Press Text as a Subject of Research – Evolution, Transgression, Multimodality

In the linguistic concept of press studies analysis, focusing attention only on the text as a product of communication activities seems to be methodologically outdated today, which does not mean, however, that the media text has become a useless research category in favor of discourse or multimodal messages. On the contrary, it is precisely from the interest in the text – first colloquial, then literary, and then public statements, including journalistic ones – that the research on the structure and consistency of statements, including the press (media) genres, has developed. 

In accordance with the changes in the scope of research interests concerning text theory and press discourse, the concepts and methods of description are also subject to continuous development and expansion. Multi-channel nature, multimodality and the growing role of the Internet in the transmission of information, as well as the changing needs of the audience, require new methodologies for the analysis and description of media coverage. 

The Beginnings of Press Studies During the Partitions and in the Reborn Poland: Galician and Krakow tropes

The article is of a review nature. It deals with the beginnings of press studies and the gradual crystallization of press studies as a scientific discipline in Poland, conducted or published mainly, though not exclusively in the areas of Galicia and Małopolska.

The author recalls – behind the works of Sylwester Dziki – pioneering research conducted in the Lviv and Krakow centers in the nineteenth century by several generations of professional bibliographers and historians (such as J.S. Bandtkie, K.J.T. Estreicher) and amateur enthusiasts (such as A. Chłędowski, K. Szajnocha, S.J.N. Czarnowski). At the beginning of the twentieth century, they took the form of broader organizational activities (S. Gorski, S.T. Jarkowski), in particular related to the implementation of the ideas adopted at the Krakow Congress of Journalists (1911) and implemented gradually after regaining independence, mainly by Jarkowski and his colleagues. The article shows the process of the institutionalization of Polish press studies in the dimension of journalistic education (especially at the academic level), the development of journalism integrating press researchers, and finally – a long-term fight for the establishment of a center researching the press. 

These three ideas materialized partly in the interwar period through the activities of, among others, the Academy of Journalism in Warsaw (1927–1939). However, they developed in a more mature form only after the Second World War, with the establishment of the Polish Institute of Social Sciences and the “Press Poland” industry monthly. In the following years, journalism studies at the University of Warsaw and Jagiellonian University as well as scientific journals like “the Press Studies Quarterly” (the body of the Press Research Institute in Warsaw) and “the Contemporary and Early Press” (related to the Press Research Centre in Krakow) were established. 

The Linguistic Form of the Press Heading in the Media Discourse of the Reborn Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (on the Example of „Illustrated Polish Journal „ from 1919)

Syndicate of Krakow’s Journalists (1912–1939)

The first independent local organization of journalists in Krakow (Kraków) was the Syndicate of Krakow’s Journalists (Syndykat Dziennikarzy Krakowskich) founded in 1912 and active to 1939 until World War II (officially and legally, then in the underground). In comparison to similar earlier initiatives in Lviv, this was a strictly professional, non-political and non-party organization. I took care of its members’ everyday needs, materials and interests. A very important problem was maintaining the prestige and dignity the profession. The SCJ exacted standards and rules of media ethics in the press and radio. It was engaged in public problems, affairs. It initiated many debates, especially on the freedom of the press and press law. In 1939, the SCJ united 94 members and 200 journalists from 1912 to 1939 to participate in this organization. The SCJ was the oldest and greatest independent professional organization of this type in Poland. 

The First Polish reportages from the Fronts of the Great War – in „Nowa Reforma” (The New Reform magazine) and „Ilustrowany T ygodnik Polski” (The Illustrated Polish Weekly) (Genological and Historical Aspects)

The origins of modern Polish reportage is closely related to the outbreak of the Great War (1914–1918). The world’s first mass scale armed conflict was also a particular challenge for writers, journalists and artists, who volunteered to fight in the ranks of the legions under the command of Józef Piłsudski. It was there that the following first reportage texts were written: 1/ Pierwsze Bitwy (The First Battles) by Gustaw Daniłowski – documenting the expedition to the Kingdom and the unsuccessful occupation of Kielce, and 2/ the series of Bitwa pod Konarami (The Battle of Konary) by Juliusz Kaden-Bandrowski, describing the first big victories of the legionaries over the Russians alongside the Austrian and Hungarian armies. The genological analysis of these texts and the circumstances in which they were written were presented in view of their role in the idea of independence followed by the periodicals that were issued in Krakow at that time: “Nowa Reforma” (The New Reform) and “Ilustrowany Tygodnik Polski” (The Illustrated Polish Weekly) (the texts were published in both of them).

Social Issues Discussed on the Columns of the ‘Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny’ (‘Illustrated Daily Courier’) and the Cracovian ‘Czas’ (‘Time’) During the First Days of Poland’s Independence

In November 1918 the ‘Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny’ and the Cracovian ‘Czas’ both belonged to the most popular daily newspapers and already had an established position on the Galicia press market. The conservative ‘Czas’ celebrated its 50th anniversary and the ‘Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny’, after 8 years of its continuous development and capturing its readers’ attention, was known not only in the Austrian Partition (Polish territories occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire), but its copies were also distributed among soldiers fighting on both sides of the front lines of World War I. Those newspapers differed not only in the political coloration, but also in their destination. The ‘Czas’ from Krakow seemed more elitist, while the ‘Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny’ was addressed to a wider circle of readers. This difference influenced their published content, subject areas and their ways of presenting information. Social issues discussed on the columns of the ‘Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny’ were understood more broadly and took more space than on the columns of ‘Czas’. The former was focused not only on the most important political events, which made the headlines in November 1918, but it also used to raise current issues concerning the ordinary existence of the local community. 

