KecsUP visited Warsaw last week, where Hungarian and Polish rural newspapers met to share their experiences, challenges and plans regarding the situation of independent rural journalism within the framework of a three-day professional conference.
The most striking difference between the public relations of Polish and Hungarian cities is the presence of Polish-language printed local newspapers in Poland. You won't even find a newspaper stand on the streets of Kecskemét anymore, let alone a locally themed, independent print that you can buy.
Wouldn't the people of Kecskemét be so open to a newspaper about themselves and their town affairs that they would be willing to pay a few hundred forints a week for it? Many people dismiss the question with a hopeless wave of the hand and point out that print media is dying not only in Hungary, but everywhere in the world.
Free-lance journalists in rural towns in Poland are also apprehensive about the challenge before them, however, in the discourse about the decline of printed newspapers, they are not talking about the end, but only about the decline. And this is not the journalist's play with words or beautifying the inevitable.
Gazeta Radomszczańska is a 24-30-page paper newspaper published weekly in the town of Radomsko in southern Poland with a population of 50,000. The paper has been printed since 1992, and its online version was launched only in 2019, where the published articles can only be accessed in their entirety by subscription. In Polish cities, as well as in Hungary and Kecskemét, it is common practice for municipalities to distribute print for free, but there are also independent printed local newspapers without the political control of the town hall.
In the Trzebine settlement between Katowice and Kraków, which is well-known to Hungarian tourists, the Przelom newspaper is placed on the desks of newsagents every week. Its printed version has been operating since 1990, and based on what they say, maintaining close relationships with local traffickers is extremely important for their paper sales. Zawsze Pomorze, based in Gdańsk, Pomerania, accounts for a significant part of its income from the sold issues. In addition, their other important source of income comes from market and business advertisements. This is key to the day-to-day running of independent newspapers.
