The Depiction of and Poles in The Daily Telegraph, 2007-2010

The Depiction of Poland and Poles in The Daily Telegraph, 2007-2010

By Dorota Kokowicz

The Depiction of Poland and Poles in The Daily Telegraph, 2007-2010

By Dorota Kokowicz

Reviewers: Prof. nadzw. dr hab. Leszek Pułka Prof. zw. dr hab. Kazimierz Wolny-Zmorzyński Prof. zw. dr hab. Andrzej Zawada

Translated from Polish into English: Mathias Foit

This book first published 2018

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Copyright © 2018 by Dorota Kokowicz

All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN (10): 1-5275-1124-3 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-1124-8

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Charts ...... vii

List of Tables ...... ix

Translator’s Note ...... x

Introduction ...... 1

Part I: Public Relations – Theoretical Framework

Chapter I ...... 10 An Outline of Poland’s PR Activities, 2007-2010: Background to Analysis 1.1. Cultural Diplomacy ...... 11 1.2. Economy ...... 24 1.3. Tourism ...... 28 1.4. Public Diplomacy...... 38

Chapter II ...... 61 The Mirror and the Desired Images of Poland, 2007-2010

Chapter III ...... 70 Methodology of Studying the Image of Poland in The Daily Telegraph 3.1. The Daily Telegraph as an Object of Study ...... 70 3.2. Description of the Study Method ...... 75

Part II: The Analysis of the Image of Poland in The Daily Telegraph, 2007-2010

Chapter IV ...... 84 Foreign Policy in The Daily Telegraph, 2007-2010 4.1. Poland as a Member State of the ...... 91 4.2. Polish-German Relations ...... 105 4.3. Polish-Russian Relations ...... 114 4.4. Polish-British Relations ...... 158 4.5. Poland as a Participant in International Military Missions ...... 159

vi Table of Contents

Chapter V ...... 172 Polish Political Stage in The Daily Telegraph, 2007-2010 5.1. Polish Political Stage before the Election ...... 174 5.2. Parliamentary Election in Poland ...... 178 5.3. Polish President and the Russo-Georgian War ...... 184 5.4. Voice of Poland in the Question of the Anti-Missile Defence Shield ...... 186 5.5. Miscellaneous ...... 187 5.6. Law and Justice Politicians in the European Parliament ...... 192 5.7. Polish Political Stage in 2009 ...... 199 5.8. Smolensk Plane Crash and the Presidential Election ...... 202

Chapter VI ...... 205 Polish Immigration and Poles in The Daily Telegraph 6.1. 2007 ...... 209 6.1. 2008 ...... 213 6.1. 2009 ...... 216 6.1. 2010 ...... 220

Chapter VII ...... 225 Polish Culture and Science in The Daily Telegraph

Chapter VIII ...... 228 Polish Economy and Tourism in The Daily Telegraph

Chapter IX ...... 231 Conclusions Concerning the Fulfilment of the Polish ’s PR Objectives, 2007-2010

Afterword ...... 248

Bibliography ...... 255

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 4-1. Thematic context of Poland-related articles in 2007-2010 Chart 4-2. Thematic context of Poland-related articles in 2007 Chart 4-3. Thematic context of Poland-related articles in 2008 Chart 4-4. Thematic context of Poland-related articles in 2009 Chart 4-5. Thematic context of Poland-related articles in 2010 Chart 4-6. Thematic content of articles concerning Polish foreign policy in 2007-2010 Chart 4-7. Thematic content of articles concerning Polish foreign policy in 2007 Chart 4-8. Thematic content of articles concerning Polish foreign policy in 2008 Chart 4-9. Thematic content of articles concerning Polish foreign policy in 2009 Chart 4-10. Thematic content of articles concerning Polish foreign policy in 2010 Chart 5-1. Thematic context of Poland-related articles in 2007-2010 Chart 5-2. Thematic context of Poland-related articles in 2007 Chart 5-3. Overall tone of the articles published by The Daily Telegraph concerning the Polish political stage, 2007-2010 Chart 6-1. Overall tone of the articles published by The Daily Telegraph concerning Polish immigration to the United Kingdom, 2007-2010 Chart 6-2. Overall tone of the articles published by The Daily Telegraph concerning Polish immigration to the United Kingdom in particular years (2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010) Chart 6-3. Language used by The Daily Telegraph in its description of Polish immigrants, 2007-2010 Chart 8-1. Context of articles published by The Daily Telegraph and relating to Polish economy, 2007-2010 Chart 9-1. Poland as an active member of the EU in 2007 Chart 9-2. Polish-German relations according to The Daily Telegraph in 2007 Chart 9-3. Context of articles published by The Daily Telegraph and relating to Polish economy, 2007 Chart 9-4. Poland as an active member of the EU, 2008-2010 – comparison

viii List of Charts

Chart 9-5. Poland as an active member of the EU, 2008-2010 Chart 9-6. Polish-German relations according to The Daily Telegraph, 2008-2010 Chart 9-7. Context of articles published by The Daily Telegraph and relating to Polish economy, 2007-2010 Chart 9-8. Thematic contexts of Poland-related articles, 2007-2010

