Samorządowcy czy dziennikarze? Komunikowanie w społeczności lokalnej

Communication on the local government level may take place in different ways, using different channels. One of them is the press that is either created by local governments or through their order. The authoress has attempted to show this press from the media perspective. Analysing the selected titles, she has tried to show its content both from the sender’s and the recipient’s point of view. The linking of the content and the ways of its transmission turned out to be particularly interesting, and so – the possibility of the impact on the recipient, in combination with the editorial teams’ characteristics. The local government press came into being even before the first local elections in 1990. Then it seemed that it would not play a significant role in the entire press system. Over the time, it turned out that it had been developing dynamically, increasing the number of its titles every year. It has existed up till now to the disappointment of many circles. The publishing activity of local governments usually livens up during the election. It is obvious that the existing borough leaders, mayors, starosts want to present their achievements, to show the residents that they keep their promises. A large proportion of them do it very effectively, as evidenced by the elections won in subsequent terms. In shaping their own image and the image of local governments that they lead, they are helped by the appointed press spokesmen who used to be regional or local media journalists, or the workers subordinated to cultural institutions or local governments. It might seem that most reliable success would be guaranteed by professionals – editors who have many years’ work experience. However, it appears that such a simple relationship does not exist. The analysis of the content of messages indicates the selective information to recipients about local matters, mainly about the activities of the authorities. The overall image of the district, county, province emerging from the published material is definitely positive. One should not expect another vision if the press, in its assumptions, is designed to promote the region, county and province.