At the end of December, the new Polish government fired and replaced all the managers of public media, considered to be relays of PiS (Law and Justice), the former ruling party.
At the headquarters of the TVP channel, the former teams refuse to leave the premises.
“People recently discovered that the Minister of Culture acted illegally. Its resolution and decisions were overturned by the court. People can see it“, explains Michal Adamczyk, former director of TVP.
“It is very important for Poland, for those in power, but also for Europe, to see that Poles do not agree with the authoritarian actions and methods that Tusk is introducing“, explains Arkadiusz Mularczyk, MP and member of the PiS (Law and Justice) party.
The measure, decided by the Minister of Culture, is also criticized by NGOs. Even if they recognize that changes were necessary, some do not hide their concern about the legal consequences of this decision.
“In recent years, public media have become the mouthpieces of power to an unprecedented level. And that really needed to change. What is questionable, however, is the legal manner in which these changes were introduced. In the Polish constitutional order, it is not the minister, it is not a politician who should appoint the heads of public media“, explains Maciej Nowicki, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FHDH, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.
For the new team at public television, the objective is clear: to present viewers with unbiased information. And above all, allow a plurality of voices to be expressed, which was not the case just a few months ago.
“What is needed is to produce a normal news program. We would very much like it to be a simply objective program, which gives voice to all parties and which does not only focus on criticizing some people and praising others“, explains Grzegorz Sajór, head of the TAI news agency.
Some Poles, mainly PIS supporters, are resisting these changes. The battle with Donald Tusk’s government continues.