Activities of academic staff members in the network environment may have various forms – from passive presence, through participation in discussions, to publishing of the latest research results in social media. In this paper, the authors present the results of analyses conducted on the presence of the most recent (2017–2019) publications by the representatives of the widely-understood social communication and media sciences in three selected networking services for scientists: Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and Academia.edu. In the face of the results, they are trying to answer the question of how the representatives of this discipline communicate the most recent scientific findings in the media space, i.e.: what types of publications are shared, what is the form of the scientific communication created by them (publication of reference lists’ descriptions, full papers, pre-prints and post prints), and what is the audience reception (number of downloads, displays, comments). The analyses covered 100 selected representatives of the scientific environment (selected in interval sampling), assigned, according to the OECD classification, in the Scientists (“Ludzie nauki”) database and the “media and communication” discipline.

Social media has revolutionized communication between the sender and recipient of media messages. Thus, it is barely surprising that Polish universities use social media to communicate with Gen Y and Gen Z – generations whose members do not remember life without the Internet and social media. The goal of this article is to analyze the activity of Polish universities in social media, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and TikTok. The analysis was based on quantitative empirical research, embracing all universities in Poland. The study included variables such as the size of the university, location of the university, and ownership structure (public and non-public universities). The results proved that Facebook remains the primary communication tool for Polish universities, and its position seems to be unbeatable.

On the other hand, Polish universities still do not communicate on TikTok or Snapchat, which is a missed opportunity to come into being in portals addressed to the younger generation. The most popular innovative tool in extensive use is chatbots. The most important variable explaining different communication patterns was the size of the university, but – in case of some – portals, we discovered other significant relationships.

The research goal of the article was to analyze the current market of Polish news agencies, with particular emphasis on the changes introduced in the Polish Press Agency in 2016–2019 after the Act on the National Media Council entered into force. The research method used was a qualitative analysis of research material which included internet sources (websites of major Polish news agencies as well as websites devoted to press related issues) and selected press articles published in opinion magazines. The study paints a picture of the most important changes and development trends of news agencies visible on the Polish market from mid-2016 to the end of 2019. It also presents the position of these institutions regarding the phenomenon of fake news. It also summarizes the activities of the longest existing agencies in connection with their jubilees (100th anniversary of the Polish press Agency and 25th anniversary of KAI, Catholic News Agency). The conclusions of the research proved that modern Polish news agencies are currently in a stage of intensive development (advanced multimedia phase). In order for the Polish Press Agency to maintain the position of leading provider of the most important media content in Poland, a new development strategy was followed. Future opportunities for Polish new agencies depend on their ability to adapt to the changes in the media environment.

The paper presents Spojrzenia, a Szczecin-based socio-cultural monthly magazine, never analyzed in the literature before. The short-lived, local magazine was founded and published in the early years of Edward Gierek’s rule. The author attempts to scrutinize issues discussed in the monthly, with particular focus on political topics that reflected a new propagandist trend in the Polish People’s Republic. The research material consists of press sources reprinted in Spojrzenia and archival materials stored in the Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw and the Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance in Szczecin. The wide-ranging scope of subjects discussed in Spojrzeniawas dominated by regional topics and texts promoting local writers and culture. An interesting initiative taken by the monthly’s editorial board was a series of articles entitled Literature versus Politics. Alas, the majority of journalists lost interest in writing developing that series after the Polish 1970 Strikes.

Man needs solid knowledge and competence so that he can find himself in the modern media sphere. The sciences of social communication and media meet these needs, while developing the new discipline in Poland and around the world. In the context of these processes, it is worth taking a look at the history and Polish pioneering activities in the field of press research. The purpose of this article is to present an important initiative in the development of Polish press studies, namely the Press Knowledge Society (1938–1939). The aim is to show the origins of it’s history with similar initiatives in Europe to reveal the most important goals of the Society – especially those related to the concern for the ethics of mass communication expressed in the late interwar period. Our analyzes are an attempt to look for answers to the following questions: does the experience of history contain indications for solving problems of the modern media sphere and can they be an inspiration in media studies? Our analyzes are based on historical source materials and subject literature and are supported by empirical knowledge of contemporary media processes. With the help of the method of source analysis, among others, and the synthesizing comparative method, we attempted to draw conclusions important for modern media on the basis of historical knowledge about the media.

The magazines of pre-war female schools provide knowledge about the development of a new community – girls attending secondary education, which was formed as a result of numerous education reforms after 1918. The article presents the results of a content analysis of two periodicals edited by middle school students from the 1920s and 1930s. The purpose of the research was to identify the most popular issues discussed in Today and Tomorrow (Dziś i Jutro) and Youthful Flight(Młodzieńczy Lot) periodicals. It revealed the directions and goals of the pre-war education of school girls and the educational program in the interwar period. From the author’s point of view, it can be considered a universal model for the formula of pre-war school magazines, edited by girls, which significantly supplemented the rich offer of magazines for young people of the interwar period.

This article seeks to establish to what extent does eyewitness user generated content influence social movements and feelings associated with vicarious/secondary trauma. Working with a sample of perspectives from activists, reporters, nurse practitioners, literary texts, and media articles this article explores the working hypothesis that eyewitness news and media narratives both play a role in cultivating environments of fear, mistrust, etc. that lead to vicarious/secondary trauma with a focus on the recent #BlackLivesMatter protests in the USA in June 2020. This article builds upon previous research facilitated by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma within the theoretical framework of George Gerbner’s Mean World Syndrome that focused on the influence of effects of violent media on individuals’ attitudes. This article explores the similar effects that the digital eyewitness uncensored viral video of George Floyd’s death had in producing feelings associated with vicarious/secondary trauma among a sample of viewers that were directly involved in the nationwide protests during the global pandemic in America. The value of the article is twofold: it presents up to date research material obtained while conducting interviews with journalists who covered the protests and activists involved with the current social movements in America; it highlights the challenges to broadcasting for reporters and newsroom workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the interviews show that nearly all the respondents associated distressing content with feelings and emotions related to trauma induced anxieties and fears as a result of eyewitness media. Positive news coverage was reported as having a positive effect that encouraged people to understand the historical context of the Black Lives Matter movement. Most of my interviewees found distressing images “numbing” or too familiar. The article shows the media consumers’ feelings developed as a result of “virtually inescapable” graphic content.

Kazimierz Wolny-Zmorzyński: Biblia a korzenie reportażu. Glosa do historii i teorii gatunku. Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2020, s. 189.

Andrzej Kaliszewski, Edyta Żyrek-Horodyska: Kasandry i Amazonki. W kręgu kobiecego reportażu wojennego, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, Kraków 2019, s. 270.

Łukasz Walewski: Wł@dza w sieci. Jak nami rządzą social media. Wyd. MANDO, Kraków 2020, s. 252.