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1-1. The most important projects promoting Polish culture carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage from 2007 to 2010 Table 1-2. Commerce between Poland and Great Britain (in euro millions), 2007-2010 Table 3-1. Comparison of the circulation of British opinion-leading newspapers, 2007-2010 Table 3-2. Comparison of the mean percentage of the readership of national daily newspapers and Sunday titles in the period from January to December in 2007 and 2010

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE

A small number of articles referenced in this book are no longer available in the online archive of The Daily Telegraph. Unless otherwise stated, all excerpts quoted in the book are original and have been taken word for word from the referenced articles. In other, albeit rare, cases, quotations have been translated on the basis of the Polish edition of the book. On a much greater scale, however, the same applies to the official documents, notices, programmes, strategies, and media statements issued by Polish state organs, authorities and officials in the years 2007-2010— whether it be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, or the Polish Tourism Organisation—virtually none of them being available online anymore. All translations from the second group have therefore been made by the translator.

INTRODUCTION

Shaping and studying a country’s brand image in a global context belongs to the most vital elements of the country’s foreign policy in all its dimensions—political, cultural and economic. The PR measures that a country adopts are intended to maintain its competitive advantage in the international arena by communicating its assets to the surrounding environment. Therefore, the PR measures are of strategic significance to the country, contributing to its development and the formation of its strong global position. Public relations, understood as the endeavour which enables the shaping and maintaining of a desired brand image, became especially relevant to the Polish government during the negotiations over the country’s accession to the European Union. It is because the perception of Poland in European society was marked by ignorance and harmful stereotypes. For this reason, it became one of the priorities of the Polish government to undertake actions towards disseminating among the target audience the image of Poland as a democratic state, maintaining good relations with other countries, whose market economy was capable of competing on EU markets. To this end, the Polish government devised a strategy towards achieving the set objective, namely “The Framework Programme for Foreign Promotion of the Process of Accession of the of Poland to the EU”. Did these measures produce the desired PR effect in the United Kingdom? They certainly did, although the image of Poland in the years 2007-2010 was still burdened with ignorance and stereotypes, as evidenced by a study conducted by the Polish Institute of Public Affairs among a group of British respondents. The results have clearly shown that, in comparison with the findings of a 2001 survey—the first study of Poland’s image in British society—the image of the country had become more distinct, and the majority of people interviewed were aware that democratic values were respected in Poland. On the other hand, however, only 70% of the British demonstrated awareness of Poland’s membership of the European Union1. Also, a survey by TNS OBOP in 2010 has

1 Joanna Fomina, Justyna Frelak, “Wizerunek Polski i Polaków w Wielkiej Brytanii” (: Instytut Spraw Publicznych, 2011), 4. 2 Introduction indicated that as many as 72% of the British knew little or nothing of Poland, and the media remained their primary source of information about the country.2 It appeared, thus, that continuing Poland’s PR strategies was equally significant eight years after its accession to the European Union. In truth, public relations is a long-term practice; rather than a brief venture, relying on promoting the country’s greatest assets, it constitutes a concerted, thoughtful, and research-based strategy, whose effectiveness is additionally corroborated by a PR analysis. As it became evident throughout the course of this study, the significance of public relations had still been undervalued and unskilfully employed by competent Polish authorities; there had existed only one PR programme of strategic character, whose overarching idea—“Creative Tension”—was not fully comprehensible. Another serious problem was the fact that the Council for the Promotion of Poland, which had been founded in order to coordinate Poland’s PR activities, did not carry out its statutory duties and, as a consequence, was unable to manage the country’s PR measures, undertaken by almost 60 different entities. It is worth remembering, however, that the image of a country is also shaped by a variety of factors that do not belong to public relations, such as domestic and foreign affairs. It must also not be forgotten that the image is created as a result of the flow of information, in which the principal role is played by mass media—presenting reality and likewise the image in a fragmentary manner, which becomes moulded by foregrounding certain events and facts and ignoring others. To discover the effect of the fact that the media are processing reality—the same reality that creates a specific image of a given object—is one of the basic tasks of PR specialists, and they do so by monitoring the media. The purpose of the following study was to examine the image of Poland that was being created by The Daily Telegraph from 2007 to 2010. In order to achieve this, the questions of how one of the most influential British newspapers had depicted the foregoing fragment of reality and, consequently, which elements it had foregrounded and how it had presented them to the readers were asked. The rationale behind this study was a willingness to demonstrate the extent to which the opinion-leading British daily newspaper had been shaping the idea of the country of origin of the greatest European immigrant group that had resided in the United Kingdom after 2004. One

