The Kalisz Courier (1946–1950): An attempt to rebuild the local press in the post-1945 realities

Abstract

The regional and local press remained an important segment of the press market in interwar Poland, although it was badly hit by the economic crisis of the early 1930s and its numbers and status were steadily undercut by the process of amalgamation with large newspapers. The German occupation put an end to the local press, and the Polish society had to go without it. There were German publications (usually official), but they served the needs of the local German administration and thus belong to a different category. The departure of German troops in 1945 opened the opportunity for the restoration of the pre‑war media landscape, but it soon became clear that it was impossible due to the systemic changes introduced by the new regime. The communists (Polish Workers' Party) who seized power and consolidated it over the next few years were wedded to a highly regulated, centralized model of the information sphere (following the Soviet example). However, against all political headwinds and the handicap of being a second- tier city, in 1946 Kalisz managed to launch a local newspaper, under a title with a local pedigree. This article chronicles the rise and fall of The Kalisz Courier, a locally published mutation of the Głos Wielkopolski from Poznań, and gathers a wide range of information about the journalistic community that revived the paper and kept it going, drawing on the best pre‑war traditions. The article also tries to throw some light on the political circumstances, arguments and calculations both behind the decision to start the newspaper and, in 1950, to shut it down.