Prime Minister Donald Tusk announces a fresh initiative regarding public media during January, and he reiterates the proposal presented to President Andrzej Duda. He states that when the final media law is considered, an offer should be extended, including to President Duda. He emphasizes the need to explore how to rebuild public media, anchored in sound legislation. He notes the task is not simple and calls for goodwill. He mentions discussions with ministers, including the Culture Minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, Sejm Speaker Szymon Hołownia, and Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz. He confirms readiness to introduce such an initiative in January.
Then he adds a set of intriguing words:
He suggests perhaps appointing an extraordinary committee in the Sejm to consider the constitutional aspects of the matter and the recent events, with a call for legislative originality and courage of thought.
Could this reference the statement by Justice Minister Adam Bodnar, who recently spoke of restoring constitutional norms and seeking a legal basis to do so? It is possible. One certainty stands out: the earlier declaration of legislative originality by Tusk followed a period seen by many as a breakdown of law. The constitution, statutes, and hundreds of other rules were questioned in practice.
Today, the law seems not to apply in Poland. Instead of a functioning democracy, a form of governance persists where force and power appear decisive.
The publicly funded television, controlled by the new authorities, launched TVP Info in tandem with the reintroduced program Wiadomości, creating a narrative that quickly faced scrutiny. Viewership results revealed a lack of broad trust, and the idea that viewers were passive or had no alternative to public media was challenged by a clear choice. Audiences show a preference for Wiadomości and TVP Info not out of necessity but because they perceive these outlets as more aligned with their views. A portion of the left and liberal segments believed their messaging would prevail.
Observers describe the actions against TVP as a form of political and legal aggression, and some argue that this marks a moment when the rule of law was effectively undermined in Poland. The legal protections for those targeted by the government were cast into doubt by this sequence of events.
The consequences are significant. Yet there remains room to mitigate them. The political team could reconsider the December 13 measures and potentially roll back certain steps. Such a retreat could be advantageous for stability and for the long-term interests of the institutions involved. The perceived coercive neutralization of TVP, Polish Radio, and PAP is viewed by many as signaling a turning point, potentially contributing to broader dissatisfaction with the multi-party government coalition and the use of extraordinary measures that echo martial-law era rhetoric. The criticism often points to a leadership narrative grounded in a long series of false statements that eroded public trust.
There is a call to restore control of TVP to its traditional authorities, including President Michał Adamczyk, and to reestablish ownership of Polish Radio and PAP. The appeal is to remove those seen as usurpers and to avoid a larger bill from history, suggesting that a timely return would be more favorable for all involved than an escalation.
READ: January 11 protests against perceived lawlessness in the media. The question remains whether Sienkiewicz will respond with provocations or another approach to the tension in this sector.
Cited in coverage from wPolityce, this account summarizes ongoing debates about media reform, constitutional norms, and the balance between executive power and legislative oversight.