Polish public broadcasting has been put into liquidation as part of a political struggle between the Poland’s new centrist parliament and its conservative president.
Officially under Polish law, Polskie Radio and Telewizja Polska (TVP) are apolitical public-service entities, but since the conservative Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (PiS) party and President Andrzej Duda came into power in 2015 there have been concerns about political interference. At that time, the PiS-led government moved to appoint directly senior management at the broadcasters, drawing a caution from the European Broadcasting Union.
Since the new centrist governing coalition, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, gained control of the Sejm and Senate in the October 2023 elections, the question of media neutrality and control has been front and center. Media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontières called for Tusk’s government to move quickly to ensure the independence of the public-service broadcasters.
“We ask them to transform the historic opportunity into systemic measures in favour of media independence and protection of journalists resulting from an inclusive public debate,” stated Pavol Szalai, head of the EU–Balkans Desk at RSF.
On Dec. 20, Tusk’s government passed a resolution calling for restoration of “impartiality and reliability of the public media.” This was followed by the removal of the chairs and boards of Polskie Radio, TVP and the newsagency Polska Agencja Prasowa, all of whom were considered too close to the PiS party. The moves sparked a sit-in at TVP headquarters by PiS officials, including former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who claimed the new government’s moves diminished “media pluralism.”
Just before Christmas, President Duda announced his intent to veto Tusk’s government’s spending bill, which included 3 billion złoty (about $762 million) for overhauling public broadcasting. In response to the veto, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz announced that Polskie Radio, TVP and PAP would all be placed into liquidation.
“In the current situation, such action will ensure the continued operation of these companies, carry out the necessary restructuring and prevent layoffs of employees in the above-mentioned companies,” Sienkiewicz posted to X (formerly Twitter).
Tusk’s government is expected to take up a new spending bill in January in response to Duda’s veto.
In response to the turmoil, an EBU statement noted that it is monitoring the situation in Poland. “In general, the EBU supports strong safeguards for independent, well-funded public service media, as have been included in internationally agreed standards such as from the Council of Europe and in the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA).”