2 Monika Rębała, Ewa Wysocka, Klara Wyrzykowska, and Piotr Kowalczuk, „Polak, czyli kto?“, Newsweek, June 26, 2011, http://www.newsweek.pl/swiat/polak--czyli-kto,78648,1,1.html. The Depiction of Poland and Poles in The Daily Telegraph, 2007-2010 3 of the main goals of foreign policy, including Polish, is to assure a country’s positive image outside its boundaries; this, in turn, seemed all the more vital in a country which, by the end of 2007 (the year when this study was undertaken), had been peopled by c. 690,000 Poles, according to official data3. The analysis of Poland’s image spans the period from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2010. The first of the dates saw the accession of new member states to the European Union, when the British media had begun to focus a considerable part of their attention not on the Polish economic migrants anymore, but on the newcomers from much poorer countries, namely Bulgaria and Romania. It can be therefore assumed that the Polish migration wave into Britain after 2004 had become to be treated by the British media as a natural component of the British social landscape. The fact that 2007 was the moment when the British had started to consider the phenomenon of Polish immigration as natural is evidenced by the fact that a growing number of banks in the United Kingdom decided to introduce many concessions for their Eastern-European clients; for example, proofs of residency in the United Kingdom were no longer required, while banks started hiring Polish members of staff and translated their brochures and leaflets into Polish. May 2009, on the other hand, marked the beginning of Sezon Polski (Polish season) in Britain, carried out by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in consultation with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. It was designed to promote the country and present its cultural heritage in one of the most influential European states. It was also emphasised that this form of promotion was crucial on account of the aforementioned migration wave from Poland to the United Kingdom, which created a necessity to dispel British stereotypes about the former and an attempt to present it as a modern and dynamic country. Organised under the slogan “Polska! Year,” Sezon Polski lasted until May 2010. The analysis of the British press from that period as well as the months following it was aimed at establishing the effectiveness of the Polish government’s PR measures in the United Kingdom, themselves intended to show a positive image of Poland. The choice of The Daily Telegraph as an object of analysis was determined by the fact that, in the period under review, it had been one of the most influential opinion-leading newspapers in Britain; it had had the widest circulation; and, more importantly, it had been the most popular

3 „Dane GUS: Informacja o rozmiarach i kierunkach emigracji z Polski w latach 2004-2007“, Główny Urząd Statyczny, accessed June 27, 2011, www.stat.gov.pl. 4 Introduction among the overall British readership in terms of the amount of time devoted to read it. The underlying thesis of this study was that the Polish image in the British newspaper is fragmentary and does not fully reflect the PR objectives of the Polish government concerning the (trans)formation of the country’s image, defined in the “Information of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Polish Foreign Policy Tasks” in the years 2007- 2010. It was also presumed that the image of Poland in The Daily Telegraph had been dominated by activities in the field of public diplomacy—the most visible area of public relations. The formulation of the foregoing thesis was based on a recognition of the lack of effective coordination of the Polish government’s strategies in shaping the country’s image abroad as well as that of the lack of a coherent, research-based promotion programme for Poland. In turn, the thesis about the influence of the behaviour of a country’s official representatives on its image was put forward on account of a scientifically- proven regularity that the overall image of a given organisation is affected not only by the perception of its properties such as products or brand, but also its management. In specialist literature, this is referred to as “image transfer” or the “halo effect”4. On the level of a country, the “management” are its official representatives, including the President, the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. As Gyorgy Szondi rightly remarks, the way they act and communicate with one another impacts foreign media reports5, which can have either a positive or a negative effect on the country’s image. Therefore, the quantitative analysis of The Daily Telegraph from 2007 to 2010 sought to indicate:

1) which of the areas belonging to public relations had the widest representation in the newspapers’ articles 2) which themes dominated in each area 3) whether there had been a change in the years 2007-2010 concerning the representation of particular themes and categories 4) what the overall tone of the descriptions of the Polish political scene published from 2007 to 2010 was and whether they had altered

4 Krystyna Wojcik, Public relations. Wiarygodny dialog z otoczeniem (Warszawa: PLACET, 2009), 49. 5 George Szondi, „Dyplomacja publiczna w Europie Wschodniej“ in Dyplomacja publiczna, ed. Beata Ociepka (Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 2008), 79-80. The Depiction of Poland and Poles in The Daily Telegraph, 2007-2010 5

