the CRTC on April 23, 2007, the station is owned by Neeti Prakash Ray and began testing at 1650 kHz in late 2008....

. From 1969 onwards, it was also styled as an official organ of the Council of Ministers (i.e. government) of the Latvian SSR as well.

1940–1941

The newspaper that became Sovetskaya Latviya was first published in 1940, following the Soviet takeover of Latvia, and the establishment of a monopoly on power by the Communist Party. During this first period, it was named Proletarskaya Pravda (Proletarian Truth).

The purpose of Proletarskaya Pravda was to replace the influential, independent Russian-language newspapers, such as widely-read liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 Segodnya

Segodnya (Riga)

Segodnya was a Russian-language newspaper published in Riga, Latvia from 1919 to 1940.Its editorial line was liberal and democratic. It had a comparatively well-developed network of foreign correspondents and extensive analysis of European affairs, making it popular amongst Russian émigrés, and...

 (Today), with a Soviet-controlled one.

A literary journal with the title Sovetskaya Latviya appeared briefly in 1940–41, but only two issues (Dec. 1940 and Jan./Feb 1941) apparently saw light of day. This short-lived periodical seems to have been little-known even to the Latvian Communist Party Central Committee, as a protocol from a meeting on 2 November 1940 includes the resolution: "Sovetskaya Latviya — clarify what kind of journal this is, as no-one has either seen it or read it."

The invasion of the USSR and occupation of Latvia by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 in 1941 interrupted publication in Riga.

1944–1991 and after

In 1944, following the re-establishment of Soviet control over Riga and most of Latvia, the newspaper resumed publication in Riga under the name Sovetskaya Latviya.

Sovetskaya Latviya was a broadsheet

Broadsheet

Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...

 that appeared daily, except Mondays. During the Soviet period, it dominated the Russian-language newspapers market in Latvia together with the Latvian Komsomol

Komsomol

The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...

 daily Sovetskaya Molodëzh (Soviet Youth). In 1975, its circulation

Newspaper circulation

A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...

 was 107,500 copies.

During the late 1980s, Sovetskaya Latviya expressed an editorial line critical of the movement for re-establishing Latvia's independence

Popular Front of Latvia

The Popular Front of Latvia was a political organization in Latvia in 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 Lithuania....

, reflecting the stance of the Communist Party leadership around Alfrēds Rubiks

Alfreds Rubiks

Alfrēds Rubiks is a Latvian Socialist politician and a former leader of the Communist Party of Latvia. Currently he is the Member of the European Parliament from Latvia...

.

Following Latvia's regaining of independence from the USSR, in October 1991 Sovetskaya Latviya changed its name to Panorama Latvii (Panorama of Latvia; ). The editorial line that harshly criticised the policies of the Latvian government was maintained, particularly concerning the treatment of Russians in Latvia. In 2002, the publisher has concluded an agreement on financial support with the Equal Rights

Equal Rights (Latvia)

Equal Rights was a political party in Latvia, mainly supported by the Russian minority.ER was founded on the basis of the "Equal Rights" faction of the Supreme Soviet as an NGO in 1993. The Equal Rights faction had been founded in April, 1990, after the Latvian parliamentary election, 1990.The...

party.