Yearbook of Bibliology and Press Studies

Summary

The aim of the article was the presentation of the contemporary state of the local press. Although the conducted analysis was mainly based on data and facts on the press of Częstochowa it could, with a high measure of probability, be deduced that they have a universal character and, in a significant manner, could be related to all the press available in the local press market in Poland.
The author came to the conclusion that the almost 20-year functioning of the free market has resulted in the contraction in the number of local dailies. While they were about 90 at the beginning of the 1990s their number reduced to 50 in the year 2007. Sales also dropped by about half amounting to not more than 1 million copies in 2007.
Withdrawal from localness is not only the decrease in the number of local dailies. There is, above all, a limitation of the local character regarding the mutation of the nation-wide and regional magazines. This phenomenon involves the restriction of the number of local columns, standarizing the graphical layouts, unifying the forms of contact with readers, undertaking promotional activity and, above all, making the popularized contents similar. These tendencies assumed great significance in the past and there were underlying economic factors. Uniformity gradually confines the reading auditorium and this contributes to the reduction in profits from the sale of newspapers, and indirectly from advertisements and announcements which may induce other consolidating activities. There is fear that in the near future description of professional activities of publishers will not mean talking about a withdrawal but about a panical escape from localness.