The Polish government’s PR objectives are to be found in the annual “Information of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Polish Foreign Policy Tasks”, which becomes useful in answering the question whether the image of Poland as presented by The Daily Telegraph reflected these objectives. In other words, the analysis of the British newspaper was intended to verify whether particular PR objectives, identified in the formal addresses of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in specific years, had been fulfilled. Thus, with reference to governmental documents and the main PR demands of the Polish government, the following research questions have been formulated:

(for articles published in 2007): 1. Is Poland presented as a country whose officials put forward their own initiatives and solutions to problems discussed in the European Union? 2. Is Poland discussed in the context of its bilateral relations with the member states of the EU? 3. Is Poland discussed in the context of its regional cooperation with other member states of the EU? 4. Is Poland presented as a vocal advocate of the EU aspirations of , Moldova, Croatia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey? 5. Is Polish economy presented as successful? 6. Is Poland shown to be engaged in international security, defined as: – participation in stabilisation and peacekeeping operations in Iraq and Afghanistan – involvement in the resolution of conflicts in Kosovo, Transnistria, and Caucasus – participation in discussions/initiatives to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction 7. Is Poland discussed as a country involved in humanitarian and development aid? 8. Is Poland presented as a US ally and a country supporting the American (military) presence in Europe?

(for articles published in 2008-2010) 1. Is Poland presented as being active in the European Union arena? 2. Is Poland presented as an ardent advocate of the EU aspirations of Ukraine? 3. Is Poland presented as an ardent advocate of Georgia in its EU aspirations?. 4. Are Polish-German bilateral relations shown in a positive light? 6 Introduction

5. Is there any information on Poland’s advocacy of incorporating Ukraine and Georgia into NATO in the period under review? 6. Is Poland discussed in the context of its involvement in NATO missions in Afghanistan and other stabilisation and peacekeeping missions? 7. Is Poland discussed in reference to the plan of building an American missile defence system; as a country supporting the American project? 8. Is Poland presented as vocal about the diversification of energy supplies to the European Union? 9. Is Polish economy presented as successful? 10. In what way does The Daily Telegraph discuss Polish culture? Can it be considered “captivating”? 11. Does The Daily Telegraph mention Poland’s celebrations of: the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism in 2009; the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War in 2009; the 10th anniversary of Poland’s membership of NATO in 2009; the 5th anniversary of Poland’s accession to the EU in 2009; and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Solidarity trade union in 2010? 12. Does The Daily Telegraph discuss Poland and Ukraine’s hosting the 2012 UEFA European Championship? 13. Does The Daily Telegraph discuss Poland’s participation in the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai? If so, what is the overall tone of this/these article(s)? 14. Can Polish-Russian relations be considered positive? 15. Do articles relating to Polish tourist attractions reflect the stated objectives of the Polish Tourism Organisation (POT) as regards promoting the country in the United Kingdom? In other words, do they: – popularise travelling to the largest Polish cities? – encourage to spend one’s leisure time in the Polish mountains and at Polish lakes? – enhance the popularity of special-interest, thematic or business tourism? 16. What was the representation of the Polish political scene?

In order to complement the results of the analysis, this study also presents a context constituting an outline of Poland’s activities in the following PR domains of the country: public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, economy, and tourism. The Depiction of Poland and Poles in The Daily Telegraph, 2007-2010 7

The following monograph was originally published in Polish under the title “Wizerunek Polski w ‘Daily Telegraph’ w latach 2007-2010” [“The Image of Poland in The Daily Telegraph in 2007-2010] in 2017. Its English version has been abridged by omitting a substantial part that forms a theoretical background to the study, consisting of considerations within the public relations theory and a discussion of the definitional problems related to this concept. The aim of this operation has been to foreground the quintessence of the foregoing study, which seems to be of most interest to the Anglophone reader—the context for Poland’s PR measures and the salient conclusions following from the analysis of the opinion-leading British newspaper.

PART I

PUBLIC RELATIONS – THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK CHAPTER I

AN OUTLINE OF POLAND’S PR ACTIVITIES, 2007-2010: BACKGROUND TO ANALYSIS

The conscious shaping of a country’s and a nation’s brand image constitutes one of the most crucial components of foreign policymaking and international political, economic and cultural relations6. As some experts have also stressed, it is indispensable for countries aspiring to come to the fore of the international arena; especially since, out of over 200 countries, there are only about 20-30 which function in the collective consciousness7. In the past few years, the active shaping of a country’s image has become a natural symptom of the country’s functioning. Experience has shown that international success is achieved by those states which do not ignore their global reputation and which employ a variety of pro- developmental tools, including PR methods8. How a country’s image is built is a highly complex phenomenon. For one thing, the messages that influence it are disseminated by more actors than merely state authorities and through many communication channels9. Other decisive factors include rational (knowledge, experience, consciousness, etc.), emotional (prejudices, expectations, fears, wishes, anxieties, sympathies, antipathies, etc.) and social ones (norms, taboos, etc.)10.

