The report presents theoretical framework of relationships between terrorist organisations and media, and it describes them as an interactive modelling of a message. It introduces the concept of mediatisation of terrorism, and it offers a definition of this process. Moreover, the report develops it with six theoretical hypotheses related to: influence of media on selection of terrorists’ targets, adaptation of an act of terror to the ‘logic of media communication’, personalisation of terrorism and celebritisation of terrorists, creation of biased and oversimplified stereotypes, transformation of terrorist objectives into catch-phrases, as well as a role of political violence in agenda-setting of main news broadcasts. The presented concept will be verified in the ongoing comprehensive, quantitative-and-qualitative study on mediatisation of terrorism in American television, that will investigate the process between September 11, 2001 and the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013. 

In the process of political, economic and social changes that have taken place in Poland since 1989, state radio and television, so far carefully controlled by the communist government, could not remain unaff ected. The establishment of a new order required several years and involved numerous changes in management and the content of programs. It is often said that this process has not been completed yet. What can be observed a$ er twenty years of transformation is the commercialization of media, whose “public” status is present only in their name. This is particularly apparent in the analysis of Polish television. In fact, the activity of this media is based on certain market mechanisms, including the desire to reach high viewership, attract the attention of advertisers and as a consequence, to maximize profit.

The term “Fourth Estate” is becoming more and more common and acquires various connotations. It seems that processes of mediatisation of politics and tabloidisation of the media greatly contribute to phenomenon. Numerous examples of that sort are provided by the permanent election campaigns in Poland, mutual relationship between different types of media and political public relations, as well as the relationship between the media and the ruling coalition.

The Internet and cyber-space create a platform where a new form has emerged, i.e., bullying, so far occurring mainly within school premises. The study presents results of empirical research conducted at selected elementary and secondary schools in Slovakia in 2017. The aim of the study was to elucidate the most frequent current cyber-bullying platforms and occurrence of individual forms of cyber-bullying with regard to cyber-victims. The research sample consisted of 1004 respondents, aged 10–20 (AM 14.9). Empirical data were collected using the method of questioning in the form of a written questionnaire. We focused on cyber-bullies, electronic platforms and identification of cyber-bullying forms from the point of view of cyber-victims and pupils’ gender and age. It was found out that 24.50% of pupils reported to have been cyber-victimized, girls more often than boys. The most frequent form of cyber-bullying from the point of view of cyber-victims was abusive or offensive language on the Internet and spreading rumours on the Internet.

Trust in media and trust in media organizations
Trust in media in the light of the research results is extremely important. Trust is difficult to clearly define, but it’s easy to measure the effects of its activities in media organizations. Building trust in media organization is a long-term process and it’s fragile, needs just a moment to lose it. However, it is a viable because of a lot of benefits of trust. Good reputation and knowledge sharing are examples of the practical benefits of a high level of trust management in media organization. The trust is becoming the economic capital in the new economy that is emerging in the era of transparency. New media, virtual reality and the real world are gradually converging. Trust and transparency will never replace our privacy, so a kind of dichotomy arises here.

Modern journalist: warm sensitive person or agressive hyena?
This question is not only asked by media viewers about the moral condition of people of media. This is also a matter of the direction chosen by editorial offices. Who is a modern journalist and who he should be?

Journalism Workshops. Student Monitoring of Media
Media have become a part of our everyday life over the last years; we use them at work, at school and while taking a rest. Therefore, efforts have been undertaken to provide media education to school students and, what seems to be more effective, to university students. University level education in the field of social sciences have required new methods and tools. The analysis covers the journalism workshops which the author has conducted for 15 years as an academic course for the UAM Polish scholars (journalistic specialisation). Didactic issues and a faculty-based EU project are presented against the background of on-going changes, the Bologna system introduction and the importance of practical preparation based on practical trainings and apprenticeships. However, regardless of the new tools and work methods being required, the proven tasks include the formal and informal monitoring of media. As part of individual projects, students check the contents of newspapers, weekly magazines, radio and television broadcasts. The monitoring projects which have been completed guarantee good preparation for professional trainings and work at editorial staff offices.

Network Security as the component of media education
Abstract: Media literacy is defined as the key to understanding social reality, because to a large extent the media are a reflection and create attitudes, and even views. One of the elements of media education is to develop skills attitudes related to the use of cyberspace and to understand the processes, the situation in the place. The information society requires an appropriate message on the Internet, but often this is limited to technical skills, not awareness of how to safely use the network and move around in the virtual world. The lowest awareness on this issue are children and youth who uncritically utilize network resources without noticing the dangers that may lurk when you are in the network. The article discusses the challenges of media education in the field of network security, risks associated with the use of the Internet, media pedagogy and education to the safe use of the Internet. The author tries to point out shortcomings of education in schools and the way of cooperation with schools, which will optimize the effects of teaching media education on the safe use of cyberspace.

