Since taking office on December 13, 2023, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has immediately expressed his new government’s intention to control the media to carry out government propaganda and fight the opposition. He started right away with the forced occupation of state television. Then, he used the prosecution to combat media pluralism and persecute journalists and non-aligned media. We discuss the increasingly dramatic situation of Polish journalists and independent media with Jolanta Hajdasz, president of the Polish Journalists’ Association.

The actions of Donald Tusk’s government began with a violent assault on state television. What happened?

The assault on public media in Poland took place just one week after the government took office. It was brutal and involved security agents hired by the government. No one in public media was prepared for such an action, and the police remained passive, not responding to calls from employees of Polish Television, Polish Radio, and the Polish Press Agency.

And to think that this is the government backed by the oligarchies of Brussels and Berlin to restore legality!

This is a clear example of the hypocrisy of European elites. If a government of a right-wing party like Law and Justice (PiS) had acted like Donald Tusk, all European Union institutions would have protested, and Poland would have paid millions of euros in fines for violating freedom of speech and for scandalous political interference in media independence. Today, however, Europe remains silent and supports Tusk.

Why does the EU do this?

Because Tusk is implementing solutions that benefit the largest EU countries, even though they are economically and culturally destroying our country. But Poland will not surrender without a fight, and one day this illegality will end.

What do the media represent for Tusk?

It depends on the media. Mainstream, liberal, and even some left-wing media are his media base and main political tool. He can always rely on them: his statements are constantly cited, his point of view is presented as the only or most correct one, and those who criticize him in these media are always shown negatively: they are ridiculed, marginalized, or defamed, and their point of view is presented distortedly or not at all.

Conversely, conservative media that honestly present the opposition’s viewpoint are openly attacked by Tusk: journalists are often denied access to his press conferences and not provided information. Ministers of his government and some coalition parliamentarians act similarly. Additionally, the government exerts informal pressure on advertisers not to place ads in non-pro-government media. Tusk and his media supporters have also called for boycotts of companies that advertise in media such as TV Republika and the Catholic TV Trwam, which are funded by voluntary public contributions. Fortunately, there are independent media that break the pro-government media monopoly.

Not everyone realizes that much of the private Polish-language media is in German hands and thus does not represent Polish interests. How do you evaluate the activities of these media?

Journalistic independence, pluralism, and professional ethics in these media are at least questionable. In many cases, content is outrageous or scandalous. There are too many examples of violations of honest journalism principles to consider them random. Foreign publishers have pursued their own political and economic strategies during their presence in Poland. Everything indicates that German publishers, for example, support German business interests in Poland and promote the political option that guarantees the promotion of these interests. Unfortunately, journalists have had no concrete means to oppose this phenomenon within their newsrooms. Those who openly disagree lose their jobs under any pretext.

Why is Tusk so afraid of media pluralism?

The answer is simple: the greater Donald Tusk’s media monopoly, the longer he will stay in power. Lies and manipulation are his daily tools in mass communication with voters. This works when people have no alternatives, when there is no way to correct the lie or explain what is really happening.

A recent fact concerning former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro: the pro-government TVN received a request from the prosecution to lift his immunity before the parliamentarians and the person directly involved received it. This constitutes an illegal disclosure of protected investigative information. Is the prosecution also politicized and used to fight the opposition?

Certainly. These events confirm the close cooperation between mainstream media like TVN and the government. Defamatory campaigns against opposition politicians, seen on TVN, on ideologically-oriented websites like Onet, and in newspapers like Gazeta Wyborcza, are further proof that this cooperation exists, manipulating public opinion in one direction. Such a media defamation campaign is very effective when the media have wide reach and significant financial resources.

We also know that attempts are being made to silence independent journalists through legal action, for example for alleged defamation, with requests for huge compensation. Can you provide examples of such actions?

Unfortunately, there are many, because Poland still applies regulations from the communist era, under which journalists are responsible for the opinions published in the media and can be punished with imprisonment or large fines. This is a true tragedy and an important problem, because punishing a journalist often has a paralyzing effect: journalists, fearing legal consequences, are reluctant to discuss difficult or controversial topics. The Press Freedom Monitoring Center, which I direct, defends around 20-30 journalists each year facing entirely unjust legal problems related to their work. Legal claims demand up to 100,000 zloty (over 23,000 euros) for statements in a single article or a single TV appearance. It is particularly alarming that the lawsuit places the journalist in the criminal record alongside common criminals, thieves, and murderers, preventing access to bank loans or public sector jobs. In recent years, these rules have been used particularly against right-wing journalists and media outlets.

The government now wants to strengthen “protection against hate speech.” Will this be another tool to target independent journalists?

These fears are entirely justified. Judicial proceedings and inspections already affecting independent media demonstrate that our concerns are valid. Among the targeted media are TV Republika, Radio Maryja, TV Trwam, and organizations like the Polish Journalists’ Association (SDP). “Hate speech” will be another excuse to try to silence us.

There are organizations worldwide that should monitor freedom of expression and defend persecuted journalists. Do they know what is happening in Tusk’s Poland, and do they respond?

In my view, many organizations that should monitor press freedom are dominated by politically correct ideology. Therefore, their reports on Poland are often very distorted. For example, during the right-wing government in Poland, from 2015 to 2023, Reporters Without Borders annually lowered Poland’s position in the Press Freedom Index, even when all opposition-affiliated media operated without problems. After winning the elections in December 2023, when Tusk’s government illegally and forcibly took control of public media, the organization reacted enthusiastically, improving Poland’s position by 10 and then 16 places—a total jump of 26 positions—even though regulations had not changed: it was enough for the Minister of Culture to change the management of public television and radio. It is difficult to consider these organizations and their rankings objective.

Source: La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana