A very good young man, any of whom may associate under the nickname ^ols, commented on the Towergate with the following sentences:
The embezzlement of social assets was set at the circular table – the state press was then divided among the various environments (...) Agora's founders were active politicians, MPs, ministers (...) Kaczyński planned monetization while in deep opposition, then the ministers did not have
I presume he believed in what he wrote. So I'm going to educately approximate the circumstances of transformation.
There were no specified arrangements at the circular table, due to the fact that the Communists were convinced that they were not yet giving up power. Free elections weren't expected to be until 1993.
The PRL authorities agreed to issue 1 opposition paper and 1 opposition weekly, and to release 35% of mandates in the Sejm. At that time, no 1 expected the full of them to be obtained by candidates of the Citizens' Committee at Lech Wałęsa, which would trigger an avalanche of events.
The founders of Agora were then intelligent ass-wipe. If individual had told them then, “I tell you the fact before this year passes away, 1 of you will be the minister”, they would have killed him with laughter.
Hope for re-election in 1993 the communists tied to the pillars of power they did not intend to depart from. It was the president with dictatorial powers (Jaruzelski) and control of almost all media.
With any celebrated exceptions (type of “Tygodnik Powszechny”), almost all magazines in PRL belonged to the publishing home of RSW (from national newspapers to hobby monthlys). This in turn almost entirely belonged to the PZPR.
The Communist organization did not belong to conduct business activities, so it utilized a unusual expression of "cooperative legal persons" (actually 1 person). It's like these company foundations today.
The Communists lost power much earlier than planned (August 1989). The Dictatorial president was Lech Wałęsa (December 1990). Free elections were held in October 1991.
In March 1990, the Sejm adopted the Act on the liquidation of the RSW. Members of the PZPR (especially Izabela Sierakowska) warmly protested, calling it "the assassination of pluralism". Mr Adam Michnik offered her his old replicator (I urge reading a stenogram).
However, the law adopted under these conditions had to be compromised – leaving the post-communists any gateways. 1 of them was the anticipation of a journalistic work cooperative taking over the title. Mr Braun openly said that this could be utilized by editorials sympathetic to the PZPR/SdRP, and that there were many of them, this organization would be "in fact a privileged position."
Little has been said in this debate about the needs of readers. Yet, many magazines published by the SEC were very popular.
It is not that everyone immediately threw themselves at “Gazeta Wyborcza” and “Tygodnik Solidarność”. First of all, for a long time yesterday’s “Election” went to kiosks outside Warsaw – and due to the method constraints of the time, it was a problem for the full alleged national press.
I say that inspired Stanislaw Lem in a communicative about a journalistic computer who did not know the consequence of the match, from which he was to compose a “relationship”, filled the space with “frazes about the brave attitude of both teams”. This is what the Polish paper in Kraków looked like.
Hence the continued popularity of all these “Krakow Gates” and “Coat Evenings”. At least yesterday's game was reported by individual who knew the score.
"Gazeta Wyborcza" had to fight the local leader on each of these markets. It hasn't been anywhere until today.
W Warsaw was peculiarly popular: the afternoon school “Express Evening” (its weekend had to be registered with a friend of the kioskarz) and “Life of Warsaw” which had a monopoly on tiny announcements specified as “sell a washing machine” or “making hats”.
At the time, these newspapers were considered to be the most tasty bites in the full cake. Many institutions (e.g. the Mazowsze Region “S” and PPS – a organization that had founded this paper many years earlier) were in line for “Express”.
In the “Life of Warsaw” at the very beginning, the chief, the close associate of Prime Minister Mazowiecki, the intellectual of Kazimierz Woycicki, was changed. This decision had far - reaching effects that no 1 could have predicted.
By the time the liquidation committee completed its work, the government changed (January 1991). The Bielecki government, like the Mazowieckie government, did not have a full democratic mandate – it was appointed by the same undemocratic contract parliament, which did not change its composition. Only the president has changed.
There was no democracy in Poland at the time, only transformational authoritarianism. It is the first sin of the 3rd Republic of Poland: many decisions, which we inactive feel have been made without a democratic mandate (with Balcerovich's plan at the head).
I don't like it, but I don't know what could have been done better. If we had made an election sooner – it would have been conducted in post-communist media control!
The fresh government changed the composition of the liquidation commission, and the final decisions were taken in April 1991 with the following members: Kazimierz Strzyczkowski (academic lawyer), Jan Bijak (Politics), Andrzej Grajewski (Niedziela guest), Alfred Klein (lawyer; retired during), Krzysztof Kozieł-Poklewski (Law and life), Maciej Szumowski (Gazeta Krakowska), Donald Tusk (Gazeta Gdańsk).
71 titles were handed over to cooperatives, the others privatised by tender, in which the price was only 1 of the criteria. Others were the will of the journalistic squad and the support of social organizations.
The “Gazeta Wyborcza” did not, without irony, list what alien organizations, declaring their support for this or another bidder (Polish Fishing Union, Tarnów Radiestet Association, Polish Philatelic Union, Bishop Gocłowski, NSZZ “S” regions...). Fat Berta was the support of Lech Wałęsa, who supported, among another things, the transfer of the “Express” foundation linked to the Centre's close (then) Agreement.
Contrary to appearances, the committee did not favour political parties. She gave KPN the most generous – the forgotten today, a unusual organization of neo-Philist people who shouted loudly that they were persecuted due to the fact that they were not at the circular Table.
They received 2 attractive titles – “Together” and “Motor”. They slaughtered everything, they didn't build anything permanent on this base.
Besides, there were quasi-party offers. For example, “Gazeta Krakowska” was handed over to journalists sympathetic to the Krakow Democratic Union, and “Dziennik Łódzki” to the ZChN sympathizers. However, both titles rapidly became independent.
I met in respective places with the version that “The Life of Warsaw” was handed over to liberals from the KLD. This is simply a misunderstanding.
Indeed, there was specified an offer – from the National Chamber of Commerce (related to the KLD) and Robert Maxwell, a murmuring media magnate who died six months later in mysterious circumstances.
In mid-April 1991, employees rejected this offer in an interior referendum (never before or always thereafter, paper workers had so much to say!). With a vote ratio of 94:81 they chose the offer of the Life Press company, companyed by Wóycicki and his deputy, outstanding expert on driblings, volleys and centerings, sports commentator Tomasz Wołek – who played the first violin in this duo.
The decommissioning committee recognised the worker decision. Journalists' voices spread differently (64:59 for Maxwell and the KLD), part of the squad left and set up a competitive “Daily Life”.
This was the beginning of the end of the “Life of Warsaw”. In the "Life Press" company, the number shares were held by the mysterious Italian company STI and the Wielkopolska Credit Bank (today: Santander), which granted 40 billion old gold loans for this purchase. The debt was highly interest-bearing (these are times of hyperinflation!), "Life" was so inactive on the downside.
In 1993 WBK sold its shares to Italy (now they had 55%). Turns out it's actually 1 Italian guy named Nicola Grauso. That's all I dare compose about.
The beloved ^ols is incorrect to compose that Kaczynski were in opposition at the time. At that time, they were at the tallness of their twenty-century influences – from which they would shortly fly, but they would last many years of leanness due to the fat which they collected.
The most valuable ace in their deck of cards was the Minister of Construction Adam Glapiński. He was a KLD and PC activist at the same time – it was not contradictory at the time, in those days Donald Tusk was in 1 Welsh camp with Jarosław Kaczyński.
However, times were so unusual that Glapiński at 1 point turned to “Solidarity” in Ursus, with a notorious ulcer at the head, that they would show against the government in which he sat (!) to exert force on the speedy adoption of the bill to velocity up the construction of apartments.
He put it on his own, the bill was adopted in October 1991. And there was 1 conviction in it, thanks to which Kaczyński's surroundings were utilized on his properties.
If they had a wellness minister, they'd go to a pharmacy. If the Minister of athletics were to build stadiums. And since they had a construction minister, they went to a developer.
Was it all legal? The law of the 1990s was so full of holes, I wouldn't be surprised. But the argument put forward by PiS sympathizers "if they found something, they would draw something out" can besides be applied to another business leaders of this era – Kulczyk, Krauzy, Gudzowy.
The current consequence of the liquidation of the RDP is the dominance of abroad capital in the local press. due to the fact that what was specified a poor, underinvested cooperative of journalists “Wąchocki Tygodnik” expected to do? Find an investor, not Polish.
In 1995, writer Zbigniew Bajka analysed 1,400 Polish newspapers and magazines and determined that 65% of the effort and 70% of the titles were in the hands of companies with western capital. In the country alone, it looked like: “Rzeczpospolita” – 49%, “New Europe” – 80%, “Young Flag” – 70%, “Evening Express” – 80%, “Life of Warsaw” – 97%, “Gazeta Wyborcza” – 12.5%. The Swedes entered the Super Express.
Was that avoidable? I uncertainty it.
If the law bans the admission of abroad partners, the editorial offices would celebrate this with a combination of "100% Polish publishing house, which has a 5% stake in advertising agency together with Hersant". And if we were to prohibit this, Polish newspapers would die, disposed by fresh titles specified as “Fact”.
At that time readers had adequate black and white newspapers printed on mediocre paper in 19th century technology. They wanted color, offset, good pictures.
Journalists wanted it, too, plus a raise. In practice, this meant looking for an investor: German, Swedish, Austrian, French, Swiss...
It had to end like this.
It's most likely the longest blog ever! If you have reached the end, delight compose "REFERNAZOR" in the committee to get my favor.
I utilized articles from “GW”: “Referendum in Warsaw Life”, 17.4.1991; “Landscape after liquidation”, 30.4.1991; “Life of Warsaw on loan”, 27.7.1993; ‘Press and capital’, 24.1.1995; ‘Kaczyński tapes’, 31.1.2019
