Trends in international journalism – Polish media landscape
Main recent media developments:
In every way, Poland is in a big expansion stage these days and that means also
regarding the media. After 1989 all censorship from the government has been removed,
so today there is a free media market. One of the recent developments in media is the
government’s attempt to change the broadcast laws in order to meet the EU standards.
Another not so fortunate development is a great decline in the quality of journalism.
Amateurs without any real basic knowledge about journalism are becoming a preferred
source for the publishers, because they are cheaper in wages than the experienced
professionals. Also entertainment-style journalism is becoming popular among the
public. For example the last great success in commercial media was the reality show
Big Brother. So even though the Polish media and communication system are still
under expansion and development, they have already obtained some of the “bad”
media which already boom in the rest of the world.
The written press
After the collapse of the old political system fundamental changes also took place in the
sphere of information: state censorship was abolished, numerous communist-era
periodicals were privatized and new media initiatives sprang up spontaneously.
Poland has more than 5400 press titles - national and local newspapers dailies,
weeklies, and specialist papers. Despite the grow up of the titles in the written press the
readership is now in decline. Television remains most Poles' basic form of obtaining
information. It is the most popular medium, easy to pick-up and more attractive than
others (73% of poles pick up information by television, 47% radio and only 46% by the
press). But the national dailies have maintained their strong position on the market of
information – total circulation of the 16 polish national dailies is about for million copies.
The daily press
"Gazeta Wyborcza", printed in tabloid format, is one of the most widely read daily
newspaper (circulation is about 600000), The newspaper was set up by ex-dissidents,
intellectuals Its first edition came out in May 1989, just before the June parliamentary
elections that initiated the new democratic Poland. Today it is the central element of the
largest media concern in Poland. Local supplements appear in the largest towns. The
paper is own by “Agora that” is the largest multimedia conglomerate in Poland,
consisting of 'Gazeta,' an Internet portal, many radio stations, the largest outdoor ads
company on the domestic market and a dozen colour magazines. The company is also
searching for further development possibilities and an entry onto the television market.
From its inception, the company sought an investor with experience in the media sector.
This happened to be Cox, operating in the south of the U.S., a publisher of local
newspapers and owner of radio stations.
"Rzeczpospolita" is the most popular paper amongst Polish business classes - the
third largest daily in terms of circulation in the country. Average daily circulation is over
260 000. The paper has a conservative image, indicated by its wide columns and A3
format. Alongside the liberal 'Gazeta Wyborcza' it is one of the most opinion-forming
parts of the Polish media. Interestingly, 'Rzeczpospolita' first appeared in communist
times and some of its pages were at that time edited directly by government institutions.
With the entry of foreign investors in the 1990s - the first was French concern Hersant,
later the Norwegian group Orkla - the paper gained its independence and worked out a
new, and - in market terms - effective, image.
"Super Express" As the paper's editorial itself writes, its readers are: "people who do
not expect from their daily newspapers serious and complicated articles." The paper
aims to focus on the lives of ordinary people. "Super Express" is read by about 14% of
Poles. Circulation is 450 000.
Another important daily newspaper is “Trybuna” that was the official party organ called
before Trybuna Ludu (People's Tribune), changed their names but continued to
represent a leftist political viewpoint.
Local newspapers, the collapse of the old political system has also resulted in a rapid
growth of regional and local press which also provide national and international news,
but focus on local stories, play an important role in the life of local communities. More
than 3000 regional and local newspapers are published. About the 40 per cent are
published by local governments, 24 per cent are privately owned and the 10 per cent
published by church parishes and other organization. One of the best selling local
newspapers comes out in Bydgoszcz, "Gazeta Pomorska", with an average daily
circulation of 105 000. The largest local press publisher in Poland is Polskapresse, to
which for example "Dziennik Polski", "Wieczór Wybrzea" and "Dziennik Zachodni".
Weeklies
The serious political and social weeklies are also very popular. "Polityka" and
"Wprost" are similar in style and character to the German 'Der Spiegel', French 'Le
Figaro' and Italian ‘Espresso’. Both have Polish origins. 'Polityka' has been published
since 1957, and has a well-established image as a magazine with high quality content.
Today the magazine enjoys popularity in large part for its perceived independence. The
best known Polish journalists have always worked at Polityka, and their texts are often
opinion-forming, as confirmed by research undertaken among the weekly's readers.
"Polityka" is also a co-founder of the radio station Tok FM. Its average circulation is 260
000 - 300 000.
The second very popular such weekly in Poland is “Wprost” has been printed since
December 1982. It is also a current affairs weekly. The nation's most renowned
politicians, economists and lawyers publish their texts here. "Wprost" has a circulation
of about 300 000.
These current affairs weeklies were joined in September 2001 by the Polish edition of
'Newsweek,' which has since won a large chunk of the market and a loyal readership.
