Politycy – publicyści prasowi w Polsce

Abstract

The press was an important factor behind a formulation and dissemination of political messages. The importance of this mass medium was appreciated by politicians who quickly recognized its value. Politicians were involved in journalism as columnists, audience and disseminators of political messages. A group of politicians holding the highest positions in Poland who were also columnists, i.e. Roman Dmowski, Stanislaw Mackiewicz, Józef Piłsudski serves as an example here. They were politicians by definition being respectively a member of Polish parliament, a prime minister and a minister. They were leaders of political parties. They were also engaged in informative and persuasive journalism. Their role in shaping the then press system was exceptional as they created cross-regional press centers, brought to life dailies, weeklies and monthlies capable of forming political ideas and views in society. Their autobiographical journalistic writing managed to explain to their readers the motivation behind their political conduct, the circumstances of making their private though important decisions to the public. The narrator of these articles appeared to be a creative personality who used specific experiences to make journalistic findings reliable. Subjectivism was permitted and accepted due to the nature of columns which were personalized and rich in reflection on author's personal life. Dmowski, Mackiewicz, Piłsudski proved that a politician-columnist could use varied forms of journalistic writing.