The Hacks Are Back, Still Looking For Enemies

Michael Hedges December 7, 2015 Follow on Twitter

Cultural insecurities are at the root of populist and nationalist political movements. For all the obvious reasons no nation is immune. The media sector, public media in particular, is often singled out for reflecting a more liberal, cosmopolitan society at odds with traditionalists, certainly those with a conspiracy theory or two. Learning from the past is necessary, living there foolish.

Reorganizing the media sector is a top priority for the newly elected government in Poland. Back and forth swings in political leadership since European Union accession - and earlier - have regularly brought changes to public broadcasters Telewizja Polska (TVP) and Polskie Radio (PR) and a radical new plan for both has been proposed. Politicians also have foreign media owners in their sights.

“Re-Polanization of media is necessary,” said Law and Justice Party (PiS) member Jaroslaw Sellin to right-wing news portal wPolityce.pl (June 6), weeks before parliamentary elections. October elections gave the PiS, headed by former prime minister Jaroslav Kaczynski, significant majorities in both houses of parliament. The new government quickly installed party regulars to key ministries and moved quickly to “overturn,” their term, perceived deficiencies of the former government. Poland has long been a conservative nation; this is a leap to the right.

Newly installed prime minister Beata Szydlo, in a speech before the Sejm (parliament), mentioned without detail plans to “overhaul” TVP and PR because “citizens have the right to fair and objective information.” Public radio and TV journalists, editors and managers have long been accused by PiS of reporting bias. The PiS won parliamentary elections in October with a shade over 37% plurality, sufficient to avoid being encumbered by coalition partners.

New culture minister Piotr Glinski proposes modelling the legal status of TVP, Polskie Radio and news agency PAP on the National Opera and National Museum, “as an institution, which is non-commercial, not a company,” quoted by Polsat News (November 23). The household license fee will be restructured as a 10 PLN (zloty) per month “universal” audiovisual fee, roughly €28 annually. Advertising on TVP channels will remain. “We want to keep the possibility of funding through advertising, but we also want the financial split of this cake to be more balanced.” He also wants half the combined annual public media budget - the government willing, he said, to contribute roughly €350 million - moved from national to local outlets.

More broadly, the PiS government wants to reverse the cosmopolitan tide. “The first is to stabilise the situation with Polish cultural institutions… so that groups that haven’t been able to get support in the past eight years can also participate,” Minister Glinski told Radio Lodz, quoted by Dziennik (November 9). “Second, and the foundation of what we want to achieve, is fusing culture with patriotic values, so the field of culture will be rich with Polish tradition, Polish patriotism, everything that unites us shows our identity.” Minister Glinski was also named deputy prime minister, giving additional weight to his position in the new government.

Cultural identity, often, causes clashes between traditionalists and modernists. The premiere of Noble Literature laureate Elfriede Jelinek’s controversial play Death and the Maiden at Teatr Polski in Wroclaw, adapted and directed by Ewelina Marciniak, deeply offended Minister Glinski, who called on a local governor to ban the play. Yes, there’s a sex scene, rather graphic. Lower Silesia governor Cezary Przybylski refused the advances, citing freedom of artistic expression.

Public television all-news channel TVP Info interviewer Karolina Lewicka asked Minister Glinski, on a live broadcast (November 22), to reflect on freedom of artistic expression enshrined in the Polish Constitution with respect to the episode. Minister Glinski exploded, ranting about TVP Info hosting a “propaganda program,” adding, “Your channel has sown propaganda and manipulation for years. This will change because public television is finished.” He then demanded Ms Lewicka be suspended.

TVP president Janusz Daszczynski quickly complied and referred the matter to the TVP ethics committee, suggesting Ms Lewicka might have had “an agenda.” TVP Info staff - including Mr.Daszczynski - posted a demand for Minister Glinski to back off. “Your words offend us,” it said. Two days later the ethics committee decided Ms Lewicka had not “violated” company rules as “a journalist has the right to take up a topic of social interest.”

“Public media must change as the whole media market changes,” wrote former publisher Agora president Marek Sowa, in an opinion piece for wirtualnemedia.pl (December 5). “And for that wise strategy and experienced managers on the boards and supervisory boards are needed. Regardless of this reform fever, rules in force in mature democracies should be followed. Aggressive statements about Polish (public) television and not the best experience from 2005 to 2007, the lack of a balanced approach to reforming the public Fourth Estate must arouse concern.”

In the years immediately following Poland’s accession to the European Union, PiS holding the keys, the same media-blunting led to rewriting the structure of regulator KRRiT, which approves the composition of public broadcasting boards, creating a politically determined body. The top ranks of TVP and Polski Radio management were riddled with political hacks. Mr. Daszczynski, appointed in July, is the twelfth TVP president in a decade.

“When PiS was last in power, its tenure was marked by erratic policies and nationalist paranoia,” wrote the Economist (December 5). “It appears not to have mellowed with time.”

See also in ftm Knowledge

Media in Poland

Poland is the largest media market of the new EU Member States and the changes have often been surprising, sometimes radical and never ending. Publishers, broadcasters and new media are plentiful, talented and under constant stress. ftm has its eye on Poland. 80 pages PDF Includes Poland's neighbor Belarus, resources (August 2011)

Order here

Public Broadcasting - Arguments, Battles and Changes

Public broadcasters have - mostly - thrown off the musty stain of State broadcasting. And audiences for public channels are growing. But arguments and battles with politicians, publishers and commercial broadcasters threatens more changes. The ftm Knowledge file examines all sides. 168 pages PDF (March 2014)

Order here