The public broadcaster in Poland was taken off air, and the heads of TVP state broadcaster and Polish Radio were replaced on Wednesday noon as the new government started the depoliticisation of public media, which the previous government still controlled.
The new ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, had promised voters to turn state media into a platform for “reliable information”.
On Tuesday night, the Polish parliament backed a resolution calling for independence, objectivity and pluralism in public TV and radio.
The following day, new Culture Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz dismissed the heads of TVP state broadcaster and Polish Radio and replaced them with new ones.
After the dismissal of TVP management, a few minutes before noon on Wednesday, the main TVP channels were taken off the air. Then, broadcasting resumed, but all the news programmes that day were replaced by reruns of TVP TV series.
Over its eight-year rule, the previous Law and Justice (PiS, ECR) government has managed to change the legislation under the label of media “repolonisation” to dramatically enhance the ruling majority’s control over the public media.
As a result of the changes, TVP became what was widely believed to be a propaganda machine for the PiS government, regularly mocking the opposition and accusing it of acting against Polish interests and supporting the government’s policies.
Ex-PiS prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki condemned the new government’s “illegal actions”, calling it “a first step towards a dictatorship,” while President Andrzej Duda, once a PiS member, accused Tusk’s camp of “violating constitutional principles and the law”.
Duda called Tusk and his cabinet to “respect the Polish legal order” while warning the Parliament’s speaker, Szymon Hołownia, that any changes to state media must follow the law.
PiS-controlled media regulator, the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), agreed with Morawiecki that the steps by Tusk’s cabinet were illegal. He said it was “an act of lawlessness and recalls the worst times of martial law,” introduced in Poland during Communist rule in 1981.
All the previous night, PiS politicians protested against the changes at the TVP headquarters at Warsaw’s Woronicza Street, joined by the party’s leader Jarosław Kaczyński. The protest continued during the day, with the PiS members occupying the building and the police intervening.
‘Clear water’ instead of propaganda
At 7:30 PM, instead of the main news programme, Wiadomości (News), viewers saw a statement by Marek Czyż, the newly-appointed director of the programme.
“No Polish citizen who finances the operation of public television has any obligation to listen to anyone’s propaganda, (but) has a right to demand reliable, professional and honest information,” he said.
He announced that, from Thursday, Wiadomości would present an objective “picture of the world and the day”.
“Instead of propaganda soup, we want to offer you clear water,” he pledged.
The changes in the media may theoretically be blocked by the president, who has the right to veto bills.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
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