6 Beata Ociepka, Komunikowanie międzynarodowe (Wrocław: ASTRUM, 2002), 209. 7 Magdalena Daszkiewicz, Paweł Waniowski, „Symbole i wyróżniki w procesie kreowania wizerunku kraju” in Public relations – narzędzia przyszłości, ed. Dariusz Tworzydło, Tomasz Soliński (Rzeszów: Wydawnictwo Wyższej Szkoły Zarządzania Informatyki, 2007), 25. 8 Marta Ryniejska-Kiełdanowicz, „Kształtowanie wizerunku Polski w Unii Europejskiej” in Kształtowanie wizerunku, ed. Beata Ociepka (Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 2005), 11. 9 Daszkiewicz, Waniowski, „Symbole i wyróżniki”, 25. 10 Marta Ryniejska-Kiełdanowicz, „Kształtowanie wizerunku”, 13-14. An Outline of Poland’s PR Activities, 2007-2010 11

Gyorgy Szondi seems, then, to be justified in asserting that, firstly, one cannot expect that a uniform image of a country exists, which can be promoted outside its boundaries; and, secondly, that the idea of promoting a single image of that country, which can be “sold” to everyone everywhere, is simply utopian11. Moreover, each media system offers its audience its own representations of a given country (although sharing some common characteristics), because they are determined not only by the actions of the media themselves, but also additional factors—both intended (such as public relations methods) and unintended. Before any results of the analysis of Poland’s brand image as presented in The Daily Telegraph are introduced, it is worthwhile to examine the activities undertaken by Polish authorities and other Polish agents in 2007- 2010 to produce the desired image of the country in the international arena. Considering the broad scope of the problem, only four domains of public relations—cultural diplomacy, public diplomacy, economy and tourism—are discussed to provide an outline of Poland’s PR activities.

1.1. Cultural Diplomacy 1.1.1. Institutions responsible for the cultural diplomacy of Poland, 2007-2010

At its easiest, Polish cultural diplomacy is concerned with promoting Poland by means of culture, which, on the level of Polish foreign policy, is understood as the country’s total civilisational heritage—including the popularisation of knowledge about the Polish history, which will be elaborated upon later. The institutions responsible for the cultural promotion of Poland are:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In the period under review, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and their ministry (abbreviated in Polish to “MSZ”) were responsible, among others, for cultural diplomacy and “presenting the international image of the Republic of Poland,” as well as supporting related initiatives undertaken within the framework of other projects12.

11 George Szondi, „Dyplomacja publiczna“, 69. 12 http://www.msz.gov.pl/en/p/msz_en/ministry/minister/responsibilities/?printMo de=true (“Act of September 4, 1997, on the government departments,”) 12 Chapter I

At the time, the MSZ consisted of many departments, which specialised in executive areas, such as the European Information Department, and various areas of Polish foreign policy pursued in different regions of the world: for example, the Department of the Americas, the Eastern Department, the Department of Africa and the Middle East, and the Asia- Pacific Department. Starting from 2008, cultural diplomacy was managed by the Department of Public and Cultural Diplomacy13, which coordinated the work of the Department of Economic Promotion14. The responsibilities of the Department of Public and Cultural Diplomacy included:

– analysing and determining the directions of cultural diplomacy, also for diplomatic missions abroad, and ensuring that the tools to carry them out are available – analysing Poland’s image in foreign media and opinion-leading environments – designing and implementing long-term measures towards shaping the positive image of Poland abroad – supervising diplomatic missions abroad and their cultural, educational, and scientific activity – long-term cooperation with cultural and scientific institutions as well as the media – developing and managing the promotional websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and diplomatic missions abroad; supervising their coherence – initiating, preparing, and negotiating projects of international contracts and programmes, aimed at cultural and scientific cooperation – organising visits of representatives of the media, foreign opinion- leading environments, people of culture, etc. to Poland – cooperation with cultural and scientific institutions and organisations, both home and abroad15.