The stereotype of the media in the Polish language and conceptualization of their prototype in the processes of reception and education
Abstract: The text of the article is devoted to reflection on the questions: whether there is a stereotype of the media, or as yet mass-media form in their awareness of their prototype, and whether education can support this process. Conclusions drawn from studies carried out in a group of 160 students from two universities: students of journalism and communication at the University of Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin and students of management and production engineering and agricultural engineering and forestry from the University of Life Sciences in Lublin.

Media and democracy in Poland

Nowadays, it is more and more often that the decisions of individuals are shaped by the media, and for the permanent dialogue of power and citizens it becomes necessary to apply new information and telecommunications techniques, including the Internet. For a society to be fully called civil society: citizens should be well informed, should be interested in politics, should have equal rights of expression and participation in decision making, all decisions should be subject to public debate. At first glance, it can be seen that virtually none of the points is implemented in practice, but rather are marginalized. And the media has become the leading discussion forum on public and state issues. The author reflects on the influence of democracy and mass media on the course of the election campaign and on the image of the candidate in the election. The media are also presented as so-called the fourth authority (after three forms of power: executive, legislative and judiciary), which controls other authorities and informs the public about possible failures. The role of the fourth power assigned to them seems to be insufficient for the media, more and more often we observe many cases in which the media interfere in the constitutional order. The author notes that it often happens that mass media activities do not serve the good of society and the democratic system. So instead of favorably influencing the development of democracy and social awareness, they limit and deform it.

National Broadcasting Council as a guardian of freedom of speech in radio and television

National Broadcasting Council is the regulatory body competent in radio and television broadcasting. The National Broadcasting Council aims are described in the Constitution and they concern safeguarding the freedom of speech, the right to information as well as safeguarding the public interest regarding radio broadcasting and television (Article 213 [1]). These are three interests the National Broadcasting Council is obligated to protect. The provisions of Constitution find their reflection in the Broadcasting Act that repeats that the National Broadcasting Council safeguards the freedom of speech in radio and television broadcasting, protects the independence of media providers and the interests of the public, as well as ensures an open and pluralistic nature of radio and television broadcasting (Article 6 [1]). The way of carrying out the above-mentioned tasks by the National Broadcasting Council causes that this body is described as a censor. It is criticized for carrying out its functions in an excessive way that is by commencing unnecessary proceeding against broadcasters. Such way of interpreting provisions of the Broadcasting Act by the National Broadcasting Council creates uncertainty of broadcasters and their conviction of the necessity of moderating the mode of expression or avoiding some subjects which they consider as being more controversial. It is also emphasized in case the National Broadcasting Council politicization its control tasks can be carried out in order to impose a specific concept of morality upon broadcasters.

The article is devoted to the content analysis of 19 broadcasts for children and teens in six leading television channels dedicated to minors recipients in Poland. The study has been conducted on the basis of 16 criteria reflecting the positive and negative attributes of the programmes. It has aimed to answer the question of how the world is depicted in these broadcasts, and furthermore what socio-cultural patterns are transmitted to children and adolescents watching their favourite fairy tales and film heroes. The research conducted has proved that it is possible to identify both the best, most valuable from the point of view of the child’s development and socialization channel (it is MiniMini+) and the most harmful, presenting negative values and negative patterns channel (which is Cartoon Network). The text presents the first in Polish media and sociological studies comparative analysis of such a large number of broadcasts for children and youth, and the analysis so widely verifying the content and formal elements of these broadcasts.

Television is now recognized as a key source of knowledge about the social and cultural reality. TV series is one of the genre with special role on this field. It’s norm-creating properties have been spotted already in the 70’s and used to construct the first, based on narrative, edutainment programs. The article is focused on the series about social workers “Into deep water”. This TV show was creating by Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and it’s first example of education series in Poland. The author analyzes pop culture text based on education-entertainment strategy and educational potential of series. The empirical basis for article are written expression and qualitative research interviews. The aim of the research was verification the educational extent of the “Into deep water” and what it is. The main conclusion that results from the analysis is that the show is more PR tool than educational.

In Poland, freedom of press is a systemic principle that protects the rule of law. Relevant regulations regarding this matter are included in the constitution in force since 1997. However, other legal regulations contain solutions that raise objections of the journalistic environment and are described as repressive towards the media. The Article 212 of the Penal Code provides for example a criminal penalty of up to one-year imprisonment for the offense of defamation using mass media. According to journalistic circles, such a provision negatively affects journalistic practice causing the so-called “chilling effect”, i.e. unwillingness to undertake controversial subjects. The discussed issue is analyzed in the light of the provisions of the Constitution, jurisprudence of the Constitutional Tribunal, the Press Law Act, as well as selected articles of the Penal Code.

The manner in which the media presents its recipients with political content has a strong impact on knowledge, attitudes, opinions and electoral behavior. The content of the media cannot be a full reflection of political reality, but the way in which the reality presents it may be closer or more distant from the idea of objectivity and neutrality. The category describing the scale of deviation from the idea of a balanced presentation of content is the media political bias. The aim of this article is to present this concept and determine the specific features of media political bias, its main determinants, elements of the media which make us deal with biased content, and the relationship between the concept of media political bias and other selected theoretical concepts regarding media.

