Eight months ago, after the civilian Coalition took power, public media improvement was 1 of the key programming points. It seemed that the fresh squad had a clear plan to repair the situation on TVP, but it shortly turned out that there was no circumstantial thought how to change the management of public media under the applicable law. At a time erstwhile the promise of "stopping propaganda" was made, actions were started to transform TVP into a truly public medium, but many difficulties were encountered at the very beginning.
The first days of the fresh TVP were filled with chaos, as Thomas March, a writer working with TVP, admitted in an interview with Virtual Poland: “I expected chaos, I found chaos. I was convinced that we were going there with a plan, but I did not admit him.” The deficiency of plan and organizational mess were visible at all step.
Tension and no circumstantial plan
The tensions on TVP continued for weeks. A visit of the author of the text in early 2024 to the tv station only confirmed how hard the situation was. Security, makeshift checkpoints and tense atmosphere prevailed in the building, reflecting the chaos and uncertainty that accompanied the fresh TVP authorities. Although public efforts were made to show that things were going as planned, the reality was completely different.
Political impacts on public media – continuity alternatively of change
The improvement of public media has been the subject of many discussions and analyses, but most of the ideas for change have been to recreate scenarios that have already been tested for the past 3 decades. The problem of political influence on public media is not fresh – TVP has always been susceptible to political pressure. Only parties and people in positions changed, but the mechanisms remained the same.
One of the key moments in the past of Polish public media was the decision of the Minister of Culture Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz of December 2023, who dismissed the presidents and supervisory boards of TVP, Polish Radio and PAP. Although at first glance it seemed to be the beginning of profound changes, it shortly turned out that the formal liquidation of these institutions was only apparent, and the fresh administrators were only selected after weeks of judicial battles.
Illusion of Change – fresh Faces, Old Methods
Despite the large announcements, changes in TVP proved illusory. In the main information programme ‘19.30’, which replaced ‘News’, the faces of the leaders changed, but the communicative remained very akin to the 1 served for the last 8 years. Pluralism and impartiality, which were to be pillars of the fresh TVP, stay only on paper.
Reports on airtime devoted to individual political parties indicate that the dominant voice on tv has ruling coalition politicians, and the opposition is marginalized. In the second 4th of 2024, KO politicians had almost 90 hours of airtime, while representatives of the United Right only 29 hours.
Repeated errors and deficiency of prospects for real change
History shows that attempts to improvement public media in Poland usually ended with cosmetic changes that did not contact the heart of the problem. The allegations of bias and deficiency of objectivity have been appearing for years and do not change regardless of which political option is in power.
Examples specified as Robert Kwiatkowski's period of government in TVP during the times of the SLD or Jack Kurski from the Law and Justice Department show that public media independency remains a fiction. alternatively of real changes, subsequent ruling teams are simply trying to adjust public media to their needs, and any effort to depoliticize ends with superficial adjustments that do not change the essence of the problem.
New Media Act – Back to Old Solutions
A fresh media law is presently under way to bring about changes in the functioning of public media. However, the proposed solutions, specified as the elimination of the audiovisual fee or the simplification of advertising, are only going back to old, proven (and frequently ineffective) methods. According to the assumptions, the fresh composition of the National Broadcasting Council is to be appointed according to pre-2005 patterns, and the public media authorities are to be elected by competition.
Although these changes may seem crucial at first glance, past shows that specified actions have frequently led to even greater chaos and confusion in public media. The deficiency of a coherent imagination and a comprehensive approach to the issue of public media can only make the fresh regulations a further step in the long past of political manipulation and influence on the media in Poland.
Summary – a vicious ellipse of media reforms
Polish public media have been operating in the shadow of political influences for years, which find their form and functioning. Despite promises and attempts to reform, no ruling squad has decided to depoliticise TVP. The proposed changes are only a return to old solutions that had already failed to pass the exam. It seems that changes in public media are just an illusion, which aims to preserve the position quo, alternatively than a real improvement in the quality of information and pluralism.
Ultimately, regardless of political promises, TVP remains a tool in the hands of the ruling, which serves to carry out their interests, alternatively of being a truly public average whose mission is to inform citizens fairly.
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