Dear readers! A year has passed since the launch of "Głos Bolesławca"—a local publication issued on the initiative of the Towarzystwo Miłośników Bolesławca. On anniversary occasions, champagne is usually opened, but in the case of our publication we will have to abandon this pleasant tradition, because the proverbial cup of bitterness would be more appropriate here. And not only because of the lack of money. The bitterness stems from the fact that a publication issued by genuine enthusiasts, at very little expense, is needlessly failing—at a time when every action for the benefit of the city should be respected.
In the editorial of the first issue of "Głos Bolesławca" we wrote: "...Among others, Gryfów ŚL, Lwówek and Lubomierz publish their own newspapers... Bolesławiec somehow never had any luck with its own newspaper..."
It still does not have that luck. Although, with the help of readers, we managed to reach the twelfth issue, every issue published—"thin" and graphically modest because of the lack of funds—operated on its "last" money, obtained at the last minute from month to month. Do you remember our articles "Who Loves the City?" We published long lists there of your names—donors and sponsors. Thank you once again!
We counted on our publishing initiative being supported after some time—following the example of cities and towns throughout the country, and also the example of the Bolesławiec Municipality self-government, which has helped the newspaper since the second issue in exchange for a page—by the City Board and City self-government. However, this did not happen.
At first, it was argued that the money for 1992 had already been allocated down to the last grosz, and perhaps from the new year... So we "limped" toward the new year.
After the new year, the matter was postponed until the decisive session of 23 March, at which, it is true, a majority of councillors voted in favor of a motion to support the publication by purchasing three pages, but the implementation of this resolution was immediately suspended, without concern for the fact that the newspaper's publication and financing cycle has its own deadlines.
The reason for withholding the funds for the newspaper was a protest against the City Council's resolution by a group opposed to the publication.
We did not want to reveal the details of this session of the City Council, which was important for the fate of "Głos Bolesławca", but since the matter has taken an unfavorable turn for the newspaper, and the newspaper is a source of information for chroniclers and historians, we allow ourselves to reveal a few details from the session, which lasted more than 10 hours, partly because of "Głos Bolesławca".
Fifteen councillors voted to provide assistance to the city newspaper, seven voted against, and five—including the Mayor—abstained.
Before the vote, the following councillors spoke in favor of "Głos Bolesławca": Jan Hałubiec, Marian Kostecki, Henryk Nawrot, Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk, Ewa Niewodniczańska, Joachim Sygula, Danuta Maślicka, Jan Prystupa, Sławomir Kahl, Stanisław Szypulski, Longin Łukawski and Edward Gałka.
Their arguments were as follows:
- "Głos Bolesława" is the city's only publication, and everyone can write for it,
- the newspaper can reach more residents than local television, which not everyone has access to.
- a newspaper always leaves a lasting archival record; it is a chronicle of our times,
- the selfless contribution of people writing about and for the city must be respected,
- the newspaper already has many readers and supporters, including subscribers; all cities, and even some municipalities, already have newspapers,
- "Głos Bolesława" is conducting a worthwhile campaign to raise money to purchase an ultrasound machine for the hospital (300 million has already been collected)
The councillors who opposed the newspaper were: Emilia Jankowska, Bogusław Juda, Wiktoria Wachnowska, Maria Długoszewska, Henryk Jeliński and Wiesław Ogrodnik.
Their arguments—also raised in the discussion at the previous session—were as follows:
- there is no point supporting a newspaper that nobody reads...
- local television is sufficient for the city,
- the city has no money, and if it does, it should give 100 million to sports facilities... Why does the city need a newspaper? If someone wants to find out which pharmacy is on duty or what is playing at the cinema, they can buy "Słowo Polskie". And if someone wants to write, let them write and send it to other newspapers, not publish it at our expense...
- how can I look my voters in the eye if I vote to finance such a newspaper...
- city funding for "Głos Bolesławca" would amount to maintaining the economic activity of TMB...
- a newspaper hiding post-communist forces seeking to seize power with its help cannot be supported...(!)
When the motion in favor of the newspaper passed by a majority vote, councillor Wiesław Ogrodnik loudly and offensively accused those who voted "for" of not being a council at all, but a "mutual admiration society," and accused the Mayor of manipulating the entire matter.
This is what happened next: convinced that we could now publish the newspaper without worrying about its incomplete self-sufficiency—we recover slightly more than half of the costs from sales and advertising, while in neighboring cities, by comparison, one-third of the costs is recovered—we commissioned the printing of the newspaper in a new format. When the newspaper was ready and it was time to pay for it, it turned out that the funds for "purchasing those pages" had been withheld, and it was by no means certain that the next session would decide the matter in the newspaper's favor. We sent the newspaper to print on 23 April; the session was scheduled for 27 April. The City Board, however, did not have the courtesy to inform the Towarzystwo officially and in good time about the decision to suspend the flow of money to support the newspaper, which placed the publishers—after the fact—in a very awkward situation.
Ironically, at the same time, a member of the City Board published information in "Słowo Polskie" that "the City Board is helping and rescuing a bankrupt newspaper..." (Is it fitting for a public office to treat a loyal partner in this way?) As for "rescuing" it—let the readers judge for themselves whether it was not TMB and the group of people writing selflessly, along with supportive sponsors, who in a way rescued the city's honor throughout the year by shouldering the burden of maintaining the city's only newspaper, supposedly not at all the worst in the province.
On the occasion of the anniversary—and most probably final—issue of "Głos Bolesławca", we can only thank all those people and express our deep respect to them. We extend separate words of gratitude to those readers and supporters who helped us publish this anniversary issue.