Always Kashubia – get to know more

The Kashubians are a distinctive ethno-regional group in Pomerania. Unfortunately, they are currently deprived of valuable and independent local information. There are few local media services but they are controlled by the party in power, which disrupts democracy and debate at the local level, human rights and creates an unequal situation in the media market. Our project aims to change this, to increase media pluralism locally -empowering Kashubians in the information desert, helping them construct their own narratives constructively, giving them a voice in the public space.

We want to employ two reporters from northern Kashubia (Puck, Wejherowo) an central Kashubia (Kościerzyna, Kartuzy, Lębork), who will provide reliable information (without propaganda) from these parts of the voivodeship on a daily basis and publish it in a special section Wiedno Kaszëbë (Always Kashubia) on the portal www.zawszepomorze.pl and in the independent printed weekly "Zawsze Pomorze". They will produce daily editorials from the six Kashubian counties, video reports, photo galleries and podcasts. Most of these will be promoted on social media, the website and the weekly newspaper. The same topics will be available in a variety of media and formats to reach as many readers as possible - Kashubian residents. In addition, this new content can be editorial products sold to our advertisers. Residents of north and central Kashubia will have the opportunity to benefit from direct contact with our reporters, who will be on duty once a month in 6 Kashubian county towns. Once a month, they will be on duty for three hours so that residents/readers can report topics of importance to them, which we will take up and which will certainly not be covered by the party-controlled media. In this way, we will increase the accessibility of residents to an independent editorial board. We will also cooperate even more closely with local branches of the Kashubian- Pomeranian Association in Puck, Wejherowo, Kościerzyna, Kartuzy, Bytów and Lębork, in order to reach Kashubians, their problems but also the activities they undertake to preserve tradition and culture.

Target group

The project's target group are the inhabitants of Kashubia, a region in northern Poland, in Pomerania. Kashubia differs from the rest of the country not only in its cultural heritage, in the Kashubian language cultivated for generations, in specific customs and rituals, cuisine, costumes, embroidery patterns, cultural and architectural treasures, but also in the extraordinary hospitality and openness of the Kashubians - the eternal hosts of these lands. They speak a distinct Kashubian language, legally recognised as the only regional language in Poland since 2005.

Goals of the project

We will fill the gap in terms of unbiased and comprehensive information about the life of the Kashubian people, the activities that are undertaken in the field of preserving tradition and culture. Through this project, we want to combine tradition with modernity, broaden the perspective of the Kashubian people on other points of view and stereotypes an hate speech that are harmful to this ethnic group. We will ensure media pluralism and give them the opportunity to choose a reliable source of information. This will benefit Kashubians, their children and settlers from other parts of the country living in the Kashubian area. With this project, we will also counteract hurtful attitudes towards migrants with different views. We will make Kashubians more open to diversity and multiculturalism, while not forgettingtheir identity.

About the media outlet

The independent portal www.zawszepomorze.pl and the printed weekly "Zawsze Pomorze" was established on 1 December 2021 as an expression of disagreement over the takeover of the largest regional newspapers and services of Polska Press by PKN Orlen, a company owned by the State Treasury. This is the first initiative in Poland carried out by a group of 20 former top journalists of Dziennik Bałtycki who decided to publish a new medium on their own terms, establishing the A1 Press - Dziennikarze dla Pomorza foundation.