In accordance with the “Order No. 42 of December 17, 2010, of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on establishing organizational rules of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” the responsibilities of the Department were further expanded; they included informational and promotional activities

13 The former Department of Promotion. 14 “Organisation.” Homepage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. 15 „Tasks of the Department of Public and Cultural Diplomacy” An Outline of Poland’s PR Activities, 2007-2010 13 in connection with Poland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, its beginning scheduled for July 1, 201116. Noteworthy in the context of promoting the image of Poland abroad in 2007-2010 is an initiative of the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anna Fotyga. Pursuant to the “Order No. 12 of July 18, 2006, of the Minister of Foreign Affairs,” she appointed a Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Protection and Promotion of Poland’s Image Abroad, whose tasks included devising and implementing a strategy for promoting the image of Poland in the world; monitoring both domestic and foreign press in relation to the country’s image; maintaining good relations with institutions, the scientific environment, organisations, and accredited foreign correspondents in Poland17. The establishment of this new office in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs became a subject of a widespread media discussion. On the one hand, it was praised as an innovative approach to Poland’s efforts to shape its international image, while on the other it was seen as an attempt at rescuing the increasingly tarnished reputation of the country governed by the PiS-LPR-SRP coalition. At the time, it was suggested in the liberal newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza that what prompted the creation of a new post within the MSZ was probably an article in the German newspaper Tageszeitung, in which the author had referred to President Lech Kaczyński as “Polens neue Kartoffel” (Poland’s new potato)18.

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage

The collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (abbreviated in Polish to “MKiDN”) has been intensifying since 1999, when the heads of the respective government departments—Bronisław Geremek and Andrzej Zakrzewski—signed the “Letter of Intent of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of Culture and Art on cooperating on a coordinated promotion of Polish culture”19.

16 “Order No. 42 of December 17, 2010, of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on establishing organizational rules of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” 17 “Order No. 12 of July 18, 2006, of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.” The Official Journal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no. 4 (July 25, 2006) 18 “Wizerunkowy Andrzej Sadoś”, Gazeta Wyborcza, no. 182 (2006): 3. 19 Marta Mickiewicz, “Polska dyplomacja kulturalna” in Dyplomacja publiczna, ed. Beata Ociepka (Wrocław: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskieg0, 2008), 120. 14 Chapter I

In the period under analysis, the task of promoting Polish culture abroad belonged to the Department of International Relations and encompassed the following activities:

– coordination of Poland’s cultural promotion abroad and coordination of international cooperation in promoting Poland through its culture – working towards Polish culture’s presence in integration processes within the EU and in the international dialogue held by the Union in both internal and external relations – working towards the establishment of the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue and Understanding – supervision over institutions subordinate to the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, such as the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which fulfils some of the responsibilities related to promoting Polish culture abroad20.

Adam Mickiewicz Institute, 2007-2010

An initiative of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (abbreviated in Polish to “IAM”) was founded on March 1, 2000. The idea behind this proposal was to promote Polish culture internationally and become part of a worldwide cultural exchange network. The institute’s other responsibilities as defined by the Minister included:

– information services - creating an integrated online information system about Polish culture in Polish and other languages as well as creating, collecting and sharing various promotional and informational materials related to Polish culture – organising study tours for foreign art curators and other personages hosted by IAM, MKiDN and MSZ21.

2010 marked the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. Its dynamic character from 2007 to 2010 is testified to by its clearly-defined vision (of Poland as “Europe’s creative melting pot”), mission (making Poland “an irreplaceable link in the international exchange of ideas, values and cultural goods”) and objective—the latter

20 Department of International Relations 21 Adam Mickiewicz Institute, http://www.iam.pl/pl/o-nas/o-instytucie.html. An Outline of Poland’s PR Activities, 2007-2010 15 referring to a modern understanding of the enterprise of promoting a country as branding, cultural in this case. In accordance with its statutes, in the period under review the institute ran projects in cooperation with institutions responsible for Poland’s cultural promotion abroad. The latter included diplomatic missions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs abroad (including Polish institutions), renowned foreign institutions of culture, science, and the media; research centres, non-governmental organisations, Polish centres and centres of Polish studies abroad; institutions popularising Polish history and culture; individual research workers and propagators of Polish history and culture.22 The areas of cooperation between the institute and these unites were manifold; they included projects, cultural events, study tours, anniversaries, and publications, both initiated by the IAM and commissioned by the MSZ23. As of 2010, in its ten-year history the Adam Mickiewicz Institute had been engaged in about 3,000 projects promoting Polish culture, which attracted 18 million people in 26 countries on 3 continents24. Among the highest-profile are the events related to the “Polish Year.”

