was the former person the editor of any magazine or something like that?
Yes, he was an editor for a daily newspaper "Pravda" ("Truth")
Joseph Stalin
In February 1912, Stalin again escaped to Saint Petersburg, tasked with converting the Bolshevik weekly newspaper, "Zvezda" ("Star") into a daily, "Pravda" ("Truth"). The new newspaper was launched in April 1912, although Stalin's role as editor was kept secret.
who was the ruthless dictator who was intent on spreading communism in the soviet union and abroad Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin whom did he succeed? Vladimir Lenin
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Joseph Stalin [SEP] Rise to the Central Committee and editorship of "Pravda": 1912–1917
In January 1912, while Stalin was in exile, the first Bolshevik Central Committee had been elected at the Prague Conference. Shortly after the conference, Lenin and Grigory Zinoviev decided to co-opt Stalin to the committee. Still in Vologda, Stalin agreed, remaining a Central Committee member for the rest of his life. Lenin believed that Stalin, as a Georgian, would help secure support for the Bolsheviks from the empire's minority ethnicities. In February 1912, Stalin again escaped to Saint Petersburg, tasked with converting the Bolshevik weekly newspaper, "Zvezda" ("Star") into a daily, "Pravda" ("Truth"). The new newspaper was launched in April 1912, although Stalin's role as editor was kept secret.