Poland

The Polish media have shaped political views and cultural tastes of the 19th- and 20th-century intelligentsia. The press was highly politicized and its history involved constant struggle with the censorship office, until the collapse of the communist regime in Poland in 1989. The radio and television were first regarded as cultural and educational, rather than political, tools, although they too were dominated by the state and only recently have become more commercialized. This entry provides an overview of the media in Poland, including its history and contemporary developments in traditional and new media.