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Article: YURI LEVADA ; Russian public opinion pollster
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- November 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2006 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Yuri Levada was a thorn in the side of the Kremlin for most of
his career and had a reputation for being the man who told the
authorities what they didn't want to hear. His closely argued
observations about public opinion based on scientific surveys and
polls were never welcomed in the corridors of power.
In the Soviet era he made an enemy of the government by claiming
that few Soviet citizens ever bothered reading Pravda's lengthy
propaganda-laden editorials and gave a memorable university lecture
in which he opined that tanks could not win hearts and minds - a
controversial reference to the 1968 Soviet invasion of
Czechoslovakia.
Such "alternative" behaviour blighted his career in the ...