Diplomatic missions and Polish institutes abroad

The role played by Polish diplomatic missions and institutes outside the boundaries of Poland deserves special mention in the context of the country’s cultural promotion abroad. This is because the former, namely embassies and consulates, assist Poland in its image-building activities: among others, by monitoring foreign media as far as the representation of Poland is concerned, supporting projects promoting Polish culture, undertaking individual initiatives, and collaborating with cultural institutions of the receiving country25. As regards Polish institutes abroad, their main responsibilities as defined within the time period of 2007-2010 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were:

– promoting Polish culture outside the boundaries of Poland – popularising Polish history

22 “Order No. 19 of June 1, 2008, of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.” The Official Journal of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, no.3 (July 4, 2008) 23 Adam Mickiewicz Institute, http://www2.iam.pl/pl/site. 24 Brochure published on the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute 25 Marta Mickiewicz, “Polska dyplomacja kulturalna”, 121. 16 Chapter I

– popularising knowledge about Polish national heritage – cooperation with local institutions on culture, science, social life and education – exerting the possibly greatest influence on artistic, expert and opinion-leading environments in the receiving country – in some cases - performing the function of culture and science divisions of Polish embassies26.

The oldest of all the Polish institutes is the Polish Cultural Institute in London (the former Władysław Sikorski Historical Institute), founded as early as 1945. Its current goal is to strengthen and nurture the cultural ties between Poland and the United Kingdom through a mutual exchange and presentation of cultural achievements. Furthermore, it provides information on forthcoming cultural events in Poland and promotes Polish modern culture, encompassing visual arts, film, theatre, music, and literature27. Each year, the Polish Cultural Institute in London hosts a number of events, some of them periodic, which are also advertised on its English- language website. In the period under analysis, the institute’s homepage exhibited numerous positive features: a clear layout and rich content, accompanied by numerous photographs and grouped in thematic categories, which correspond to the areas in which Polish culture was promoted. It also contained a calendar marking cultural events in red. After clicking on a specific day, a subsite opened with more information on the event and links to more detailed descriptions. Moreover, the homepage bore the characteristic logo of Polish cultural institutions abroad, subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This certification had been designed as a means to distinguish units working under the aegis of the Polish government and, at the same time, to accentuate their identity. As a result, the institute was able to present itself as a reliable partner in the Polish-British dialogue and as the constituent part of a coherent system for promoting Polish culture. The website’s obvious shortcoming was limited archive resources; visitors only had access to information published since 2009.

26 “Polish Institutes”, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, http://www.msz.gov.pl/Instytuty,Polskie,20909.html. 27 The Polish Cultural Institute in London, http://www.polishculture.org.pl. An Outline of Poland’s PR Activities, 2007-2010 17

1.1.1.1. Presentation of Polish culture on the Internet, 2007-2010

Nowadays it is hard to imagine a well-functioning institution that would not make use of the merits of the Internet: the enormous potential resulting from its global reach and impact; the relatively easy and quick access to its contents; multimodality; and the immense possibilities for information archiving. This is why the Internet is considered as one of the most important and most effective instruments used to build positive images28. Also, countries all around the world notice its potential for shaping a desired image, seeing it as a tool that facilitates promotion and the distribution of information worldwide. The publication of “The Framework Programme for Foreign Promotion of the Process of Accession of the Republic of Poland to the EU” in 2000 was the first time that both the possibility and the necessity of promoting the country with the help of this medium had been voiced. The authors of this document define the Internet as one of the information sources about Poland and remark upon the need to create a website of the Polish government, containing the most relevant information related to Poland29. From 2007 to 2010, the address of Poland’s official promotional website was www.poland.gov.pl. The portal was available in nine languages (Polish, English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese and Chinese) and consisted of the following thematic subdivisions:

1) Experience Poland – basic information on Polish society, culture, history, geography, media and sports 2) Practical information – issues relevant to foreigners living in Poland, such as means of transport, climate, medical care, tradition, holidays and 3) Tourism – information on places of interest in Poland, activity holidays, guest accommodation, as well as additional information and a gallery of tourist attractions all over the country

28 Małgorzata Kudelska, “Internet jako efektywne narzędzie public relations” in Media w społeczeństwie informacyjnym, ed. Ewa Jaska (Warszawa, Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego, 2008), 193-94. 29 Marta Mickiewicz, “Polska dyplomacja kulturalna”, 130-31. 18 Chapter I

4) Science and business – containing an investor’s guide, basic information on science and business, Polish law, and opinions of foreigners about Poland30.

The portal poland.gov.pl had been intended as a certain compendium about Poland, covering the most important areas of the country’s functioning. As a consequence, culture formed only a small part of it, and the basic information on Polish music, literature, film, theatre and visual arts as well as current cultural events in Poland were mentioned. Given the portal’s thematic variety and in order to avoid information chaos, a separate official website promoting Polish culture was created— www.culture.pl. Visited almost four million times each year in the period under review, the portal was visually appealing and had a clear layout. It was divided into the following sections:

1) Thematic sections: a) projects carried out in Poland and abroad b) calendar of cultural events in Poland and abroad c) written accounts of the events d) multimedia e) information on the cultural programme accompanying Poland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union 2) Art forms: a) film b) theatre c) visual arts d) literature e) music f) interdisciplinary art forms g) design and architecture

The discussion of Polish culture also entails a discussion of the role played by history in promoting Poland. According to Małgorzata Dzieduszycka, references to Polish history are highly significant in the process of building national reputation in the international arena. This is due to its presence in the collective memories of other countries and, oftentimes, to a degree contrary to Polish expectations31.

