Chairman Claims Report Threatens Public Safety in Effort to Limit Journalistic Freedom

Kultura.onet.pl | February 9, 2023

Antoni Macierewicz demands punishment for TVN for the report “The power of lies” on the work of the Smolensk subcommittee. When the station talks about an unacceptable attempt to limit journalistic criticism, the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council provides new information on this matter, assessing that Macierewicz’s complaint “may be at least partly justified”.

Let us recall: the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council, Maciej Świrski – PiS nominee, representative of the radical wing of the party – initiated ex officio proceedings to punish TVN for the report “The power of lies” on the work of Antoni Macierewicz’s Smolensk subcommittee.

Macierewicz versus TVN. Chairman of the National Broadcasting Council: necessary actions

Świrski’s new statement on the matter is published by the Polish Press Agency.

The chairman of the National Broadcasting Council again turned to Antoni Macierewicz, who on December 27 indicated the alleged 22 untrue and inaccurate information contained in the TVN material. “In view of the matter-of-factness and extensiveness of this argument, I came to the conclusion that the complaint may be at least partially justified, but any further proceedings require taking actions that exceed the framework of the complaint procedure” – Maciej Świrski is quoted by PAP.

“Since then, I have taken the necessary steps to comprehensively clarify this matter. The goal of the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council is to check whether the material contains content that violates Article 18(1) and (3) of the Broadcasting Act, “by promoting false information and actions contrary to the Polish cause state and threaten public safety”, Świrki continues, emphasizing that it is too early to talk about the planned penalty, because the ongoing proceedings may take up to several months.

What is included in the report that Antoni Macierewicz did not like?

The report by TVN and TVN24 presents materials which, according to the authors of the report, indicate that Antoni Macierewicz’s subcommittee had research results that contradicted the thesis about the explosion in the wing of the presidential Tu-154M plane, carrying a delegation to the ceremony of the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, and that have not been published.

“At the request of Antoni Macierewicz, the National Broadcasting Council, instead of guarding the freedom of speech, wants to punish us for it. The purpose of such punishment is only to try to limit journalistic criticism related to the activities of the subcommittee. This is unacceptable in the light of the constitutional tasks of the press, which is obliged to control public institutions,” we read in the TVN statement.