'Newsweek' tends to use a simpler language than its Polish competitors, thanks to
which it gets through to a younger readership much easily
The success of the Polish edition even surprised its own editors, who had to print more
copies of the first edition. Newsweek was the first to prepare a special publication after
the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11th 2001.
An exceptional place among Polish weeklies is held by "Tygodnik Powszechny"
appearing since 1945. The publication since its start has been among the leaders in the
opinion-forming press in Poland. Its sub-header - "A Catholic social-cultural magazine" best outlines the magazine's interests. It was the only legally published independent
'social-political' magazine in the communist bloc.
The Audiovisual media
There are around 250 national and regional radio stations and about 70 television
stations in Poland. Since the collapse of the communistic system in Poland in 1989 all
the mass media, hitherto functioning as a propaganda channel, have been gradually
pluralized and have become more and more open for other than the Communist Party’s
perspective in broadcasting. The new economic environment has been constructed to
suit the commercial media’s requirements. These days there is a mixed market in
Poland whereby public media belonging to the Ministry of Finance exist next to private
radio and television stations.
The mission of both public radio and television is to inform, educate and promote the
national culture. Public radio and television are financed by a combination of license
fees and advertising. After the change of the communist system, the National Council
for Radio and Television was established in order to clarify the frequency situation and
consider applications for licenses from potential new broadcasters.
RADIO
The most important sector of the audio-visual market is public radio (Polskie Radio
S.A.). Polish Public Radio is active since 1925 and was holding monopoly on the
market until early 1990s. It provides four national programmes:
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PR 1 and PR3 - for general public,
PR 2 (which features classical music and literature), and
Radio Bis - education channel.
It also incorporates PR 5, which broadcasts abroad on short wave frequencies,
and 17 regional radio stations, each an independent broadcasting company.
While the national stations seem to follow the line of controlled by the politicians Radio
Council, the regional stations enjoy greater freedom and try to preserve their autonomy.
Public radio also produces programmes in ethnic minority languages.
The biggest competitors for public radio are the national commercial stations:
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RMF FM Radio – it was the first private radio station; very modern with the
greatest listeners number
ZET Radio – second large radio station, constantly competing with RMF FM
Radio
Maryja Radio from Torun - an interesting phenomenon on the market,
controversial Catholic station, which is financed by donations (listened by 5mln
Poles).
Plus Programme Alliance - a moderate Catholic alternative to Radio Maryja, the
network of regional dioceses' stations
The local commercial radio stations broadcast mostly pop music and very short news
bulletins. The Polish radio market accounts for about 8 per cent of the money spent on
display advertising.
TELEVISION
Public television (TVP S.A.) operates two national
politically controlled bodies) and one sending abroad:
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channels
(both
deriving
from
TVP1 and
TVP2 with 11 regional offices broadcasting local programming.
TV Polonia is a special satellite channel, which broadcasts abroad.
Special ethnic minority television programmes are also produced in the minority
languages
by
regional
stations.
The main institution is the Rada Nadzorcza that consists of 9, 8 of whom are appointed
by by the Council of Radio and Television and 1 of ehom is nominated by the Council of
the National Treasure. The cadency lasts 3 years.
Due to a competition Rada Nadzorcza establishes the President and the Board of 4
Members.
Competition for public television comes from the national commercial channels. These
are:
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Polsat TV – first licence (1993) granted to a commercial TV station in Polish
mass media history
TVN (ITI Holdings) – it has lost the competition (1993) in favour of Polsat TV but
was successful 4 years later when it started broadcasting. TVN also includes a
24 hour information channel. Its offer has been lately broadened by TVN Meteo
(24 hour weather programme), TVN Turbo (about motorized industry), TVN
Siedem (movie channel similar to Hallmark)
Channel 4 – broadcasting only certain amount of hours daily focused on
entertainment and cultural programmes
Catholic Puls TV – addressing mostly catholic environment in Poland ,
coded RTL 7, Canal Plus, and Wizja TV (the last two merged to form the digital
Cyfra + Platform), and about 500 cable television operators with more than 2
million subscribers. The cable operators are obliged by law to transmit two
public channels (TVP1 anad TVP2).
There is access to various satellites from Poland including Astra, Intelsat, Copernicus,
Eutelsat and Telcom. Their programmes are available through the cable operators
(some in the Polish language version). The most popular satellite channels are MTV,
Eurosport, RTL and the Cartoon Network.
. RMF FM
ZET Radio
Maryja Radio
Plus Programme Alliance
Council
National Council for Radio and TV
Polsat TV
TVN
Channel 4
Canal Plus
Wizja TV
Puls TV
New media: the Internet
The Polish internet market has developed rapidly over the last few years, and today it is
one of the most important parts in the media market. The internet has become a way for
the Poles and Poland in general to reach the rest of the world, as it is for the rest of us.