30 The Official Promotional Portal of the Republic of Poland, www.poland.gov.pl. 31 Małgorzata Dzieduszycka, “Jak kreować wizerunek Polski za granicą?”, Polska w Europie 49, no.2 (2005), 61. An Outline of Poland’s PR Activities, 2007-2010 19

One of the measures of promoting Poland through its history in the period under analysis involved presenting its episodes on thematic websites dedicated to specific historical events. There were a few history portals managed under the patronage of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the most popular included www.w2.pl (about Polish participation on all fronts of the Second World War), www.solidarity. gov.pl (about the “Solidarity” movement), and www.1956.pl (about the events of 1956, including the workers’ protests in Poznań). Moreover, Polish diplomatic missions participated in the popularisation of Polish history by sharing any relevant information (e.g. in the form of publications and links to the websites of various institutions, including the Polish History Museum) or co-organising events commemorating Polish history. What is more, Polish embassies participated in the government programme Przeciw “polskim obozom” (Against the “Polish camps”). Its aim was to monitor foreign media in terms of information suggesting that ghettos or concentration camps located in Poland had been Polish. From 2005, when the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Adam Rotfeld had called on the Polish press to issue an appeal to journalists worldwide not to perpetuate the unacceptable and defamatory phrase “Polish death camps32”, to the end of 2010, the MSZ intervened almost 160 times, including 8 in the United Kingdom, in connection with this initiative. Interestingly, the MSZ also levelled criticism at The Daily Telegraph, which had used the phrase in an online article from June 9, 2008, entitled “George Bush admits US Auschwitz terror.” As remarked by Szondi, one of the most important pillars of a country’s foreign policy is cultural diplomacy, since it largely shapes the country’s image, which can become useful in achieving diplomatic goals. Its intention is to foster the formation of a favourable opinion of that country and an atmosphere of mutual understanding and cooperation. Finally, cultural relations are the most effective method of changing negative and harmful stereotypes; as opposed to other forms of a country’s brand management, they are perceived as more genuine33. As this section has shown, from 2007 to 2010 Poland was involved in extensive activities related to cultural diplomacy, which were realised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, and supported

32 „Information of the Polish Government on Polish Foreign Policy Tasks, presented in the on January 21, 2005, by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Prof. Adam Daniel Rotfeld”, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, http://www.msz.gov.pl/editor/files/obozy/expose1.html. 33 Georgy Szondi, “Dyplomacja publiczna”, 75. 20 Chapter I by diverse government institutions, other ministries (e.g. the Ministry of National Education), the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and Polish diplomatic missions (embassies, consulates, etc.). Also, Polish culture has tremendous potential and possibilities of utilising its national heritage for the sake of promotion and strengthening its brand identity. According to a report on promoting Polish culture abroad—which forms part of a greater document, Raport o stanie kultury (Report on the state of culture) from 2009—the opportunities that Poland had at the time in terms of employing culture as a means of promotion were manifold. These included the dynamic development of Polish culture; an increased interest in culture as affecting economic indicators; a pro-cultural approach represented by the European Union, which had been offering financing within the culture sector; and an interest in the development of cultural . On the other hand, the authors of the report observe that, in spite of its great potential, Poland keeps playing the role of a passive recipient rather than an active producer of cultural goods or ideas. Moreover, it is asserted that Poland is a country in which there is still little understanding of the significance of the promotion of culture abroad as one of the constituents of a country’s brand image. As a result, for several years public expenditure on culture has consistently been reduced34.

1.1.2. Polish cultural diplomacy, 2007-2010

Given the plenitude of both the institutions involved in the promotion of Polish culture abroad and, consequently, the projects they run, the discussion of all initiatives related to cultural diplomacy from 2007 to 2010 goes far beyond the scope of this investigation. Therefore, what follows is a short table of the most important undertakings of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage in the above-mentioned period. However, those promoting Polish culture in the United Kingdom specifically will be examined in more detail.

34 Paweł Potoroczyn, „Od wymiany kulturalnej do nowej inteligentnej siły. Promocja Polski przez kulturę”, Raport o stanie kultury (2009), Ministry of Culture and National Heritage: 67.