English
Język Polski
From „Fanatics” to „PC Order”. The Media Image of the Center Agreement Party. The Attempt to Draw the Problem
Adam Chmielecki
Abstract
The article presents the media image of Center Agreement (CA) party, and its causes and consequences through an analysis ofarticles published in the daily newspaper "Gazeta Wyborcza” and the weekly news magazine “Polityka.” These titles compose a representative case study of the problem due to their position in the Polish media market, and relations with political camps constituting the “core” of Polish transition. The pejorative image of the CA – including the image of founder and longtime president of the party Jarosław Kaczyński – should be considered to be one of the most enduring myths in the Polish media and public life after 1989. The CA’s “black legend” was one of the determinants of the end of party’s activity; it was also moved by the media for the next political initiative made by Jarosław and Lech Kaczynski – the Law and Justice Party. The ideological, political and personal reasons for this attitude are presented with a clear distinction between the cases of “Gazeta Wyborcza” and “Polityka.” This approach to the problem not only contributes to the study of the independence (or rather the shortage of it) in the Polish media market of leftist and liberal political camps, but also leads to a conclusion of purely political nature. The emotional attitude to the CA – not as a part of reality, but as a political enemy par excellence – presented by the authors of “Gazeta Wyborcza” argues that the division within the former democratic opposition in communist Poland – through the creation of the CA in 1990 – is the most important political conflict in the political history of Poland after 1989. At the same time maintaining a significant political position around J. Kaczynski can be seen as an indication fo the limited effectiveness of media strategies directed towards political actors. The “Demos” is still stronger than the media, and democracy acts as a defence against “mediocracy.”
Keywords
Center Agreement (party) ; Law and Justice (party) ; Jarosław Kaczyński ; Lech Kaczyński ; ?Gazeta Wyborcza? ; ?Polityka? ; mediocracy
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