Polityka (, Politics) is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. It had a circulation of 95,300 during 2021. Polityka has a socially liberal profile, targeting the intelligentsia, setting it apart from the more conservative Wprost and the glossier approach of Newsweek Polska.
Prominent editors and permanent contributors have included Adam Krzemiński, Janina Paradowska, Daniel Passent, Adam Szostkiewicz, Jacek Żakowski, Ryszard Kapuściński, Jerzy Urban, and Krzysztof Zanussi.
History and profile
Established in 1957, after Stalinism had subsided in Poland, Polityka slowly developed a reputation for moderately critical journalism, promoting an economical way of thinking, although always remaining within the communist-imposed boundaries that still constrained the press. Notably, Polityka was launched to replace the more radically liberal Po prostu (1947–1957).
thumb|Polityka's headquarters in [[Warsaw.]]
The first editor-in-chief of Polityka was Stefan Żółkiewski who served in the post from 1957 to 1958. It was he who would become the final First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party, the last communist prime minister of Poland, and who would eventually oversee the winding down of communist rule in Poland in 1989. Polityka supported the Round Table talks, which concluded with an agreement to hold the free elections that would result in a peaceful end to communist rule in Poland. The magazine achieved renown in 1961 when it printed five parts of Adolf Eichmann's memoires that had been stolen and given to it by anti-Nazis (the only other magazine that acquired fragments of these memoires was Life). It earned the ire of the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983 after expressing a favorable view of political pluralism.
Jan Bijak became editor-in-chief of the magazine in 1982 and served in the post until 1994. The circulation of the magazine was 143,089 copies in 2010 and 133,324 copies in 2011. It was 124,761 copies in 2012.
Awards
Since 1959, Polityka has awarded its History Award (for history book of the year), and, since 1993, an annual award for the arts, the Paszport Polityki. Since the late 1990s, it has also funded scholarships for young scientists.
See also
- List of magazines in Poland