Abstract
The article attempts to present the role of mass media in international
communication within the specific situation of the Polish-German borderland
immediately after 1989. The analysis is based on press releases in Gazeta
Zachodnia – Westzeitung, a joint venture of Wrocław based publishing house
Fo-Press and Dieter Breuer Verlag, a German publisher from Wiesbaden,
published from April 1990 till August 1995. The periodical, having been a private
enterprise, is one of the first independent cross-border media projects
after the political system transformation in Poland to fulfil the postulates of
international editorial boards, cross-border impact and distribution range,
and bilingualism in the content of communication, in this case focused on
Polish-German issues. The periodical exemplifies the process of the revival
of independent journalism in Poland after 1989. Although, the paper did
not survive, its functioning was inextricably linked to the transformational
changes in Poland – it played a crucial role in creating general opinions about
the Germans in Poland and about the Poles in Germany.