Onet journalists Andrzej Stankiewicz and Dominika Długosz sought to lampoon the visit of TVP reporters to the European Parliament. Their effort drew mockery from Samuel Pereira, editor-in-chief of the TVP Info portal, who wrote that the attempt was “RASP premium normal.”
TVP journalists in the European Parliament
After the story surfaced in media reports, TVP correspondents Samuel Pereira and Marcin Tulicki, along with Jarosław Olechowski, head of the Television Information Agency, met with the European Conservatives and Reformists group in Strasbourg. There, conversations touched on how various political factions, including Law and Justice, the opposition, and some media outlets, are framing the visit as a critique of the current government.
Those who raised issues about trials broadcast by public television during the tenure of the PO government faced charges from the opposition that they were simply reporting on Poland rather than presenting news.
“They decided to defame Poland”
The same narrative also appeared in the Onet broadcast by Andrzej Stankiewicz and Dominika Długosz in the program “State of Emergency.”
Representatives of the state television who chose to comment on the situation in Brussels were cast as spreading slander about Poland, according to the reporting by Stankiewicz.
“I watched it, and I felt unsettled,” said Dominika Dlugosz.
“I’m unsettled, ladies and gentlemen. For years people have forgotten that this European Parliament already has a history of involvement in Polish matters,” Stankiewicz paused, collecting his thoughts.
“What did it used to be like? Petitions? No, those critical documents about Poland, resolutions!” he added.
The Onet journalist welcomed the moment when the correct label was finally identified.
“Resolutions, yes,” his colleague confirmed.
“This troubling European Parliament passes resolutions about Poland, interferes with Polish autonomy, and reports on the opposition,” Stankiewicz noted with a hint of irony.
“They complained about Tusk, and that’s true,” Dlugosz added.
They claimed they were being attacked and that hate against them threatened the foundations of democracy. “Today in Poland there is a serious problem of political pressure on journalists,” remarked Jarosław Olechowski, quoted by Stankiewicz.
To be honest, Olechowski, there is concern about how Brussels reporting can influence Poland when politicians press on journalists at home. The aim, some argue, is to create a chilling effect that discourages reporters from covering topics associated with a particular political party.
The commentary continued as the speaker sought another moment to gather his thoughts, noting further concerns about the financial or political leverage involved.
“We don’t have to fund three billion for this, so you three can head to Brussels and see what they eat there. What did President Kaczynski have?” he mused, pondering the gastronomic curiosities of Strasbourg and Brussels. “Mussels, maybe, or perhaps something else.” Dlugosz found a way to puncture the moment with humor.
“Or maybe you were thinking of a party affiliation when you mentioned that?” Stankiewicz teased.
Pereira: “Resolutions” (difficult word)
That quirky exchange drew a sharp Twitter reaction from Samuel Pereira, who is associated with the TVP Info portal. He pointed out what he saw as errors and misstatements by Onet reporters, noting that the trio did not travel to Brussels but to Strasbourg; he labeled the whole sequence as full of inaccuracies.
His summary highlighted several talking points: the lawsuits involving Tusk and TVN, the use of the term “defamatory Poland,” the supposed misunderstanding of what constitutes a resolution in the European Parliament, and a joking jab about seafood. He also corrected the venue, insisting that Strasbourg, not Brussels, was the correct destination.
In a closing remark, Pereira offered a final assessment: the situation would be treated as usual in RASP Premium, a line that underscored his stance on the coverage and the framing of the narrative.
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Questions persist about whether the discussion in the European Parliament can address alleged genocidal actions on the Polish–Belarusian border, the propagation of supposed “LGBT free zones,” or the critique of the rule of law, without noting that the leader of the largest opposition party is pursuing a reminder of a difficult truth. The exchange and the surrounding discourse show a broader tension between media reporting and political narratives in both Brussels and Poland.
Source attribution: wPolityce