Poland: Government ramps up pressure on critical media as elections loom
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- 30 Mar 2023
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While Poland’s media landscape remains vibrant and pluralistic overall, in recent years independent media critical of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party have faced a multi-pronged campaign of regulatory, financial and legislative pressure aimed at undermining their influence.
Ahead of parliamentary elections expected in autumn 2023, PiS and its allies have in recent months begun to tighten the screws further in an attempt to muzzle critical journalism and brought forward plans to amplify the reach of state propaganda channels at the expense of independent broadcasters.
In recent weeks, an investigative documentary broadcasted by liberal station TVN24 which included claims of the negligence by the former Polish pope regarding child sexual assault allegations has emerged as the latest flashpoint in this campaign of pressure.
“As Poland’s autumn election approaches, recent political attacks and politically motivated regulatory investigations against TVN and other media over their reporting have fired the starting gun on what we fear will be further pressure against critical and independent media in the run up to the vote”, IPI Deputy Director Scott Griffen said. “In previous years, pre-election periods have been marked with similar efforts by the ruling party to restrict the flow of information and undermine critical media voices. IPI urges the PiS government to respect press freedom and will closely monitor the situation to report any violations to relevant European and international institutions.”
Renewed attacks on TVN
Renewed political attacks were aimed at broadcaster TVN on March 9, after its flagship news channel TVN24 aired a documentary with claims that the late Pope John Paul II had been aware of cases of paedophilia in the Polish Catholic Church but had failed to act to tackle the allegations. The documentary by TVN, which is owned by U.S.-based media giant Discovery, divided opinion in Poland and angered PiS’s overwhelmingly Catholic voter base. Read More…
