''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly
news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...
in Poland. it was the country's biggest selling weekly, ahead of ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
''s Polish edition, ''
Newsweek Polska
''Newsweek Polska'' is a Polish language weekly news magazine published in Poland as the Polish edition of ''Newsweek''.
History
''Newsweek Polska'' was established in 2001. The founder of the weekly is Tomasz Wróblewski.
The magazine is owned ...
'', and ''
Wprost
''Wprost'' (, meaning "Directly") is a Polish-language weekly news magazine published in Poznań, Poland.
''. ''Polityka'' has a slightly intellectual,
socially liberal
Cultural liberalism is a social philosophy which expresses the social dimension of liberalism and advocates the freedom of individuals to choose whether to conform to cultural norms. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, it is often expressed a ...
profile, 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
Janina Maria Paradowska-Zimowska (2 May 1942 – 29 June 2016) was a Polish journalist and radio presenter.
Biography
Paradowska was born in Kraków. She graduated from the Faculty of Polish studies at Jagiellonian University, then studied ...
,
Daniel Passent
Daniel Passent (28 April 1938 – 14 February 2022) was a Polish journalist and writer. He was the author of the ''En passant'' blog, which was appearing as a column in a Polish weekly ''Polityka''.
Biography
Passent was born in Stanisławów, ...
Adam Szostkiewicz
Adam Dawid Szostkiewicz (; born 22 June 1952) is a Polish author, commentator on religion and politics, journalist and translator.
Biography
Szostkiewicz was born in Częstochowa. He studied Polish language and literature in the early seventies ...
,
Jacek Żakowski
Jacek Wojciech Żakowski (born 17 August 1957) is a Polish journalist and author. In 1989 he was head of editorial division of ''Gazeta Wyborcza'', 1989–1990 spokesman of the Citizens Parliamentary Club, in 1991–1992 president of the Polish Ag ...
,
Ryszard Kapuściński
Ryszard Kapuściński (; 4 March 1932 – 23 January 2007) was a Polish journalist, photographer, poet and author. He received many awards and was considered a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kapuściński's personal journals in bo ...
Krzysztof Zanussi
Krzysztof Pius Zanussi (born 17 June 1939) is a Polish film and theatre director, producer and screenwriter. He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop. He is ...
.
History and profile
Established in 1957, after
Stalinism
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...
had subsided in Poland, ''Polityka'' slowly developed a reputation for moderately critical journalism, promoting economical way of thinking, although always remaining within the communist-imposed boundaries that still constrained the press. Notably, ''Polityka'' was launched to replace the more radical ''
Po prostu Simple speech ( uk, проста мова, prosta mova, pl, mowa prosta, po prostu, be, про́стая мова; па простаму, prostaya mova; "(to speak) in a simple way"), also translated as "simple language" or "simple talk", is an in ...
'' (1947–1957).
The first
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
of ''Polityka'' was Stefan Żółkiewski who served in the post from 1957 to 1958.
Mieczysław Rakowski
Mieczysław Franciszek Rakowski (; 1 December 1926 – 8 November 2008) was a Polish communist politician, historian and journalist who was Prime Minister of Poland from 1988 to 1989. He served as the seventh and final First Secretary of the Pol ...
was a long-time editor of the publication and he served in the post between 1958 and 1982. 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
The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that e ...
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
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
''). It earned the ire of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983 after expressing a favorable view of political pluralism.
Jan Bijak became
editor-in-chief
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
of the magazine in 1982 and served in the post until 1994. After the
fall of communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
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
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
called ''"Polityka" - Spółdzielnia Pracy''. Such a publishing cooperative is unique in the Polish press. Since 1994, the editor of ''Polityka'' has been Jerzy Baczyński. 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. The circulation of the magazine was 143,089 copies in 2010 and 133,324 copies in 2011. It was 124,761 copies in 2012. The print and e-edition circulation of the weekly was 127,732 in August 2014.
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
Paszport Polityki (Polityka's Passport) is an annual Polish cultural award presented by the weekly magazine ''Polityka'' since 1993.
It is presented in six major categories: literature, film, theatre, classical music, popular music, visual arts ...
. Since the late 1990s, it has also funded scholarships for young scientists.