Czy czytelnicy „Trybuny Ludu” wierzyli jeszcze w partię? Listy do Centralnego organu KC PZPR u schyłku jej istnienia. Studium źródeł z drugiej połowy lat osiemdziesiątych
Did the Readers of the “Trybuna Ludu” Still Believe in the Party? A Study of Sources from the Second Half of the 1980s

Summary/Abstract: Trybuna Ludu” – the main press organ of the PZPR – presented its official political line. It was supposed to be the voice of the party leadership – not a forum for discussion. However, at the end of the 1980s, alongside the previously existing columns presenting readers’ letters selected by the editors for printing or discussion (real or fictional – this is always difficult to tell in magazines with such a propagandist and ideological profile), other kinds of readers’ voices began to appear. They were meant to be a contribution to the discussion on the necessity and shape of the reform of both the PZPR and the state. This was a discussion controlled by an editorial board which was more conservative in the sphere of ideology than the party authorities. In the surviving internal “Trybuna Ludu” bulletins and letters to the editor-in-chief, we find an overview of authentic letters that were not printed because they were too critical towards the actions of the party leadership. It was only after the loss of power by the PZPR, when the real discussion began as to whether and in what form the party could still be saved. However, it could not in any way strengthen the credibility of the PZPR in society.

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