About Poland Before the Elections. Supporting Media Favorable to the Authorities and Harassing Independent Ones

By press.pl | 19 September 2023

“Polish media are facing unprecedented challenges and an uncertain future as the country stands at a crossroads ahead of the elections,” note representatives of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) organization, who were in Poland to assess the state of media freedom and pluralism. Their assessment is negative.

The purpose of the MFRR’s visit was to learn about the situation of the media in our country before the parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 15. Among others, the delegation met with journalists, editors, representatives of the Ministry of Culture, the Ombudsman’s office and the Press Freedom Monitoring Center, operating at the Association of Polish Journalists.

Jolanta Hajdasz praises TVP

Media Freedom Rapid Response monitors and responds to press and media freedom violations in EU member states, candidate countries and Ukraine. A delegation comprising representatives of the organizations that make up the MFRR – the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF), the International Press Institute (IPI), Article 19 Europe, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and Free Press Unlimited (FPU) – was in Poland from September 11 to 13.

The Sdp.pl website noted that Jolanta Hajdasz, director of SDP’s CMWP, convinced the MFRR representatives that “the principle of freedom of speech is respected in Poland, and the upcoming parliamentary elections will be held in accordance with the law and all democratic rules.” The MFRR delegation also heard from Hajdasz that the purchase of Polska Press by state-owned PKN Orlen is “an expansion of pluralism in the media.” She also praised the changes that took place at Polish Television after 2016, when public media was taken over by PiS.

“Jolanta Hajdasz pointed out the favorable programmatic elements of the electronic media after the 2016 changes – such as the expansion of the program offer to include taboo topics that were previously not covered by television on Poland’s recent history, investigative materials, scandals and behind-the-scenes political events of the past 30 years. Public media today are the guarantor of the real pluralism in the content of the message we have in the Polish media,” said Jolanta Hajdasz.” – we read on sdp.pl.

Private media in Poland harassed

A brief communiqué issued by the MFRR shows that its representatives did not give credence to the head of SDP’s CMWP. “According to data from the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) for the second quarter of 2023, TVP news programs are dominated by the ruling coalition, receiving 80 percent of political coverage, 73 percent of which is devoted to PiS. Meanwhile, a 20 percent share remains for opposition political parties, but the vast majority of the coverage is negative toward them. These numbers alone indicate how TVP is neglecting its basic duty as a broadcaster to provide fair and balanced political coverage between and during elections,” the MFRR noted in the communiqué.

MFRR also stresses that private media independent of the government are being harassed in Poland by the state regulator, the National Broadcasting Council. “The KRRiT, which is controlled by people with ties to the Law and Justice party, uses its powers to create business uncertainty and intimidate broadcasters such as TVN and Radio Tok FM.” – MFRR noted.

The delegation also noted that the government in Poland denies many private media outlets “access to state advertising funds administered by the Law and Justice party,” and instead supports media outlets sympathetic to the government with state advertising, which is expected to undermine independent journalism.

“The country is at a crossroads”

MFRR also points out that Poland is one of the European Union countries with the highest number of lawsuits against the media (SLAPP). “While judicial persecution of journalists is nothing new, since PiS came to power, aggressive litigation has become an inherent strategy to undermine critical media,” the release says.

“The vast majority of commentators with whom the delegation met expressed concern that the country is at a crossroads, and that the next four years of the current policy will accelerate bringing the media in Poland down the road they are already on in Hungary, Turkey or Russia,” the communiqué concluded.

The MFRR is expected to publish a detailed report on the situation of the Polish media in the first week of October.