Head of the National Broadcasting Council Still Has Not Met With Representatives of the Media Market
Presserwis | February 10, 2023
Maciej Świrski, who has been the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council for five months, still has not met with representatives of the media market. – There is no dialogue – admits Przemysław Broniszewski from MOC TV. The chairman of the new KRRiT’s term of office began with proceedings in which he wants to impose penalties on broadcasters.
Maciej Świrski – the founder of the Reduta Dobrego Imieni Foundation and a former member of the supervisory board of the Polish Press Agency, who became famous years ago for his harsh criticism of TVN – became the head of the National Broadcasting Council exactly five months ago, on October 10, 2022. Previously, the National Council was headed by Witold Kołodziejski.
Relations between the National Broadcasting Council and broadcasters do not exist
– We had regular meetings with the previous chairman. We met three times a year in the National Council and KIM – in connection with the founding research and other projects – several times a month. There was also constant contact with the National Broadcasting Council; there were talks about joint initiatives – says Przemysław Broniszewski, member of the board of the Association of Employers of National Television Media MOC TV.
“I spoke to representatives of other organizations as well. As far as I know, no one has been in contact with the new Council. There is no dialogue, and broadcasters have big concerns, especially in the area of media research and discontinued KIM projects. We hear voices that the new chairman does not want to meet with the market, i.e., representatives of market organizations representing broadcasters, publishers, and operators – says Broniszewski. – This situation has been going on since the appointment, which is five months.
The manager of one of the TV broadcasters, who wants to remain anonymous, confirms: – Nothing is happening between the National Broadcasting Council and the broadcaster. Chairman Kołodziejski indeed cared about these relations, and now they do not exist – our interlocutor adds.
Świrski promises a meeting with the radio industry
The radio industry did not talk to Świrski either, but at least received a promise to meet him. – As MOC FM (represents commercial broadcasters – editorial note) and MOC Radio (public broadcasters – editorial note), we have asked the chairman for a meeting – says Mariusz Gołda, marketing director of the RMF Group and member of the board of MOC FM. – We got the answer that the chairman will meet us, but after the end of the first quarter, because it requires proper preparation. We want to tell the chairman what the radio market looks like and what problems it has.
In mid-December 2022, the meeting of the National Broadcasting Council, where members of the Council approved the program and financial plans of Telewizja Polska and Polish Radio, was attended by the president of public radio Agnieszka Kamińska and – remotely – the president of TVP Mateusz Matyszkowicz.
The chairman of the National Broadcasting Council is currently conducting proceedings to punish TVN for broadcasting the report “The power of lies” (the broadcaster has applied for discontinuation of the proceedings as groundless) and radio Tok FM for naming the book of prof. Wojciech Roszkowski’s “handbook for Hitlerjugend” (the radio defends itself by saying that the journalist criticized the “hate speech used in the textbook”). Świrski also wants to impose fines on Radio Szczecin and TVP Info “in connection with the broadcast of content enabling the identification of pedophile victims, which glaringly threatened the well-being of minor victims of violence.”
In addition to its chairman, Maciej Świrski, the National Broadcasting Council also includes Agnieszka Glapiak (vice-chairman), Hanna Karp, Marzena Paczuska, and Tadeusz Kowalski, who was elected to the Council by the votes of the opposition in the Senate.