Dr. Karol Jakubowicz (1941–2013) was one of the leading advocates of media freedom in Europe and one of the most recognized Polish scholars in communications and media. He was Chairman of the Intergovernmental Council of the UNESCO Information for All Programme and Chairman of the Steering Committee on the Media and New Communication Services at the Council of Europe. For many decades Karol Jakubowicz served as an expert on media regulation in Poland and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. He collaborated with the European Union, the European Broadcasting Union, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
The list of Karol Jakubowicz’ contributions include, above all, Rude Awakening: Social and Media Change in Central and Eastern Europe (2006), Media Publiczne. Początek końca czy nowy początek [Public service media. The beginning of an end or a new beginning] (2007), Media Revolution in Europe: Ahead of the Curve (2011), Nowa ekologia mediów [New media ecology] (2011) and Media i demokracja w XXI wieku. Poszukiwanie nowych modeli [Media and democracy in the 21st Century. In search for new models] (2013).
Photo: Karol Jakubowicz.
Karol Jakubowicz was one of the founding members (2007) and Honorary Member (2011) of the Polish Communication Association. He was a member of the Editorial Board of Central European Journal of Communication. In 2019 more than 2,500 books collected by Karol Jakubowicz were given to the Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies at the University of Warsaw. The gift from Małgorzata Semil-Jakubowicz was sent to one of the Faculty rooms, which in turn took the name of Karol Jakubowicz Library.
Photo: The launch of Karol Jakubowicz Library (September 19, 2019).
Photos by: press; Ewa Łukomska-Janek (Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies, University of Warsaw).