He began his adventure with journalism in the state radio – during martial law he joined Trójka, but he was certainly recognized primarily by “Teleexpress” and later by “Wiadomości”. At a time when there were only two channels on television, in 1986, Wojciech Reszczyński became the main host of the afternoon news program, which was watched by up to 18 million viewers. In 1987 and 1988 he was awarded the Wiktor Award. However, 10 years ago he decided to sell the statuettes and use the money to… publish the weekly “W Sieci” by Jacek and Michał Karnowski.
“Excuse me, does anyone mind dark glasses?”
The Trójka journalist got on TV as a result of a casting:
I stood in front of the camera, blinded by the spotlights. The first question was a request to remove the dark glasses. I joked: Excuse me, does anyone mind dark glasses?
– he recalls in his book “I was a journalist” words referring to the image of General Wojciech Jaruzelski. Later, Jaruzelski became the reason for the collapse of his career…
Jaruzelski’s meeting with young people, led by Reszczyński, aroused much discussion. – It was supposed to look like he accidentally came to the program and sat down with the youth. There was a discussion – Reszczyński later recalled in an interview with the Association of Polish Journalists. – The material was carefully directed and edited. There was no real relationship. However, after this meeting, my career as a presenter was over. I took the liberty of asking when will power in Poland cease to be absolute? Will he notice the opposition? Actually, this was my only important question for Jaruzel – he explained. Some, however, believed that his career was negatively influenced not by a strong question, but by excessive submission to the general.
The first presenter of “Wiadomości” observed his colleagues from the USA
On November 18, 1989, he made his debut as the presenter of “Wiadomości”, replacing “Dziennik Telewizyjny”, which was associated with the previous regime. He began by saying:
I hope that this program will gain your trust day by day. In our new daily, the news will be good or bad, hopefully as little of the latter as possible, but always true.
The first information that Reszczyński shared with the viewers of “Wiadomości” was Aneta Kręglicka’s victory in a beauty contest. She became Miss World 1989 during the final gala organized in Hong Kong.
In this work, Reszczyński tried to follow the example of American presenters, whom he had the opportunity to observe when he went to the United States for half a year in 1988. At that time he worked on a construction site and also hosted radio programs for Polonia. In the USA, he also observed the style of announcing using teleprompters. – My permanent equipment included a notebook with half-sized A4 sheets, a black felt-tip pen and adhesive tape – he recalled. Reszczyński wrote down his planned statements and stuck them under the camera lens to read them later. The TVP bosses, observing the presenter, decided to buy prompters, which are now standard in television work.
However, he did not work for “Wiadomości” for long. In 1991, Wojciech Reszczyński was removed from the air due to his involvement in Lech Wałęsa’s campaign (Reszczyński had been a member of NSZZ “Solidarność” since 1980, but it was because before the presidential elections in 1990 he hosted programs of Wałęsa’s election committee). He was considered biased.
Wojciech Reszczyński makes a strong right turn
In 1992, he created Radio Wawa, which he sold to Esca a few years later. Already in the 21st century, he worked at RTL7 and Puls, was the deputy director of the Radio Information Agency, and in 2012 he became a member of the board of the Association of Polish Journalists. In 2002, he became involved in the work of the Polish Independence Committee, associated with the League of Polish Families, whose aim was to block Poland’s integration with the European Union.
Father Tadeusz Rydzyk and Wojciech Reszczyński Photo Sławomir Kamiński / Agencja Wyborcza.pl
He also increasingly cooperated with right-wing media, such as “W Sieci”, wPolityce or those belonging to his father Tadeusz Rydzyk, at whose university he became a lecturer. He decided to support the Karnowski brothers financially with money from the sale of Wiktors, which – as he stated in 2013 – only goes to “the rabbit’s friends”. He repeatedly spoke in favor of the Law and Justice policy and that “it is possible to live without opposition in the media” when they protested against the new tax planned by the government.
Suspended for lack of reaction, he was happy to leave at Trójka
He also worked in Program III of the Polish Radio, where he was again a figure associated with a controversial program. This time, the effect was to say goodbye to the antenna. In 2018, he was suspended after what happened on November 9 in the program he hosted “Trójka na Serious”. The guest – musician Paweł Piekarczyk – called Władysław Bartoszewski a “bastard”.
– I regret that these words were uttered by a guest during a live broadcast – Wiktor Świetlik, the then director of Trójka, told “Presserwis”. – Nowadays, such drastic transgressions are quite common in the public sphere. And this was one of them, absolutely unacceptable – he added. The broadcast was suspended until the end of the year, and the host also suffered consequences – for not reacting in any way to these words on air. Two years later, Reszczyński could be heard again in Trójka. to the group of hosts of “Klub Trójki” (no longer broadcast today).
When in 2020, due to the scandal regarding the charts in Trójka, journalists began to leave the list en masse, Reszczyński commented that it was good because the “radio caste that has been enfranchised for over 30 years” could be replaced by younger people who would bring a “breath of fresh air” to Trójka. “. We know how it turned out.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
