National Broadcasting Council Review Threatens TVN24’s Future

Wyborcza.pl | February 8, 2023

Sure, the Americans will defend TVN. But for Law and Justice party, it is enough that the station is weakened for a moment, exactly during the campaign.

In mid-January, Polsat submitted an application for renewal of the license for another period of 10 years. Such an application must be received by the National Broadcasting Council at least one year before the license expires. Polsat’s license expires in March of 2024. On February 2nd, the National Broadcasting Council positively reviewed the application.

At the beginning of December 2022, TVN submitted an application for renewal of the license for another period of 10 years. The license is set to expire in April 2024. It bodes ill. In 2021 TVN24 waited 19 months for the Council’s decision. And it just so happens that TVN has revealed, publicized, and analyzed scandals involving the current ruling camp. It is also an election year.

It was TVN24 reporters, together with Civic Platform deputies Katarzyna Lubnauer and Krystyna Szumilas, who revealed the scandal involving Minister of Gliński who appropriated PLN 40 million for the top locations of head offices of organizations of Law and Justice politicians, state officials, the Church, and scouts, even though they did not meet the competition criteria.

It was TVN24 that revealed the scandal with the contract between Orlen and Saudi Aramco. At the end of last year, the global giant became the owner of 1/3 of the Gdańsk Refinery. After the Orlen and Lotos merger, Poland may lose control over the Refinery.

It was TVN24 that exposed, in the Siła kłamstwa (Force of a lie) report, Macierewicz’s fabrication about cooperation with American experts. The so-called Smolensk Subcommittee report concealed or falsified data from American investigations because they confirmed that there was an air disaster and not a coup on April 10th, 2010.

Each of these swindles would have sunk every government in a democratic state. But not in Poland, because the government media, the media controlled and sponsored by the government, defend Law and Justice and attack journalists who reveal frauds of the ruling camp.

Yet the ruling camp would do quite well in the polls even if nobody exposed their cons – if there were no TVN.

Maciej Świrski, the head of the new National Broadcasting Council, has two features that make him perfect for this position: he believes in Macierewicz and does not believe in TVN (which he refers to as “FakeNewsMedia” on Twitter). Meanwhile, Macierewicz presented Świrski with weapons – a complaint against the Siła kłamstwa. There could be a situation that the constitutional body upholding freedom of expression rules that Macierewicz did not lie about the Smolensk air disaster, and it was TVN24 that lied. So it will decide on a matter in which it has no competencies because Świrski knows nothing about investigating the causes of air disasters.

But Świrski does not give a hoot about this. Oh, what a gift for Kaczyński it would be – TVN was fined at the start of the campaign and had a reason not to renew the license.

But the Americans will protest, right? Certainly, but the striking power of TVN will weaken, for a moment, during the campaign, which will be enough to confuse the voters. With weak opposition at variance, this may result in the third term of office.