Prasa w Polsce, Stanach Zjednoczonych i Wielkiej Brytanii - The press in Poland, the USA and Great Britain

To begin with I would like to say that the press is of paramount importance and one of the most powerful sources of information in the contemporary world. To keep abreast of the times - that is to say - to know what is going on in our home town, in our country and in the world one must read newspapers. Nowadays we have got a wide range of different kinds of papers: there are dailies, weeklies, monthlies, and magazines.

Speaking about British newspapers one can say that the national daily press is much more popular than local papers. Nearly 80% people read a national paper every day. These papers fall into the two categories - broad-sheets and tabloids. Broad-sheets are quality papers, and they are so called because they are large. Their language is sophisticated. One can mention here The Independent, The Times, The Financial Times, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph. As far as tabloids are concerned they contain colloquialisms and aim invoking sensation. Among tabloids are The Sun, Star Today, The Daily Mail, The Daily Mirror and The Daily Express. In Britain there is no government paper. In fact the press is called the fourth state - an independent political power. On Sunday there are special editions of national broad-sheets. Then The Times becomes The Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph - Sunday Telegraph Mail, The Independent - The Independent on Sunday. All broad-sheets cover about news on politics, finance, economics, science, arts, literature and theatre and are a certain source of information. Tabloids, in turn, can provide us with a great deal of both entertainment and sensation, but their articles should be treated with a pinch of salt. Tabloids are characterized by large photographs of famous big shots on the first page.

There are also about eighty local papers in Britain, for instance, The Scotsman, The Glasgow Herald in Scotland.

One can also mention quality papers, for example, The Economist, The New Statesman and Society or The Radio Times that publishes only TV programmes.

In the USA there are no national papers. Such papers as The New York Times, The Washington Post or The USA Today can be bought nearly everywhere throughout the country. There are also magazines such as Newsweek or Time which were first to introduce sections on sport, culture.

In Poland one of the most popular newspapers are Wprost, Rzeczpospolita and Gazeta Wyborcza. There are also some local papers, for example, Wiadomosci in Lodz or Zycie Warszawy. There is a big choice among women's magazines, such as Naj, Przyjaciolka or Pani domu. As far as educational newspapers are concerned, one can mention Cogito and Perspektywy. Magazines that popularize science are also popular, for instance: Wiedza i zycie or Nauka. Besides, there are a lot of magazines for connoisseurs, among them being Muzyka powazna or Przewodnik wedkarski. There are also foreign languages magazines, such as Easy English, Easy Deutsch or Francais ,and a wide range of TV programme newspapers like Antena, TO&OWO, or Tele Tydzien.

In conclusion I would like to say that thanks to the press we can learn more and more about the world which surrounds us.
[Arkadiusz Szymczak]