Format Compact Language Polish | Editor Bogusław Chrabota | |
Owner(s) Grzegorz Hajdarowicz
Presspublica Founded 1920 (revived in 1944 and 1982) Political alignment Conservatism and Liberalism | ||
Rzeczpospolita ([ʐɛt͡ʂpɔsˈpɔlʲita]) is a nationwide daily economic and legal newspaper and the only conservative-liberal newspaper in Poland. It is issued by Gremi Media SA.
Contents
The paper is published every day except Sunday. Formerly printed in broadsheet format, Rzeczpospolita has used compact format since 16 October 2007. Its title may be loosely translated as "republic", a traditional part of the full name of the Polish state, Rzeczpospolita Polska.
Rzeczpospolita is read by 274,000 adult Poles on a daily basis, of which 75% have higher education, and nearly 87% have a permanent job (9% are pensioners or disability allowance collectors, and almost 2% are students). More than three-quarters of key corporate personnel choose Rzeczpospolita; the majority of readers are specialists and professionals, CEOs, high-level state officials, managers, as well as technicians and specialised administrative staff. Over one half of Rzeczpospolita readers manage the work of others on an everyday basis.
Rzeczpospolita's distinctive editorial feature is its division into three thematic sections, each with a different color: the news section is white, the business section is green, and the legal section is yellow. Apart from these daily sections, there are several supplements appearing once or twice per week, such as cars and real estate, careers, TV, and travel. On Saturdays, the paper is supplemented with a section entitled PlusMinus for essays often solicited from well-known authors showcasing a broad spectrum of opinions on politics, history, and culture.
History
A daily newspaper with this title was issued for the first time in 1920. Originally, the journal was under the authority of the conservative Christian National Party, but over time became independent. It was Initially owned by its founder Ignacy Jan Paderewski and after 1924 by Wojciech Korfanty, two prominent politicians of that time. The editor-in-chief Stanisław Stroński sought to maintain quality of the content by cooperating with a group of authors, including Adolf Nowaczyński, Kornel Makuszyński, and Władysław Witwicki. Despite the popularity gained, the newspaper was sold to the House of Catholic Press (Polish: Dom Prasy Katolickiej) in 1930, and two years afterwards it was merged with the right-wing daily Pole-Catholic (Polish: Polak-Katolik), supervised by the Catholic Church. Rzeczpospolita was released for the last time in 1932.
In 1944 an administration dependent on the Soviet Union started activities behind the lines of the Red Army, within the territory of Poland. Initially the activity was directed only against former Nazi German forces, in order to gain the favour of Polish society. Subsequently was established a newspaper under the name Rzeczpospolita to the needs of a newly created provisional government, strictly dependent on the Soviets. From start headed by Jerzy Borejsza it was in fact an arm of the Polish Committee of National Liberation. The newspaper began strenuous endeavours as to form a positive image of the new government. However, in 1949, the state authorities had established another newspaper – People's Tribune (Polish: Trybuna Ludu) as an organ of a newly formed political party, the Polish United Workers' Party (colloquially: party). Rzeczpospolita had been issued still by nearly two years, until 1950 when it was discontinued because coexistence of the party and government newspapers was considered at that time unfavorable for a consolidated one-party state.
In 1980 the state had faced a crisis, and consequently the party's overall image deteriorated significantly. This prompted the idea to relaunch a separate government newspaper. The state, as an entity, had become officially independent from the party (even though this independence was still largely fictitious within a communist state). Thus, from 1982 onwards, Rzeczpospolita and Trybuna Ludu resumed their parallel existence as the official bulletins of the government and the party apparatus respectively. This dualism corresponded to the situation in the Soviet Union, where the government newspaper Izvestia functioned alongside the party's Pravda, and where Izvestia has steered a course strikingly similar to Rzeczpospolita in the 1990s.
After the 1989 revolution, the new Polish government made Rzeczpospolita legitimately independent in 1991, forming a Franco-Polish joint venture named "Presspublica S.A." to publish the paper. In 1996, the Norwegian Orkla Media corporation acquired a 51% share in Presspublica, and is now in joint control of a quarter of the entire Polish press landscape. In October 2011 the owner of the paper, Presspublica, was bought by Polish businessman Grzegorz Hajdarowicz.
The circulation of the daily was 203,640 copies in January–February 2001. Its circulation was 247,000 copies in 2003.
The sister newspaper of Rzeczpospolita is Parkiet. Presspublica also owns the weekly magazine Uwazam Rze.
From 1989 until his death in 1996, the well-known journalist Dariusz Fikus was the first editor-in-chief of the independent Rzeczpospolita. He was followed by Piotr Aleksandrowicz (1996–2000), Maciej Łukasiewicz (2000–2004), Grzegorz Gauden (2004–2006), Paweł Lisicki (2006 – October 2011), Tomasz Wróblewski (2011–2012) and Bogusław Chrabota (since January 2013).
