Lead supervisor:
Prof Karin Wahl-Jorgensen 
Start date: October 2017
Award: General
Subject Pathway:
Journalism, Digital Media and Democracy
Thematic Cluster:
Rights and Governance Cluster
Journalism in Poland after 1989, Partisanship and politicisation of the free press in a post communist society
I intend to examine what has shaped journalism and its relation to liberal democracy since the collapse of communism in Poland. In particular, I will examine the impact of the pre-democratic past on the shape of the current media and assess the prospects for non-partisan media given the lingering effects of that past. I will structure my thesis around answers to the following research questions:
- What is the legacy of communism in the media?
- In what ways do the old divisions within the pre-1989 anti-communist opposition affect the shape of the press today?
- What is the role of pre-1989 dissidents turned journalists in the Polish media today?
- What role does the Smolensk plane crash play in shaping journalism in Poland?
- What are the prospects for a non-partisan journalism in Poland?
- Are “Media tożsamościowe” - the media of identity - a market strategy of survival at times when journalists seek new business models?