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Dagnostaw Demski
the time. Such a type of mediation”' by the illustrated weeklies may be called a win¬
dow onto the world, broadening our vision and enabling us to learn about what is
happening outside, or a kaleidoscope, showing the world as a colourful mosaic of
events yet forming patterns that were not entirely organized or understandable. We
were to be convinced of the truthfulness of these accounts thanks to their profes¬
sionalism, and the sense of reality was realized owing to the high artistic quality and
the good quality of the essays; professionalism and a highly aesthetic finish were
strategies. The magazines had a cognitive character without explicit ideological—
that is, political—influence. They mostly reflected the vision of the world close to
the humanist values stressed by postwar European elites.
Hostile Other World (1960s)
Polish people were exposed to images, not through direct experiences but through
photographs and screens, at an increasing rate. These images allowed them to see
what they did not normally see. It turned out that a person could see more than
just what was around him or her, but the vision was controlled by the authorities.
Another example of this was the Vietnam War, presented in the Polish press” and
also on television. Press images showed the Vietnamese guerrilla forces (Fig. 11),
the victims—the death and cruelties inflicted by the Americans on Vietnamese sol¬
diers (Fig. 13), women, children (Fig. 12), and the elderly—and situations in which
Americans were taken prisoners (Fig. 14). Television images offered an impression
of being physically present in the place. The Others were the Americans and their
actions were presented in a radical manner. Their victims were soldiers but also,
and mostly, women and children. The recipients believed these accounts as in those
times they had no other source. Moreover, these materials were taken and viewed
by the Americans themselves (the materials published by both sides were printed),
yet the images were suitably selected thematically. In the Polish press they served to
21
Here I use some metaphors presented by McQuail 1994 (quoted in Goban-Klas 2009: 116), however,
in a modified version. A window onto the events and experiences of others, broadening the view of the
world, recognition of what is happening outside without the influence of other people; a mirror—that is,
an approach assuming a faithful reflection of events, with a possibility for a slight distortion. The direction
and angle of the look is determined by the media administrators, which in a certain way frame the field
of vision and, consequently, cut off a part of the picture of reality; a filter, that is a selective approach,
which focuses the attention and offers a close-up on certain events while closing off access to the images
of other events; a signpost—that is, an approach of a guide indicating a picture yet interpreting it, impos¬
ing a sense onto events which without the guide would be fragmentary and incomprehensible; a forum
or a stage, that is, a presentation of ideas and information, frequently giving an opportunity for public
debate; a screen or barrier—that is, an approach pointing to the fact that media separate us from reality,
providing by way of entertainment a false picture of reality (propaganda) or a picture that is unconnected
to it (entertainment); a kaleidoscope—that is, an approach presenting the world as a colorful mosaic of
events, forming only partly organized or comprehensible patterns.
2° Trybuna Robotnicza (‘Workers Tribune’ 1965-1966), Dziennik Battycki (Baltic Daily’ 1965-1973),
Gazeta Kujawska ( Kuyavian Newspaper’ 1960-1966).