Unprecedented Support from Poland’s Largest Media Outlets. “The Power of a Lie” Report Published on Dozens of Websites
As a sign of solidarity with TVN24, dozens of Poland’s largest nationwide and local media outlets have decided to publish on their websites a report titled “The Power of a Lie” by our own Piotr Świerczek. The report exposes the lack of reliability in the works of the so-called Smolensk Subcommittee led by MP Antoni Macierewicz, whose task was to investigate the 2010 presidential aircraft crash that killed Poland’s then-president Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and 94 other people. Now, instead of safeguarding the freedom of speech, Poland’s National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), acting on Antoni Macierewicz’s request, seeks to punish TVN for its report.
“We are very grateful for this support. Those currently in power have once again learned that Polish media and journalists will not be intimidated or silenced,” says Michał Samul, TVN24 and “Fakty” TVN editor-in-chief.
Among those involved in the support campaign are the following media outlets: Onet, WP, “Gazeta Wyborcza,” gazeta.pl, “Rzeczpospolita”, Tok FM, Radio Zet, RMF FM, “Press”, “Fakt”, “Newsweek”, “Tygodnik Podhalański”, OKO.Press, natemat.pl, “Polityka,” “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna,” “Tygodnik Powszechny,” as well as media united under the Local Papers Association (Stowarzyszenie Gazet Lokalnych). At each of the above media websites, it will be possible to watch the full 77-minute-long report, in which we have cast doubt on the reliability of the Macierewicz subcommittee’s work. Editorial boards mark the report on social media with the hashtag #wolnemedia.
In December, 2022, we received a letter from the National Broadcasting Council, which said that due to the airing of the TVN24 report, the Council chairperson launched proceedings aimed at punishing us. The Council accuses us of “promoting acting in violation of the law, Polish national interest, and acting with risk to security” and “unreliability and nonobjectivity.”
The KRRiT has not presented a single concrete piece of evidence to support its claims.