The Inspirations of the Cracovian Catholic Press in the Age of Regaining Independence and at the Beginning of the Second Polish Republic

The Cracovian Catholic press was thriving in the years of Poland’s regaining independence as well as at the beginning of the Second Polish Republic. In this period, 81 writings were published in Krakow and in the diocese, which were characterized by the wealth of the form, the content and the trends. However, its problem was the very low publishing activity of the parishes.

The general directions of the inspirations of the Cracovian Catholic press closely relate to church, education, social and political life, as well as, independence. An important role in its progress was played by the leaders-mentors, among them Prince Bishop Adam Stefan Sapieha and Dr. Ferdynand Machay, editor-in-chief of the “Dzwon Niedzielny” can be found. 

Our analysis of this problem was derived from the achievements of the classical approaches. Due to the method which was used in the scrutiny of the content, numerous data concerning the analyzed contexts could have been found. 

State, Nation, Society in the Narrative of the „Dzwon Niedzielny” Weekly (in the Interwar Period)

“Dzwon Niedzielny” [Sunday Bell] was a catholic weekly published in Krakow in the years 1924–1939 by the Catholic Publishing Association. From 1930, the magazine was a body of the Archdiocesan Institute of Catholic Action. From 1929, it was decided that supplements would be published every two weeks for children (“Dzwoneczek”), for women (“Matka i Gospodyni”), for the clergy (“Kapłan”), and from 1933 “Młodzież Polska” – a circular on relations of the Catholic Association of Polish Youth. The weekly was edited by priests F. Frydek (1924–1925), F. Machay (1925–1929) and T. Długosz (1929–1939), During the interwar period, this periodical served an informational role, it touched not only religious topics, but also social and educational issues, and published news from the life of the church. The information was provided by the Catholic Press Agency from Warsaw and the Polish Radio. The weekly also had correspondents in Italy and France. The purpose of this article is, on the one hand, to analyze the messages posted, mentions of socio-patriotic and educational topics posted in the “Dzwon Niedzielny” weekly, and on the other hand, the assessment of their social role. The weekly was distributed throughout the Archdiocese of Krakow, as well as outside its borders in Polish communities such as in France and Denmark

The Image of Poland in the Russian Press on the Eve of Regaining Independence (Draft of the Problem Based on „Izviestia” and „Pravda”)

The Image of Russia and Russians in the Krakow Press in 1918. A Cultural Perspective: Encoding – Decoding and Re-coding

The years of dependence fixed a specific picture of Russia and the Russians. This was conditioned by enmity against the invaders on the one hand and – by the need of auto-creation and painting a positive picture by the very czarist Russia, on the other hand. Newspapers, as opinion-forming tools, became a stage for the struggle between such a creation of the image of the world in which Russia had a positive and prevalent role, and such forming the image in which freedom and patriotism were of fundamental significance.

The year 1918 brought significant changes due to the fact that the qualities of the eastern neighbor were being transformed. The resurgent Poland created its identity upon the basis of the endogenous components which were known in advance, such as: independence, honor and freedom and struggle for it; and also by referring to the exogenous ones. The new Russia was one of them.

A cultural perspective has been adopted in this paper. The applied methodology would help to reveal the mechanisms typical for a culture at the moment of sudden changes: to unveil the hidden codes, to confront their contents with the declared ones (official) and re-coding. The latter one is necessary to enable the culture to absorb or reject cultural influence from the neighbor who has changed some of its cultural patterns. 

98 Days of „Wiadomości Krakowskie” (1922–1923)

The article presents the “Wiadomości Krakowskie” newspaper, which existed for 98 days in Krakow in 1922 and 1923, and the circumstances of its creation. Before the election to the Polish Parliament in 1922, a strike of printers and typesetters broke out in Krakow. It blocked the possibility of publishing the largest daily newspapers of Krakow: “Czas”, “Nowa Reforma”, “Goniec Krakowski”, “Głos Narodu”, “Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny” and “Nowy Dziennik”. After a few days of the strike, their editors launched an edition of a common daily under the name “Wiadomości Krakowskie”. In the period of the hot pre-election campaign, the editors of extremely different political options prepared and published a politically neutral newspaper. This state, as a result of the prolongation of the strike, lasted for over three months. 

I Am Traveling Through Poland – the Old Land and the New Country. Independent Poland Through the Eyes of Joseph Roth

The article presents the book entitled Letters from Poland by Joseph Roth, in which the journalist creates a journalistic portrait of Poland right after the country regained its independence. Research shows that in this text the author remains both: a part of the country and “the alien’’. He treats his return to Poland as an opportunity to confront the memories and present times. Roth’s comments created during the journey are not only an expression of admiration for the independent country, but they also bring a bitter reflection on anti-Semitism, social exclusion or political sluggishness. 

Adam Karaś – Photographer of Krakow’s Independence

Adam Karaś (1896–1986), photographer from Krakow, was owner of a photography studio at Szewska St., which was very popular among the residents of Krakow. He was also a documentalist of Krakow. In October 1918 he documented Krakow regaining its independence. He preserved the events at the Guardhouse on glass plates; the symbolic moment of the power takeover by the Polish administration and the first act of the newly reborn Polish Army. The first photos he published in the press appeared in “Nowości Ilustrowane”, a periodical which was very well-known for its discerning taste in photography.

Negative plates and photographs of Adam Karaś made it to the Walery Rzewuski Museum of the History of Photography. Upon their conservation and preparation, they were published in a number of periodicals, shown at scientific conferences and in various exhibitions. The photographs of Adam Karaś of 1918 are exceptionally suited for such activities.

Some of the photographs of Adam Karaś have become iconic; they illustrate anniversary editions, scientific studies of the events of 1918. The author of the presentation will also present the first media publications of Adam Karaś’s photos of the events of 31 October in Krakow. A critical analysis of these images will allow for a different perspective on the iconic images of 31 October 1918 and the following days in Krakow.