It has been 20 years since Poland entered the group of democratic countries. The 1989 breakthrough forced the changes not only in political but also in media system. Foreign capital appeared on Polish market and West European trends followed. From two decades’ perspective not all of these effects were positive. One of the most disputable trends is media tabloidization. Nowadays it is hard to imagine press market without tabloids, which topped the selling lists. Changes which are taking part in traditional media are also the result of electronic media influence. Is this intersection fruitful for both sectors? The author of the article tries to create a preliminary balance of profits and losses as an effect of tabloids presence on Polish market.
In the communist era regional media in Poland were part of a monopoly system. No sooner had Polish media entered the path of free market than in mid-1989 when communism collapsed and Solidarity took over the wheel of political power. Poland had started a long-lasting process of democratization. During demolition of press monopoly political matters had essential influences. Hence, whereas some investors were warmly welcomed, others were excluded. Yet it was not taken into consideration to limit foreign companies’ shares in Polish press publishing houses/companies. In effect most regional dailies were taken over. After 20 years of free market governance a new kind of monopoly system is emerging as a few large media companies are controlling the whole media market. In the Lower Silesia, which can be used as a prism for highlighting this process of change, the only one of them has left. How has this happened? Will this occur also in other regions in Poland? At the beginning of the new century Axel Springer appeared and introduced a weekly opinion journal and two years later a tabloid “Fakt”, which immediately topped the readership and circulation rankings. The last try with prestigious daily newspaper “Dziennik” did not succeed and Springer had to join it with other newspaper. One of the possible causes of this failure were political matters and changing the strategy alignments. Fear competition and political affiliation/sympathies led to a strong politicization in countrywide dailies. The article tries to cope with giving answers to questions such as: how did the foreign companies influence Polish market? What were their strategies of doing business? To what extent did their presence and activity change the media and Polish journalism? And the last but not least, what may happen on the press market in Poland in the nearest future.
The article deals with local media functions typology. Firstly, the author makes an attempt to describe the lowest level of the media system in general, providing the basic statistical data. This gives an assumption for further discussion about significant difficulties in defining local media and in making a comparison between parts of media systems. Secondly, the paper considers a theoretical approach to typology of local media functions considering several existing proposals. Lastly, the author analyzes how these functions have been fulfilled in the practice of local media in Poland.
Wrocław is the capital city of one of the few Polish regions where regional and local terrestrial television stations compete with one another. The regional broadcaster is represented by a branch of public television, while the privately-owned Telewizja Dolnoślaska, a part of the Odra network, represents the local one. Both stations provide current affairs and journalistic programs. This paper is an attempt at a comparative analysis of the main news programs of Telewizja Wrocław (Fakty) and Telewizja Dolnośląska (Informacje). The analysis particularly focuses on the proportions of hard and soft news, which the author believes may be a confirmation of the tabloidization of the media. The comparison of the content presented by the two competing stations provides certain grounds, albeit limited, due to the scope of the analysis, to assess the state of regional and local television in Poland.
Głównym tematem artykułu jest cyfryzacja i jej wpływ na telewizję w Polsce. Autor szeroko opisuje podstawy tego procesu, próbując dokonać porównania między drogą rozwoju mediów drukowanych i elektronicznych. Sięgając do przełomowego okresu, analizuje kluczowe wydarzenia i to, jakie piętno odcisnęły na elektronicznym segmencie systemu medialnego w Polsce. Najsilniejszy akcent w artykule jest położony na wyłączeniu analogowego sygnału nadawania telewizji naziemnej: jak do tego doszło i jakie były/są konsekwencje tego fenomenu. Autor wspiera omawiane zjawiska najważniejszymi danymi i niezbędnymi objaśnieniami tego, co wydarzyło się na rynku audiowizualnym.
Six years after the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015, the European Union remains divided on questions of migration and asylum policy. The issue also remains high on the agendas of the USA and Russia, two other key destination countries with immigration from Latin America and the Post-Soviet space. This article presents results from a comparative study of news coverage in 17 countries, focusing on 10 EU member states in Western and Central Eastern Europe (CEE), the USA and Russia. The intensity of coverage was remarkably different, with Hungary’s and Germany’s media standing out while Russian media displayed relatively low levels of coverage. Individual migrants and refugees were most visible in the two outlets from the USA. Media in CEE countries tended towards a more critical approach than media in Western Europe. However, differences between most countries’ pairs of analyzed media outlets indicate a more pluralistic debate than frequently assumed.
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