Abstract
Despite the fact that it is exercised in the interests of the European Union as a whole, the presidency of the Council of the European Union is also an excellent opportunity to promote national interests and a positive image of the country, acting as an ‘amplifier’ of the voice of the state. Particular significance should be ascribed to the European and national media, which can support the positive image of a specific country and its government, but can also undermine such an image. The purpose of this paper is to raise the question of the specific mechanisms of constructing the image of Poland, Europe/European Union and the Polish presidency in the national media. The paper also indicates the mechanisms for building support for the vision of the Polish government, the European Union and the Polish presidency. The theoretical foundations of this article are provided by the analytical categories and concepts developed by critical discourse analysis. The article examines how the media represented individual and collective political actors, attributed specific characteristics to them, and used arguments in favor of a particular vision of Poland, the European Union and the Polish presidency of the EU Council.
Highlights
The presidency of the Council of the European Union is exercised in the interest of the whole European Union, it provides an excellent opportunity to promote national interests and the image of the presiding country (Albrycht, 2009) ‘amplifying’ its message (Bengtsson, Elgström & Tallberg, 2004, p. 330)
The paper shall apply selected analytical tools developed by critical discourse analysis in its discourse-historical version, and in particular the concepts of discursive strategies suggested by Ruth Wodak and Martin Reisigl
A particular role in this process is played by the media, which on the one hand offer detailed coverage of presidency events and on the other hand propagate a certain way of representation that results from their political or ideological stance
Summary
The presidency of the Council of the European Union is exercised in the interest of the whole European Union, it provides an excellent opportunity to promote national interests and the image of the presiding country (Albrycht, 2009) ‘amplifying’ its message (Bengtsson, Elgström & Tallberg, 2004, p. 330). The tasks of national promotion on the occasion of Poland’s presidency were extensively analyzed in the Program of Poland’s preparation for assuming and administering the presidency of the EU Council adopted by the Council of Ministers on January 13, 2009. It mentioned the significant role played by communications addressed at external groups, that is international circles, in particular the institutions and societies of the countries holding the presidency before and after Poland, as well as internal groups, that is central administration and local government units, society, professionals and experts, media and Poles living abroad. The significance of the presidency for Poland, being a new member state, the promotional role of the institution of the presidency as perceived by government structures, and the fundamental role of the media in creating the state’s image make the issue of
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