Dzieciolowski, Krzysztof

Dzieciolowski, Krzysztof
Start date:
October 2017
Research Topic:
Journalism in Poland after 1989, Partisanship and politicisation of the free press in a post communist society
Research Supervisor:
Dr Inaki Garcia Blanco, Prof Richard Sambrook
Supervising school:
School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies,
Primary funding source:
ESRC DTP Studentship

I intend to examine what has shaped journalism and its relation to liberal democracy since the collapse of communism in Poland. In particular, I will examine the impact of the pre-democratic past on the shape of the current media and assess the prospects for non-partisan media given the lingering effects of that past. I will structure my thesis around answers to the following research questions:

  • What is the legacy of communism in the media?
  • In what ways do the old divisions within the pre-1989 anti-communist opposition affect the shape of the press today?
  • What is the role of pre-1989 dissidents turned journalists in the Polish media today?
  • What role does the Smolensk plane crash play in shaping journalism in Poland?
  • What are the prospects for a non-partisan journalism in Poland?
  • Are “Media tożsamościowe” –  the media of identity – a market strategy of survival at times when journalists seek new business models?
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About Krzysztof Dzieciolowski

Krzysztof Dzieciolowski is an award-winning freelance journalist, film director and founder of Vision House, an independent media production company based in Warsaw, Poland. Krzysztof spent his formative years as a journalist working in Poland, Ukraine and Belarus for a German press correspondent as well as for BBC News and the BBC World Service radio in London between 2002 and 2005. Upon his return to native Poland he set up Vision House, a production company championing factual programming. Krzysztof led his team in the production of documentary series and films featured globally on BBC World and Al Jazeera. One of them - Rebellion - won the Best Journalism award from Newsweek Poland in 2014. Krzysztof’s news portfolio includes work with the BBC, Al Jazeera, CNN, CBC, NHK, RTE, ABC, SBS, The Guardian and many others. As a field producer for Al Jazeera English Krzysztof has worked on the frontline of the Ukrainian conflict, he has covered Catalonian independence aspirations and refugee crisis; for the BBC he worked as a producer during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution of 2004, the death of John Paul II, EU enlargement and the 60th anniversary of the Auschwitz liberation. Krzysztof has worked with more than 500 foreign correspondents. He was awarded a 2016-17 Fellowship at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, where he wrote a paper entitled: Is there a chance for non-partisan media in Poland? He holds a Masters degree in Sociology from Warsaw University. Currently Krzysztof is a PhD candidate at the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University.