Gazeta Wyborcza
 Front page of an April 2006 issue. |
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| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact |
| Owner | Agora SA |
| Editor | Adam Michnik |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Political alignment | Social liberal, centre left |
| Language | Polish |
| Circulation | 319,000 |
| Official website | wyborcza.pl |
Gazeta Wyborcza (Polish pronunciation: [ɡaˈzɛta vɨˈbɔrtʂa] "Electoral Gazette") is a Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA. The average circulation of the newspaper was once 672,000, but by 2010 had dropped to 319,000, with a commensurate decrease in advertising revenue.
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History of Gazeta Wyborcza [edit]
Origin [edit]
Gazeta Wyborcza began publication on May 8, 1989, under the rhyming masthead motto, "Nie ma wolności bez Solidarności" ("There's no freedom without Solidarity"). Its founding was an outcome of the Polish Round Table Agreement between the communist government of the People's Republic of Poland and political opponents centered around the Solidarity movement.
The paper was to serve as the voice of Solidarity during the run-up to semi-free elections to be held June 4, 1989 (hence its title). As such, it was the first legal newspaper published outside the communist government's control since its founding in the late 1940s.
The paper's editor-in-chief, since its founding, has been Adam Michnik. According to the editors, the first edition was small (150,000 copies) and relatively expensive due to the limited supplies of paper available from the state. A year and a half later, the daily run had reached 500,000 copies. In September 1990, during the acrimonious breakup of the Solidarity camp following the collapse of the communist government, Lech Wałęsa revoked the paper's right to use the Solidarity logo on its masthead. Since then, Gazeta Wyborcza has been a fully independent newspaper which generally supports liberal values. Gazeta Wyborcza is now a massive multi-section daily newspaper. The paper publishes daily local editions for the following cities: Warsaw, Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Częstochowa, Gdańsk, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Katowice, Kraków, Kielce, Lublin, Łódź, Olsztyn, Opole, Płock, Poznań, Radom, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Toruń, Wrocław and Zielona Góra.
The Rywin affair [edit]
In 2003, Lew Rywin, a prominent film producer, was accused by Gazeta Wyborcza of attempted bribery when he allegedly solicited a bribe of $17.5 million from editor Adam Michnik in exchange for amendments to a media bill. The adoption of the bill in its original form proposed by the government would have prevented Agora S.A. from buying Polsat, one of Polish private TV stations. This case, called the Rywin affair, led to the establishment of an investigation commission by the Polish Parliament. Consequently, Lew Rywin was sentenced for attempting to influence the parliamentary legislative process in a way that would enable a Polish media company to buy a television station. Furthermore, the controversial draft act was rejected by the Polish Parliament.
Criticism [edit]
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The examples and perspective in this article may not include all significant viewpoints. (January 2010) |
Gazeta Wyborcza has been criticized for distorted coverage of controversial issues such as post-communist vetting, Polish-Jewish relations and the Polish minority in Lithuania.[1] It has also received criticism for using its influence to whitewash former communists, particularly General Jaruzelski.[2] After the fall of communism, the paper was criticized for taking part in an "intensive propaganda campaign" and particularly for rigorously trying to revamp Jaruzelski's image.[3]
According to the book and interviews by ex-journalist of Gazeta Wyborcza the starting capital was 15 PLN after denomination (roughly $20 at the time and the needed paper, machines, place to make it was given by communist regime), and firstly newspaper had to be the all political point-of-view (from left, via centre to the right, like the Polish anti-communism opposition - from Solidarnosc Walczaca, with nearly the "social-communism" with liberal and changing people at the table only, to the nearly far right - like conservative parties or strictly liberal, USA 19th century model), however the Michnik and other gain power. Remuszko claims that he left the newspaper when the Zbigniew Bujak, Aleksander Paszyński and Andrzej Wajda – formally divided this built with tax-payers materials, and by Solidarity sign and blessing, with 16 journalists of newspapers. He also quotes the Stanisław Lem(Polish popular writer) and Cezary Gmyz(chief of Rzeczpospolita, direct newspaper market "foe" of Wyborcza) that they treat him as a "bravery furious" or just "crazy man", because Agora(owner of Wyborcza) after getting on the stock exchange given everyone from first journalists some millions of dollars(and he because of leaving by other view of newspaper, didn't get the share).[4][5]
Contributing journalists [edit]
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Communists
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Gazeta today [edit]
Weekly extra sections [edit]
Gazeta Praca (classified job advertisements, salary lists, Mondays), Gazeta Sport (Mondays), Komunikaty (properties classifieds, Tuesdays), Gazeta Dom (building and furnishing, Wednesdays), Duży Format (reportages, Thursdays), Gazeta Telewizyjna (TV programmes, Fridays), Gazeta Co Jest Grane (cinema and theatre repertoires, film and book reviews, music events, Fridays), Gazeta Turystyka (travelling extra, Saturdays) and Wysokie Obcasy, Wysokie Obcasy Extra (women's extra, Saturdays, since April 1999).
Special Bollywood promotion [edit]
Gazeta Wyborcza started offering a Bollywood DVD film every Saturday at a concessional price to its readers. If one buys Gazeta Wyborcza’s weekend issue and pays the equivalent of $2.50 extra, one can take home a Bollywood film with Polish subtitles. The result: sales of the paper goes up by 50,000 copies.
Web presence [edit]
The online edition of Gazeta Wyborcza is one of the sections of the portal Gazeta.pl. The paid electronic version of the newspaper is an option. The website wyborcza.pl has been expanded through rankings of articles which are most frequently read and commented on. It presents Polish and global history on most notable covers of Gazeta Wyborcza. Beside analogue sections from the paper edition, the website also provides a feedback section which allows the readers to contact the editorial staff and express opinions).
The paper's website links to Gazeta's journalists' blogs, including the ones by: Ewa Milewicz, Dominika Wielowieyska, Jan Turnau, Bartosz Węglarczyk and Wojciech Orliński. The number of journalists who write blogs is constantly increasing.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ The press in Poland BBC News
- ^ Radek Sikorski. Lack of solidarity - Poland's political problems. National Review, Oct 18, 1993.
- ^ Voytek Zubek. The Reassertion of the Left in Post-Communist Poland. Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 46, No. 5 (1994), pp. 818.
- ^ http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.remuszko.pl%2Fgw%2F%3Fpage%3D.%2Fteksty%2Fwywiad_netbird
- ^ http://www.remuszko.pl/gw/?page=./teksty/wywiad_netbird
