Abstract

Poland's Journalists: Professionalism and Politics examines the position of journalists and journalism in Poland from the beginning of the country's trauma and revolts in 1948 until the disappointments of Solidarity and its repression by martial law in the 1980s. The author explores journalists' responses--both professionally and politically--to their country's crises, and convincingly argues that they shared common interests and values; that they developed formal and informal organizations and that their self-identification as a professional group is comparable with their journalistic counterparts in the West. This book draws on a variety of published sources, on some 249 interviews with journalists and on surveys. It provides a unique case study of Polish journalists and is a major contribution to the sociological study of professionalism under communism.