Gazeta Współczesna

The newspaper was established in 1951 under the name of "Gazeta Białostocka", and was used as the mouthpiece of the Voivodeship Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party. The process of creating the newspaper was managed by members of the Executive Committee of the KW PZPR. Due to the agricultural nature of the voivodeship, the newspaper was to deal mainly with rural issues. The first editor-in-chief of "Gazeta Białostocka" was Stefan Pawlata, and his deputy Tadeusz Bazylka. The editorial team consisted of young journalists from various regions of the country. The Press Department of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party was deeply involved in the selection of staff, sending seventeen people to Białystok. All employees have received appropriate political and professional training. The editor-in-chief completed a two-year party school at the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party, eight journalists completed an eight-month journalism training course, the rest were trained on a three-month journalism course.[1]

The provincial authorities of the Polish United Workers' Party intended to use the newspaper as a means of reaching especially the workers' environment, who constituted a relatively small percentage in the provincial organization. Therefore, it was planned that, in addition to professional party activists and journalists, correspondents selected in workplaces would write for the newspaper. This intention was not fully realized, because white-collar workers prevailed among the candidates for correspondents. In August 1950, at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the PZPR Voivodeship Committee in Białystok, it was stated that "as far as correspondents at workplaces are concerned - the plants have selected them, but most of them are white-collar workers. There are few workers who do not want or are embarrassed to write because of their inability." The preponderance of white-collar workers among the newspaper's correspondents was not conducive to the party's influence on the working class. To some extent, it also hindered the formation of the social structure of the Polish United Workers' Party in the Białystok Voivodeship. In the following years, workers continued to be a small percentage of the correspondents.[2]

"Gazeta Białostocka" began to be published on September 1, 1951, as the twelfth consecutive provincial newspaper of the party. The dissemination of the newspaper was carried out with considerable difficulties - it has a competition with "Trybuna Ludu", which already had regular readers. In connection with the above, it was planned to carry out a "popularization campaign of Gazeta Białostocka". Ideas were sought to increase its popularity, and thus the circle of readers. One of the members of the Executive Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party in Białystok even proposed publishing some letters-complaints coming to the Executive Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party in Białystok. This idea, far ahead of its time, was not approved. The first secretary of the KW PZPR, Grzegorz Wojciechowski, did not agree to this. The newspaper's readers were sought primarily among party members and candidates. They were supposed to popularize the press organ of the KW PZPR in Bialystok in their circles.[3]

In 1975, in connection with the separation of the Suwałki and Łomża voivodeships from the now reduced in size, Białystok Voivodeship, the name was changed to Gazeta Współczesna.