You can really admire the greatest assets of the Polish Media Council. A group of influential journalists (led by Bartosz Węglarczyk), appointed four days before the parliamentary elections, sometimes even editors-in-chief of titles such as Onet, “Fakt”, “Gazeta Wyborcza”, “Polityka”, “Rzeczpospolita”, “OKO.press” and “Fakty TVN” were given the extremely pretentious name “The Polish Council”. [podkreślenie moje] “Media”. This second word heralds a number of abuses – because half of these media are based on foreign capital, for example German, and thus have a common language only with ‘Poland’. Moreover, most of these titles have devalued Polishness for years – we are constantly struggling with inappropriate titles, materials, headlines – and Onet is concerned about the sad holidays of Wehrmacht soldiers, and “Cursed Soldiers” are bandits for them, and so is John Paul II who is involved in sexual scandals based on eSB charges, and they have a bad association with Dmowski, and they promote works that discredit our country, even if they are based on manipulated or even falsified sources – as in the case of Grabowski and Engelking’s book. Their whole activity tries to redefine Polishness, but they will use the “Polishness” in their name with as much enthusiasm as possible.
Jump to television
But the date of founding of this body is not coincidental. Since October, opinion polls on the opposition side have given them hope of removing PiS from power, and have done so for years one of the main topics of discussion on that side is the “TVP problem”, or in short, its acquisition and transformation into a milder version of TVN. Since very little is written about the ‘Polish’ Media Council itself, we have to sort out the puzzles that fell apart somewhere in the TOK FM conversation, on social media and in private conversations. The official announcement emphasizes that R”P”M will be handing out journalism awards – nothing special. But the purpose of the Council is also:
expressing opinions on matters important to freedom of expression and the media community, legal changes in the areas of media freedom, journalism and information.
Moreover, conversations about the future of public television talk about mysterious “experts” who are supposed to propose ready-made solutions for the state media. “For example, there is the ‘Polish Media Council’” – assured Dominika Wielowieyska in one of the radio conversations. The image was also supplemented by Wojciech Czuchnowski, who protested on his social media against the membership of Marek Balawajder (RMF FM) in the Council, because he would lead a medium that was not anti-PiS enough.
The editors were not concerned with defending the Constitution or the independence of the judiciary, nor did they defend those persecuted and harmed by the regime. RMF was also absent in August 2021, when more than 1,000 journalists signed a letter in defense of TVN.
In case anyone isn’t convinced yet R”P”M is extremely politicized and has strictly party objectiveslet’s add another excerpt of the statement of the founding member of the Council from “Gazeta Wyborcza”:
It must be a new organization with the ability and ambition to rise above division do something with the journalistic community.
Do something about the journalistic community? Let us add to this a piece of the mosaic, when Justyna Dobrosz-Oracz announced at the Trzaskowski Campus the creation of a committee to verify and interrogate journalists. We are home! The self-appointed Committee for the Integrity of Journalists has just been formed! He will appoint ‘real’ journalists to various positions, grant ‘authority’ status and settle disputes – including in his own case. Kind of Nemo Judex in causa sua but there were already such bodies that judged their own affairs, perhaps the editors-in-chief of “Polityka” or “Tygodnik Powszechny” even remember, and the parents of many TVN presenters certainly remember.
Ideological offensive
Thus, the Commission for the Integrity of Journalists was founded. The admission procedure for this group is interesting: a new member must be invited by an old member, and permission to join is obtained only if no one protests. In this way, ideological purity is closely guarded.
The creation of this Council, and de facto of the Commission for Integrity, heralds a veritable murder of freedom of expression, reinforcing the monopower of the mainstream and excluding criticism of certain circles from the public debate. The functioning of such a group, which is a judge in its own case, excludes from the media and has a unified worldview, heralds a real seed of authoritarianism. Liberals can always dress it up in the guise of freedom and democracy. However, there is a certain advantage in the creation of R„P”M. It is easier to observe and hold accountable such a formally appointed group than to struggle with an environment connected by secretive social and business relationships. They felt stronger, but used clumsy methods.
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Source: wPolityce