345 present several arguments, leaving the search for answers to

Reviews
present several arguments, leaving the
search for answers to the reader. It is our
role to decide if we surrender to ‘the dic-
345
tatorship of progress’, as Dominique
Wolton calls it, or if we use it for our
benefit.
A review of the book:
The theory and practice of mass media functioning [Teoria
i praktyka funkcjonowania mediów], ed. Joanna Marszałek-Kawa,
Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2010, pp. 320
by Joanna Orzeł
A widely held belief has it that mass
media is the fourth power. A question
arises, however, as to whether the media
create information instead of simply
providing it. The editor of the book under
review indicates that this situation leads
to a number of pathologies, such as sponsoring, lack of objectivity, manipulations
etc. The media, especially those in the
hands of private owners, are profit-driven.
Sensational journalism is aimed at attracting as wide audience as possible.
The book is one of the latest in the series
“The Face of the Media,” [“Oblicza
Mediów”] published by Wydawnictwo
Adam Marszałek.1 Its central theme is the
1 Other interesting titles from this series include four books edited by K. Wolny-Zmorzyński,
W. Furman, B. Nierenberg and J. Marszałek-Kawa:
Demokratyczne przemiany polskich mediów w latach 1989 – 2009, Ludzie polskich mediów. Celebryci
analysis of the differences between the
theory and the practice of media functioning. The authors of the articles focus on two
dimensions: there are both theoretical and
practical deliberations. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the issue of mass media
(being a subject of interest to law, political
science, journalism, social communication,
sociology, history, pedagogy and information science), the authors come from different backgrounds, which on the one hand is
a proof of high factual level, and on the
other hand emphasizes the omnipresence
of mass media in today’s world.
The problems dealt with in the publication can be divided into a few categories.
The first group includes widely understood
a redaktorzy, Radio i gazety. Transformacja polskich
mediów regionalnych po 1989 roku, Prawo, etyka czy
rynek? Zmiany w polskich mediach po 1989 roku,
Toruń 2010.
346
Reviews
legal aspects of media functioning, e.g. the
issue of journalist’s profession in view of
copyright law (the article by Maciej
Siwicki), security in the media – a threat
of terrorism in the contemporary media
world (Tomasz Hoffman, Marcin
Styszyński, Wojciech Stankiewicz), legally
protected information (Marek Ciecierski)
and the role of the media in crisis management (Karolina Henarska). The second
subject category contains articles about
the situation of the media in Poland’s
neighbouring countries: Lithuania (Kinga
Dudzińska) and Belarus (Arkadiusz
Czwołek). The two post-Soviet republics
have totally different political systems,
which has an obvious impact on their
mass media. Another article in this interest area, written by Wojciech Stankiewicz,
presents the nature of relations between
the media and democracy in the modern
information society.2
The next subject group focuses on the
issues of the new media, especially the
Internet. It includes articles about online
help sites (Magdalena Szpunar) or the
sociological phenomenon of community
portals, such as Poland’s Nasza-klasa a few
years ago and Facebook today (Dorota
Zaworska-Nikoniuk). The last category
provides the analysis of some TV phenomena. The article by Joanna Marszałek2 See: another book in the series „The Face of
the Media” [“Oblicza Mediów”], S. Michalczyk, Demokracja medialna. Teoretyczna analiza dyskursu,
Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2010.
Kawa (about the Polish news channel
Superstacja) and the one written by Izabela Łuc (about playing with words and
language conventions in the Polish TV
series “Świat według Kiepskich”).
The authors of the articles in the book
write about people, too – not only about the
media content creators, but also about their
audience. Łukasz Tomczyk raises the issue
of the difficulties that old people face when
confronted with the new media. It is particularly important in view of the aging
population and the problems with the
social adaptation of the elderly. The authors
also deal with professionals in the world of
mass media – people who create media
content, like feature writers – both from the
theoretical perspective: the idea of journalism (Wiesław Wacławczyk), and from the
practical viewpoint: journalists’ patterns
(Małgorzata Adamik) and Jacek Żakowski’s
interviewing mode have been presented. It
is more and more frequent, however, that it
is politicians who play celebrities instead of
an impartial person, who provides information to the society. This issue has been dealt
with by Patryk Kaźmierczak.
Maciej Franz presents a very interesting problem – he analyses the role of
historical political cartoons as a way of
showing the past. As audiovisual culture
and the new media appeal to young audience, they should be more commonly used
in education.3
3
See: S. Roszak, M. Strzelecka, A. Wieczorek
Reviews
One of the most valuable articles in the
publication is the essay about the present
state of the media, written by Zbigniew
Broniarek, an acknowledged practitionerjournalist. His bitter thoughts reveal the
true nature of today’s media – television
shows everything, no taboo exists, there
are no boundaries of good taste. It seems
that mass media will persist in the pursuit
(ed.), Słowo, obraz, dźwięk w edukacji historycznej,
Toruń 2010, passim.
347
of sensation, leaving reliable journalism
aside.
This joint publication edited by Joanna
Marszałek-Kawa is an attempt at presenting the modern media – both from the
perspective of theory and practice. It has
become apparent that ideals are being
supplanted by tough reality: contemporary
mass media put emphasis on the speed of
information and profit. The book could be
recommended not only to scholars dealing
with the media, but also to all those who
want to be their conscious audience.
A review of the book:
Practical Aspects of the Freedom of Speech [Praktyczne aspekty wolności
wypowiedzi], eds. Wojciech Lis, Zbigniew Husak,
Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń 2011, pp. 551
by Joanna Orzeł
The freedom of speech and the right
to information are essential human and
citizenship rights, which are guaranteed
in the constitution and numerous international conventions. The book under
review focuses on widely understood
issues of the free expression of views. The
authors of the articles are either scholars
who deal with the legal aspects of mass
media or journalists, who are part of those
media. As a result, the authors’ opinions
and proposals for change not only deepen
our knowledge, but also broaden the scope
of thinking about the freedom of speech
as practised by the media.
The layout of the book is clear and
reflects the title. The book consists of five
parts. The first one discusses the issue of
the freedom of speech, its limits and its
ethical and axiological aspects (it includes