The study visit “Independent media and their influence on the development of democracy in the transition period” for Ukrainian journalists and representatives of power structures, on which decision-making in information policy depends, continues in Warsaw. The study visit was organized by the Ukrainian Institute for Advanced Training of Television, Radio Broadcasting and Press Workerse with the Press Club Polska and the Juliusz Mieroszewski Center for Dialogue.
Ukrainian media representatives were welcomed in the cozy office of the Polish Press Club. The National Flag of Ukraine was installed here as a sign of solidarity with our country last year in February. Yaroslav Wlodarchyk, a member of the board of the Press Club Polska, talked about the activities of this creative organization of media workers as part of the International Association of Press Clubs, which operates in more than 50 countries around the world. The partner of this mutually interesting project is the Juliusz Mieroszewski Center for Dialogue – is a Polish state legal entity under the control of the Ministry of Culture and National heritage of the Republic of Poland. As the Deputy Director of the Center Lukash Adamsky noted, the mission of the Mieroszewski Center is to initiate, support and carry out activities aimed at the peoples of Eastern Europe, in particular Ukrainians, in order to strengthen the independence of the Ukrainian state in the conditions of attempts by the Russian aggressor to revise foreign borders and restore regional hegemony, to support processes that will contribute to the development of mature democracies, bring them closer to the Euro-Atlantic structures, deepen ties with Poland.
Magdalena Rigamonti, a member of the board of the Press Club Polska, told about the decisive role of mass media in democracy: without free mass media, there can be no democratic state.
The experience of the transformation of the Polish media in the first years of independence of the neighboring country was interesting for the Ukrainian delegation. Jerzy Bachynskyi, editor-in-chief of the popular weekly “Polityka” and president of the publishing house, told in detail about the transformation from a state newspaper to a leading independent media after 1989. In addition to politics, the multimedia editorial office of the publishing house creates content of a popular science style from the common history of Poland and Ukraine, publishes books. It is the only one of the 100 reformed media in Poland that has created a strong economic platform and has a large circulation. “Readers’ trust helped,” admitted the head of “Polityka” and added that only self-respecting independent media are respected by politicians.
Talking about new forms of international cooperation between journalists and media, Anna Gilevska, Reporters Fund, Frontstory, cited examples of participation in global journalistic investigations into drug trafficking, money laundering, and the expulsion of Russian diplomats from EU countries, which caused an unprecedented resonance. It is about specific people and specific stories, which cannot be investigated by the efforts of a single editorial office. At the same time, Anna Gilevska expressed admiration for the work of Ukrainian colleagues during the war: “The world should learn from Ukraine. You inspire us!”.