Conflict over public media in Poland continues

After the change of government - Conflict over public media in Poland continues

In Poland, the conflict over the public media continues following the change of leadership by the new government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Politicians from the voted-out national-conservative ruling party PiS continued to protest on Thursday at the TVP building. President Andrzej Duda, who comes from the PiS, called the government's actions "completely unlawful" and a violation of the constitution. Anyone who wanted different rules for the management of the media would first have to change the relevant law, Duda told the radio station Zet. "This is anarchy. It is anarchy to circumvent the law," he said.

Tusk's chancellery chief Jan Grabiec tried to calm tempers. He called on the PiS MPs to stop their "aggressive behavior". There had already been an initial discussion between Tusk and Duda about the future of the media, he said. "The government intends to openly organize its work on the new order of public media. The president's voice will be important," said Grabiec, according to the Onet.pl portal.

The conflict over the media is the most serious between the new government, which won its majority in the October election, and the former PiS state power. Duda is its last high-ranking representative.

Entire leadership fired

On Wednesday, Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz fired the entire management of the public broadcasters in one fell swoop. This affected the CEOs and supervisory board members of TVP, Polish Radio and the PAP news agency. The Tusk government accuses the media of spreading party propaganda over the past eight years under the PiS government. International organizations had also criticized the one-sided reporting of the public media in Poland.

The PiS leadership around Jaroslaw Kaczynski protested, speaking of a coup d'état and an attack on democracy and freedom of the press. However, rallies in front of the television headquarters on Wednesday were not very popular. Some PiS representatives stayed in the TVP building overnight. Normal news operations should be resumed on Thursday evening under a new aegis.

Newspaper: "The television of Jaroslaw Kaczynski"

Other media outlets called on the government to make public broadcasting truly independent. "The PiS has been robbed of its influence on TVP. It was not public television, but the television of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who treated it like his property," wrote the liberal newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza. "Something else is more important, namely how the new government envisions the public media. It will be held seriously accountable for this."

TVP has never been independent like the BBC as a public broadcaster, said media scientist Krzysztof Grzegorzewski from the University of Lodz. Under PiS, TVP was more comparable to the Russian state broadcaster RT (Russia Today). "But even the new government is not talking about building a new BBC," he warned.

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1. Despite the change of government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Poland, the conflict over the public media continues, with politicians from the PiS party continuing their protests at the TVP building.
2. President Andrzej Duda, who comes from the PiS, strongly criticized the actions of the new government, calling them "completely unlawful" and a violation of the constitution.
3. The conflict over the media is the most serious between the new government and the former PiS state power, with Duda being the last high-ranking representative of PiS.
4. On Wednesday, Culture Minister Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz fired the entire management of the public broadcasters, including the CEOs and supervisory board members of TVP, Polish Radio, and the PAP news agency.
5. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of PiS, protested against the firing, calling it a coup d'état and an attack on democracy and freedom of the press.
6. In response to the firing, other media outlets have called on the government to make public broadcasting truly independent, arguing that under the PiS government, TVP was more comparable to the Russian state broadcaster RT than a public broadcaster like the BBC.
7. Media scientist Krzysztof Grzegorzewski warned that even the new government is not talking about building a new BBC, and that TVP under PiS was more comparable to RT than a truly independent public broadcaster.

Source: www.stern.de