The political involvement of media may raise doubts, particularly when these are the cases of political bias. Many Polish journalists perceive this phenomenon critically and try to counteract it, creating codes of journalistic ethics. Their impact, however, is not common, so they remain ineffective. This problem should be considered while analyzing the Polish constitutional provisions and laws. None of the provisions of the Polish Constitution of 1997 does prohibit journalists or media political commitment. Media in Poland have but to fulfill an important function of informing the sovereign (nation) about all the activities of public authorities. To this end, the legal standards guarantee media freedom of action. Associated with the position of media power is to serve social objectives, which is to provide information. Legal norms do not require neutrality, nor do they impose political commitment. It should also be remembered that media are a part of the Polish political system.

The problem of legal regulation of professional activities of a journalist is relevant because the state and its law enforcement system, the state of law and order in the society as well as its moral values appear to the public as it is seen (or should be seen by their owners) by the mass media (hereinafter - the media). However, the real situation may differ significantly from how it is presented by the journalists. That is why their activity should be clearly regulated by law.

Celem analizy Zerwanego kłosa jest zbadanie jego wartości. Badanie to wyróżnia dwa możliwe sposoby oceny filmu. Pierwszy sposób dotyczy jakości filmu jako wyrazu działania estetycznego. Wiąże się ono z traktowaniem filmu jako sztuki. W tym zakresie decydujące znaczenie mają kwestie formalne i umiejętność wykorzystania przez twórców stylistyki filmowej oraz skonstruowania spójnej opowieści. Drugie sposób wiąże się z gatunkowym przyporządkowaniem tego filmu. W kinie religijnym (hagiografia) najważniejsza może być przekazywana idea, choć jednocześnie można zachować zasady konstrukcji znaczeń w filmie. Ogólną ramą metodologiczną są trzy aspekty dyskursu van Dijka. Na poziomie szczegółowym wykorzystane jest klasyczne podejście do języka i stylistyki filmu, podejście neoformalistów amerykańskich oraz koncepcji stylu zerowego. Wnioski z przeprowadzonej analizy wskazują na niską wartość filmu z punktu widzenia sztuki filmowej i wysoką wartość w zakresie realizacji celów gatunkowych (tu: ideologicznych). Negatywna ocena wynika z nadmiaru wykorzystania przez młodych twórców możliwości technicznych i warsztatowego (zbyt licznego) stosowania formalnych rozwiązań możliwych w ramach stylistyki filmowej. Pozytywne wniosek w zakresie realizacji zakładanego celu wiąże się ze skutecznością dotarcia do zdefiniowanego przez producenta odbiorcy, tak pod względem ich liczby, jak i w zakresie przekazanych idei, zgodnych z ich światopoglądem. Pomimo deklaracji twórców o rzetelnym odtworzeniu rzeczywistości życia błogosławionej Karoliny Kózkówny, konieczność przekazu zaplanowanych koncepcji wprowadziła kreacyjne wątki treściowe, wpływając na realność przedstawianej historii i wprowadzając problemy ze spójną i sprawną rekonstrukcja fabuły. Rozszerzyło to zakres promowanych wartości poza te związane z życiem głównej bohaterki filmu, odnosząc je do współczesnego polskiego dyskursu politycznego i społecznego.

The so-called new media redefine social relations both on a micro and a macro scale. A media user from five or six decades ago is an entirely different subject to a modern user. Within half a century, the roles of particular media, their social functions, and consequently users’ patterns of perception all changed. A 21st-century recipient is, as far as anthropology is concerned, equipped totally differently to one from the 1960s. Nevertheless, one thing remains unchanged in the real and the media worlds alike. Both confront us with the predominance of sight and hearing while taste, smell, and touch are of peripheral interest in spite of the perceptions conveyed through them being all-encompassing. The article focuses primarily on the sense of smell, but also on the closely related taste. Smell is too elusive and indeterminate and cannot be measured to the same extent sound is measured, for instance. Smell therefore has to give way to the more durable and definite senses. Its presence in films is absolutely marginal which is due to, as I perceive it, the technological capabilities in this area, or rather lack thereof. In this text I argue that certain films should be watched with one’s nose and taste buds, are a source of cognitive confusion, since everything important depicted in them is beyond the viewer’s reach. When scrutinising such films, one arrives at a conclusion that cinematic realism (but not only realism) must be multisensory. Otherwise, a case of epistemic schizophrenia occurs. The above reflection is undertaken in the context of two theories of social communication, namely M. McLuhan’s classic proposal and the cognitive theory of film.

Postępująca mediatyzacja polityki i uzależnienie działań politycznych oraz ich efektów od sposobu i zakresu relacjonowania przez media daje dziennikarzom olbrzymią władzę: co prawda to nie oni podejmują decyzję, ale to oni ustalają na jaki temat odbywa się publiczna debata. To media wprowadzają tematy do publicznego obiegu i to mogą skazać na polityczny niebyt niechciane czy niemodne tematy, a wraz z nimi polityków.