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Pravda (Moscow)—Without a doubt the calmest, most businesslike and most influential newspaper in the Soviet Union and perhaps in the world. As the guardian of the Party line, it takes a position on all questions of public life and the other media follow its lead.
Jen-min Jih-pao (Peking)—Primarily an instrument of the power elite, it resorts at times to exaggeration, half truths and outright falsification. More of a governmental bulletin board than a newspaper, it probably reaches more people than any other publication in the world.
Borba (Belgrade)—Compared with the press of other Communist nations, that of Yugoslavia is highly critical, discursive and intellectually lively. Borba manages to relate its stories to the daily affairs of its citizens and is not loaded with dry statistics. Its team of foreign correspondents is probably the best in Eastern Europe.
L'Osservatore Romano (Vatican City) —It reflects the Pope's thinking, presents news and opinion with serenity and a sense of history and has seen many persecutors and dictators come and go. Its influence far outstrips its modest circulation (about 70,000 daily), since its subscribers not only include the world's leading churchmen but also such diverse rulers as those in the Kremlin and Charles de Gaulle.
ABC (Madrid)—Intense and precise, it has set the tone of all Spanish journalistic writing. Its emphasis on literature, music and philosophy gives it an aura of intellectualism. It has suffered from stringent press laws, but has offset its inability to have pungent political articles by improving its nonpolitical pieces and pictures. It exercises considerable courage and skill in making its voice heard, sometimes with sly critical undertones.
*U.S. dailies in the secondary group are the Christian Science Monitor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Washington Post. The third-ranking papers include the Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times, Louisville Courier-Journal, Miami Herald and Wall Street Journal.