Polityka

Not to be confused with Politika.
Polityka
(Politics)

Anna Maria Jopek and Dorota Masłowska on Polityka cover
Editor Jerzy Baczyński
Frequency weekly
Circulation 182,000 (October 2016)
First issue 1957 (1957)
Company Spółdzielnia Pracy Polityka
Country Poland
Website polityka.pl

Polityka (Polish pronunciation: [pɔˈlitɨka], Politics) is a centre-left weekly newsmagazine in Poland. With a circulation of 200,050 (as of April 2011), it was the country's biggest selling weekly,[1] ahead of Newsweek's Polish edition, Newsweek Polska, and Wprost. Polityka has a slightly intellectual, socially liberal profile,[2] setting it apart from the more conservative Wprost and the glossier approach of Newsweek Poland. Prominent editors and permanent contributors have included Adam Krzemiński, Janina Paradowska, Daniel Passent, Ludwik Stomma, Adam Szostkiewicz, Jacek Żakowski, Ryszard Kapuściński, Jerzy Urban, and Krzysztof Zanussi.

History and profile

Established in 1957,[3][4] after Stalinism had subsided in Poland, Polityka slowly developed a reputation for moderately critical journalism, promoting economical way of thinking,[5] although always remaining within the communist-imposed boundaries that still constrained the press. Notably, Polityka was launched to replace the more radical Po prostu (1947–1957).

The first editor-in-chief of Polityka was Stefan Żółkiewski who served in the post from 1957 to 1958.[4] Mieczysław Rakowski was a long-time editor of the publication and he served in the post between 1958 and 1982.[6] It was he who would become the final First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party, the last communist prime minister of Poland, and who would eventually oversee the winding down of communist rule in Poland in 1989. Polityka supported the Round Table talks, which concluded with an agreement to hold the free elections that would result in a peaceful end to communist rule in Poland. The magazine achieved renown in 1961 when it printed five parts of Adolf Eichmann's memoires that had been stolen and given to it by anti-Nazis (the only other magazine that acquired fragments of these memoires was Life).[7] It earned the ire of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983 after expressing a favorable view of political pluralism.[8]

Jan Bijak became editor-in-chief of the magazine in 1982 and served in the post until 1994.[4] After the fall of communism in 1989, Polityka continued to play an influential role as part of Poland's newly free press. In 1990, the Polityka team left the state-owned publisher RSW Prasa-Książka-Ruch with rights to the title, and established an independent cooperative called "Polityka" - Spółdzielnia Pracy.[9] Such a publishing cooperative is unique in the Polish press. Since 1994, the editor of Polityka has been Jerzy Baczyński.[4] In 1995, the format was switched from a broadsheet to a standard colour magazine, which has more than 100 pages per issue.

Circulation

In 2001 Polityka had a circulation of 245,000 copies.[9] The circulation of the magazine was 143,089 copies in 2010 and 133,324 copies in 2011.[10] It was 124,761 copies in 2012.[10] The print and e-edition circulation of the weekly was 127,732 in August 2014.[11]

Awards

Since 1959, Polityka has awarded its History Award (for history book of the year), and, since 1993, an annual award for the arts, the Paszport Polityki. Since the late 1990s, it has also funded scholarships for young scientists.

Editorial stance

Polityka has sometimes been accused of showing a neo-communist bias in their articles, as many of their leading editors served the communist regime. These loyalties were claimed to persist after 1989: Janina Paradowska, for example, was accused of sitting on information it had received from Adam Michnik about corruption involving Lew Rywin, which eventually led to the so-called Rywin affair; Paradowska and the editorial team decided not to publicise the matter until Michnik himself had done so.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sources » Polityka". Presseurop. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  2. ↑ "Polish newspapers and magazines". Pecob. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Press and Publishers". Republic of Poland. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Magdalena Przybysz-Stawska (September 2013). "The Opinion Press in Poland from 1989 to 2012". The 2nd Electronic International Interdisciplinary Conference. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Monika Wilińska; Elisabet Cedersund (2010). ""Classic ageism" or "brutal economy"? Old age and older people in the Polish media" (PDF). Journal of Aging Studies. 24: 335–343. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  6. ↑ Jacqueline Hayden (23 March 2006). The Collapse of Communist Power in Poland: Strategic Misperceptions and Unanticipated Outcomes. Routledge. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-134-20801-2. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Daniel Passent: Zbrodniarz na łamach, Polityka nr 10/2007 (2595)
  8. ↑ Wiesław Władyka: Historia Polityki dla dorosłych, Polityka nr 9/2007 (2594)
  9. 1 2 "Top 50 Finance/Business/News magazines worldwide (by circulation)" (Report). Magazine Organization. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  10. 1 2 "Top 50 Magazines". IFABC. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Circulation of dailies". Teleskop. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  12. ↑ Rafał A. Ziemkiewicz, Michnikowszczyzna. Zapis choroby (Red Horse, 2006). ISBN 83-60504-16-4.
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