On Wednesday, December 20, 2023, television station TVP Info ceased broadcasting after 11 a.m. In its place, TVP1 is now being broadcast. This happened after the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, published a statement about changes in the management of public media.
In the statement, Minister Sienkiewicz announced that he had dismissed the presidents of Telewizja Polska, Polskie Radio, Telewizja Polska S.A., and Polska Agencja Prasowa. In their place, he appointed new board members who were chosen by the new programming councils.
Simultaneously with the shutdown of TVP Info, the station’s website was also shut down, until then available at https://www.tvp.info/.
The Sejm passed a resolution on Tuesday evening about restoring the rule of law as well as impartiality and reliability of public media and the Polish Press Agency. The resolution was supported by all voting MPs of KO, Polska 2050, PSL, and Lewica. Against it were 82 PiS MPs and two MPs of the Kukiz’15 group. 16 Konfederacja MPs abstained from voting.
The Sejm resolution states that public media should be run impartially and reliably. They should report on events in an objective way and not discriminate against any social group.
In the justification for the resolution, the Sejm stated that in recent years, public media in Poland have been dominated by the governing party. Television and radio stations broadcast by Telewizja Polska and Polskie Radio were used to promote the ruling party and its politics.
The Sejm resolution is the first step towards restoring the rule of law in public media. The new board members of public media will have to respect the provisions of the Broadcasting Act that prohibit the dissemination of content inconsistent with the principle of impartiality and reliability.
Reactions to the Shutdown of TVP Info
The shutdown of TVP Info was met with mixed reactions. Some commentators considered it to be a step in the right direction because it would help restore impartiality and reliability in public media.
Other commentators expressed concern that the shutdown of TVP Info may lead to a restriction of freedom of speech.
What’s Next for Public Media?
It’s not clear what the further consequences of changes in public media will be. The new board members of public media will need to develop new rules for the operation of these institutions.
It will be also crucial if the Sejm takes steps to amend the Broadcasting Act to strengthen guarantees of impartiality and reliability of public media.
