Tomas Bata and Press

Abstract

In spring 1918 Tomas Bata issued the first Company papers. The impulse for creation of the periodical called Sdělení zřízenectvu firmy T. & A. Baťa (Communication to wmployees of the company T. & A. Baťa) were unrests incited by the workforce. Tomáš Baťa was looking for an effective tool of communication with his employees. In 1923 Tomas Bata entered the communal politics by announcing his candidature for the Mayor of the town of Zlín. This announcement became a significant communication tool with prospective voters. After Tomas Bata was elected a Mayor, the subject matter of the papers extended also to information about the life in Zlín and its surroundings. The originally simple periodical soon changed into a traditional daily paper (which was published under a new name of Zlín only three times a week) with circulation of 130 000 issues a week. At the beginning of 1930s an actual printing empire emerged producing an ever broader range of periodicals, including foreign mutations of successful local titles.