The article is devoted to the activities of the Professor N. N. Popov (Ural State University named after A. M. Gorky) in the years of perestroika. The publications of N. N. Popov in the regional print media, his participation in the work of the City Discussion Tribune are analysed. The contribution of N. N. Popov to the transformation of content in the Ural press of the era of “glasnost” is substantiated.