The Polish internet users have been estimated to about 8 million internet users and
about 1 million private users and companies with fixed internet connections This is not
many people in comparison to the fact that the population is about 39.5 million. But the
government is trying to improve the internet access; they are planning to equip all high
schools with computers and internet access by this year.
At this point, the most of the internet access is available from schools, universities and
offices, not many have access from their home. That is due to the lack of the
infrastructure of the telecommunication. For example private home users mostly get on
the net by dial-up-modem and that is rather expensive charges, so not many people
can afford it. Also many small towns do not have the possibility to connect via modem.
So whether the Poles can have the internet access that is related to whether they live in
small or bigger cities.
The net is also available by using cable-TV-connection which is cheaper, but probably
not all have access to that either.
Research has showed that the use of internet is mostly popular among the young and
well-educated, and the internet phenomena e-banking and e-shopping are especially
popular.
The internet is also a great way for Poland to promote itself. An example is a website
especially made to promote Poland and all Polish: www.polskiinternet.com. A strange
fact about it though, is that it was created in Chicago.
The biggest Polish internet portal is onet.pl with 43 % of the market and in addition
Wirtualna Polska with 23 % and Interia with 9 %.
Media organizations and accountability systems
The media accountability systems in Poland are under construction at present, but the
National Council for Radio and Television regulates broadcasting content. The media
accountability systems in Poland are under construction at present, but the National
Council for Radio and Television regulates broadcasting content. It is the most
important information market regulatory body responsible for issuing licenses for radio
and television broadcasting, and maintain order “on the ether”, what can they say, what
can’t they say.
The National Council for Radio and Television was founded 28 April 1993. It consists of
9 members representing different social and political groups. Four of them are
nominated by Sejm, 2 by Senat and 3 by the President of Poland. Their cadency lasts 6
years. Every other year 1/3 of the National Council for Radio and Television is
reelected. The President of the National Council for Radio and Television is elected by
the members among themselves.
Also important is the Ministry of Scientific Research and Information Technology, which
coordinates the information society development in Poland.
Although there is no press ombudsman system in Poland, the public opinion columns
and letters to the editor play an important role in the most-well-respected newspapers.
The major media organizations, including public television and ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’
have their own codes of conduct, while certain smaller media at least have some
general system of ethical guidelines. Press Circulation Audit Union since 1994
(Zwiazek Kontroli Dystrybucji Prasy) audits 347 titles - 49 dailies and 299 magazines. It
comprises publishers. The main aim of the Union is to prevent the polish press market
from unfair concurrency by providing information about amount of published and sold
papers.
In addition, the existing journalists' organizations developed their own interior code of
ethics and a system of journalist courts. After lengthy consultations and discussion the
journalists' organizations agreed to accept a very brief, 7 point document, The Media
Charter of Ethics. It comprises 7 basic journalistic principles that represent the
democratizing changes in political system in Poland:
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principle
principle
principle
principle
principle
principle
principle
of truth
of objectivity
of division of information and commentary
of honesty
of respect and tolerance
of superiority of recipient’s good
of freedom and responsibility
It was signed by all existing journalists' organizations and major media organizations.
The signatories decided to create the Media Council of Ethics - a body consisting of
well-respected media professionals who would guard the principles of the Charter,
providing interpretation and informing on cases of ethical standards' violation (it is
opinion-forming and is overseeing the moral aspects of journalism in Poland)
The journalists and media organizations are continuing to work on a more detailed code
of conduct. In order to organize this work they created an institutional body, the
Conference of Media.
Other forms of accountability system include the Polish Journalists Association's Centre
for Monitoring Freedom of the Press. The Centre's task is to monitor and report on
cases of media freedom violation. The Warsaw-based Centre also publishes the reports
and
offers
assistance
andconsultation.
Prime sources for detailed information
The Press Research Centre at Jagiellonian University in Krakow publishes a Polish
media directory - the electronic version of date base is available on-line:
There are a number of publications devoted to the problems of media industry and
journalism. The most useful are:
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Press - published in Poznan monthly magazine, http://www.press.pl
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Zeszyty Prasoznawcze, quarterly published by the Press Research Centre at
Jagiellonian University
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Forum Dziennikarzy produced by the
professional journalists' monthly magazine.
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There is also a searchable Polish media database offered on-line by Onet.pl.
Polish
Journalists
Association
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Selected links to minorities publications and web sites
katalog.czasopism.pl - the data base of the minorities periodicals
Radio Polonia - Minorities sections of public radio
Zakorzenienie - quarterly devoted to ethnic diversity issue
Radio Racja - Byelorussian radio in Bialystok
Nasze Slowo - Ukrainian weekly
Aušra - Lithuanian biweekly
Midrasz - Jewish monthly magazine
Written by Alessandro, Pola and Maria