The Journalistic Counter-Public in Poland in the Journal Krytyka Polityczna

Abstract

Established in 2002, the Krytyka Polityczna constitutes an important example of journalistic counter-public in post-socialist Poland. The journal's self-conception illustrates how both the experience of underground publishing in the Polish People's Republic and the sweeping restructuring of the Polish media system after 1989 have lasting effects on today's media landscape. Their context-based understanding of counter-public was reconstructed in a content analysis of selected issues from the years 2007 to 2016. The findings show that the journal strives for a pluralistic and discursive public sphere wherein Krytyka Polityczna speaks on behalf of the Polish left, who – according to them – is lacking their own narratives in the struggle for interpretive authority. To this end, essayistic and artistic content plays a central role. The journal is also closely connected to the group's other projects, increasingly professionalised and informed by international (theory) discourses, which are translated into the Polish context.