Abstract

The local press performs significant functions, not only informing the inhabitants of a given city about matters close to them, but also implementing the ideas of regionalism by promoting a “small homeland”, integrating a given community, and reflecting the life of people living in a specific territory. The aim of the article is to present one of the local periodicals – namely Wiadomości – 43 bis –and to attempt to answer the following research questions: how did the analysed periodical change in 1989–2014? What was its strength and what was its weakness? Did it fulfill the functions assigned to this type of press, matching the definition of local magazines? What elements made it remain in the demanding press market, in which the rules seem to be dictated not only by the recipients themselves, but also by strong and well-established media concerns, which also invest in the regional press market? The paper can potentially contribute to further research on the press in the Łódź region.