Main features
The basic edition of Rzeczpospolita is divided into four sections: the main one, dedicated to general news; the economic one (Ekonomia i rynek), the legal one (Prawo co dnia); and the regional one (Życie Regionów).
The general news section features e.g. information on current political events, reports from Poland and abroad, commentaries and essays, expert opinions, as well as news relating to culture, science, lifestyle, or sports. Prawo co dnia (“Law Every Day”) focuses on the changes in regulations and legislation and on legal analyses, including articles on labour law, analyses and expert opinions, or industry-related communications. Ekonomia i rynek (“Economy and Market”) provides information about markets, enterprises, finance, current stock quotes, analyses of the economic situation and trends in Poland and abroad, as well as opinions of economists, experts and representatives of the business world.
The nationwide issue of the newspaper includes a series of regional monthly supplements entitled Życie Regionów (“Life of the Regions”). They are dedicated to important investments, business and education in the regions, as well as matters related to local politics, sports, and culture. Życie Regionów is the organiser of public debates that are crucial for local communities, as well as the media partner of major regional events.
On Saturdays, Plus Minus, the weekend edition of Rzeczpospolita, appears, containing articles related to civilisation, literature, lifestyle and metapolitics. It mainly includes essays, commentaries and feature articles, as well as reviews of books and cultural and sporting events. Interviews form a particularly important part of Plus Minus.
Supplements
Newspaper subscription includes such specialised supplements as Podatki (taxes), Administracja (administration), Rzecz o prawie (law), Ekspert Księgowego (accounting), Praca i ZUS (labour and social security matters), or Prawo w Biznesie (law in business).
Dobra Firma ("Good Company") is a daily supplement to the main issue. It is primarily addressed to entrepreneurs from the SME sector. In an easy-to-understand manner, it covers both the legal issues relevant to business owners (taxes, social security, contracts, employment), and business matters (marketing of new products, business ideas, available solutions relating to company vehicles).
Nieruchomości ("Real Estate") appears on Mondays and Fridays. On Mondays, topics relating to construction and housing are presented, while on Fridays, matters related to the commercial real estate market are covered.
Every Tuesday, Rzeczpospolita Cyfrowa ("Digital Republic") is issued with Rzeczpospolita, dedicated to new technologies, with particular focus on their application in running a business and in developing new business branches.
Moje Pieniądze ("My Money") is a Thursday supplement devoted to personal finance. It offers tips on saving and investing money, buying shares and choosing insurance.
The Friday supplement is Rzecz o Historii ("The thing about History"), offering informative articles and historical analysis.
Lists and rankings
Regular publications of Rzeczpospolita include lists and rankings of companies, brands and institutions operating on the Polish market. The best known are: the 500 List, the 2000 List, the Ranking of the Most Valuable Polish Brands, and the Ranking of Law Firms.
The 500 List
The list of the largest Polish companies by revenue, first published in 1999. Modelled on the Fortune list, it is now the only such ranking in Poland. The best developing companies on the list receive the prestigious Rzeczpospolita Eagles awards.
The 2000 List
The list of the best companies according to Rzeczpospolita, first published in 2002. It takes into account their revenues, employment, and results. The ranking of the largest exporters is published as a supplement. Outstanding enterprises from the list receive the Good Company, Exports Eagle and Exports Brand awards.
The Ranking of the Most Valuable Polish Brands
The Ranking of the Most Valuable Polish Brands provides a professional valuation of over 300 brands created specifically for the needs of the Polish market. Apart from value, the strength of brands in separate industry categories is also estimated. The ranking has been published since 2003.
The Ranking of Law Firms
The ranking includes law firms servicing enterprises and operating on the Polish market. Law firms are broken down, among others, in terms of the number of lawyers and legal counsels, the generated revenues and profits, the servicing of the leading market transactions, or the best lawyers in respective areas of law. The ranking has been published since 2003.
Political profile
Rzeczpospolita's political profile is moderately conservative and arguably comparable to that of The Times in Britain. It should be noted, however, that the contemporary Rzeczpospolita reveals a moderately national taste, especially when defending the Polish raison d'etat during historical debates about Polish-German and Polish-Russian relations. It is somewhat of an adversary to the social-liberal Gazeta Wyborcza but does not favor any particular party in Poland's political landscape.
Major events
In early 2005, Rzeczpospolita found itself at the centre of a heated public debate after one of its employees, the former dissident and journalist Bronisław Wildstein, extracted a list with the names of 240,000 informers and victims of the communist secret police from the Institute of National Remembrance and distributed it among colleagues. In the wake of the incident, Wildstein was dismissed from Rzeczpospolita (cf. the article Wildstein's List in the Polish Wikipedia).
In 2006 the US-based Society for News Design voted Rzeczpospolita and British daily The Guardian as the best-designed newspapers in the world, choosing them from 389 entries from 44 countries.