The article is devoted to the development and formation of the first Ukrainian-language daily newspaper «Hromadska Dumka» and its legal successor, the newspaper «Rada» at the beginning of the 20th century. It was researched that newspapers were published in a difficult and full of censorship time. Imperial Russian officials at first gave permission for the publication to be printed, but quickly abandoned the promised democratic freedoms and moved to their restrictions, thus banning the publication of Public Opinion. At the end of December, the newspaper «Hromadska Dumka» still received permission to publish. On the first page of the periodical, mainly journalistic articles, news from the life of Kyiv, reviews of the press, and literature were printed. On the second - historical excursions, works of writers, folklore explorations. The third page contains the latest news, telegrams, bibliographic news, discoveries in science and technology. Half of the space on the fourth page was occupied by advertising, the other half by columns-posts. It was found that the editors and creative and technical staff of «Hromadska Dumka» approached the publication process professionally. They did everything to ensure that newspaper materials attracted the attention of as many readers as possible. Of course, a large number of publications had an open populist orientation, which negatively affected the existence of the publication, which was too meticulously proofread by the censors. In addition, the newspaper was under constant surveillance by officials and the police, who often raided the editorial office and confiscated the numbers of newspapers that violated censorship. Employees of the Kyiv imperial administration often intimidated newspaper subscribers, blackmailing them with the loss of their positions. Finally, a year later, the publication was closed. Subsequently, the first issue of the daily newspaper «Rada» was published, which was to inherit the ideological foundations of «Hromadska Dumka». However, this number was confiscated due to radical journalistic materials. This newspaper lasted longer than its predecessor, but it too was closed due to anti-government sentiments. It is concluded that the imperial authorities harshly suppressed any development of Ukrainian culture, including the publication of periodicals in the Ukrainian language: the newspapers «Ukrainska Dumka» and «Rada», which, despite the pressure, persecution, and arrest of their editors and contributors, existed and developed, violating several important Ukrainian issues

history of journalism, newspaper, publication, censorship committee, national idea