POLISH PRESS EXPANDS UNDER SOVIET CONTROL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600320054-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2011
• Sequence Number: 54
• Publication Date: June 12, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600320054-6
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPOR~ 50X1-HUM
. CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL 61Mgjnf%TjAj
COUNTRY Poland
SUBJECT Sociological - Frees
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily newspapers
WHERE
PUBLISHED Stockholm; Warsaw
DATE
PUBLISHED 4 Feb - 25 Apr 1950
LANGUAGE polish; Swedish
TNIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AOTICTIMN Till MA71OMAL DIFONNI
OF Till UNITED NTATIS WITHIN TNl MIANINa OF INPIONANE ACT IO
N. N. C.. $I AND SE. AS ANINOID. ITS TRANSMISSION OR TNl RIVILATIOM
OF ITS CONTINTN IN ANY MANMMS TO AN UNAUTMONIIIU PINION 15 PROW
MINITID BY LAW. NIPIODUCTION Of THIS FORM IN PISONIBITS0.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
DATE DIST. Ory Jun 1950
NO. OF PAGES 2
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
POLISH PRESS EXPANDS UNDER SOVIET CONTROL
FINISH SOVIETIZATION OF POLISH PRESS -- Svenska Dagbladet, No 110, 25 Apr 50
Sovietization of the polish press recently became complete wition of a resolvtiou which makes it practically impossible for a non-Communist
journalist or newspaper publisher to exercise his profession, This resolution
was proposed earlier by approximately 500 journalists at the regular annual
meeting of the Journalists' Union.
The meeting ostensibly had been called so that a new executive board
might be elected, and participation was compulsory. The elections were con-
ducted in such a way that only a Communist could be elected. The 500 members
participating in the meeting were those who had survived recent numerous purges
of the Polish press, and who had obeyed the government's demand that Polish
newspapers resemble those of the Soviet Union'in every respect.
The newspaper correspondents serving all over-Poland have not been chosen
from among professional journalists, but from members of the Communist Party.
They select news which they regard as important and wire or send it to the news-
papers. This excludes practically everything of general human interest: hence
all news in Poland today tends to be uniform reporting on Party meetings, and
Party or governmental activities. It was recently reported in Warsaw that the
35 newspapers in Poland employ about 10,000 such correspondents. One newspaper,
Trybuna Robotnicza, alone employs 1,500.
Those who serve the Party's purposes are paid well. As in USSR, journa-
lists earn higher salaries than they did before the war. All first-class news-
papermen earn at least 1,500 kronor /one krona equals 19 cents7 per month, many
considerably more.
With unlimited state appropriations, cheap paper, and artificially. increased
dissemination, the newspapers themselves are considerably better off-economically
than before the var. To ensure dissemination of government and party propaganda,
newspapers are sold very cheaply. The Poles, who have always been very avid news-
paper readers and have nothing else to read, buy $hem; the. sales volume has
NAVY
AIR
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CLASSIFIGW'rION CONFIDENTIAL
DISTRIBUTION
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swollen enormously. One daily newspaper in Katowice puts out the enormous
(for Poland) number of 500,0C?0 copies. A weekly periodical designed especially
for women reported recently that its circulation has reached the one million
mark or more than all of Poland's prewar reriodicals put together.
On 1 May, the publication of a daily newspaper for Polish youth began.
Dccembling the Russian Komsomol, it will be published by the Communist-directed
Polish Youth League and will be required reading for its 1,200,000 members.
PUBLISHING HOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION -- Wola Ludu, No 35, 4 Feb 50
Work on the Dom Slcwa Polskiego (House of the Polish Word) which will cover
an area of 12 hectares in Warsaw, has been in progress since April 1948. The
heart or the entire complex will be the 2-hectare production room. It will be
one of the largest and most modern structures of its kind in Europe.
The reinforced concrete construction of the production room was completed
according to plan on 22 July 1949; however, much still remains to be done in
order to have the first rotary press in operation by 22 July 1950. The entire
room must be glazed, the front and the steam-distributing building must be com-
pleted, ventilating ducts must be installed, and firm foundations for heavy ma-
chinery must be laid..
The production room will be two stories high and will be heated with steam
by the MZK heating plant located nearby. The production plant will contain ro-
tary presses for printing newspapers, color reproduction and printing equipment,
and book printing machines. One of the. rotary presses will be 26 meters in
length and will weigh 300 tons.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/08/31: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600320054-6