Building a national media system from the ground up

By Jim Davis

After a distinguished career as a producer of international feature films and documentaries, Waldermar Dziki found himself in 2006 comfortably ensconced as head of Polsat, one of the largest media companies in his native Poland. He could already look back on a career that included producing television programs, commercial and feature films. He counted among the people he worked with such international luminaries as Omar Sharif, Peter O’Toole, and Malcolm McDowell, the stars of one of feature films that dot his resume. For the average person, these accomplishments would have been enough to count their life well-lived and successful. However, Dziki is no average person.

A colleague approached with a proposition that intrigued Dziki and led him to Donetsk, Ukraine. There, System Capital Management offered him the top position in the corporation’s efforts to build a national media company that would be without parallel in Ukrainian history. For Dziki, the offer was too interesting to pass up. He accepted the challenge and began the task that he expects will take perhaps another decade to reach full development.

Dziki sees his mission both as developing the top media company in Ukraine and at the same time helping to bring Ukraine together as a nation. “In my native Poland, there was a more cohesive understanding of national identity. Here, Ukrainians are still divided along regional lines and language. Bridging these differences and helping Ukrainians to decide their own identity and future is an important part of what we are trying to do,” Dziki said.

In spite of such problems as having to spend two years seeking an appropriate building for the company’s production needs, Dziki remains very excited about the prospects to be successful in his goal of building something entirely new in Ukraine.

“We are building our team based on new standards for the 21st century. We expect to have a dominant main television channel, but we also expect to add to that a range of theme channels designed to attract specific audience shares,” Dziki added.

For Dziki, the only thing certain about the technical means of delivering media in the future is that the range of options is rapidly broadening. He sees Internet as a continuing and expanding part of the mix along with standard broadcasting techniques and some methods that have probably not even been imagined yet.

“I am most excited by the team of young professionals we continue developing. We have already made enormous progress. These young people learn fast and have doubled their possibilities in just two years,” he said.

“Interestingly enough, when we interview young journalists, their first questions are not about the amount of their salary, but about the amount of freedom they will have in reporting.” He continued.  “An important part of our training program is to help them understand that along with the right to report freely comes some obligations to assure that their reporting is accurate and breaches no legal requirements.”

For Dziki, the goal is to build a media company that is number one in Ukraine with a minimum 10 percent to 15 percent of the market. He expects development and production of a wide range of television programs and other media products as a part of this process.  

“We can do this and we will do this. I see my part as helping to lead this effort and to help Ukrainians in making decisions about what kind of future they want to have. Our job is to make a positive contribution to the process that includes dealing with some thorny questions about language and culture,” Dziki remarked.