Your favorite show was
supposed to be here. Where is it? Why, on February 10th, 2021, we, Poles, could not
watch TV or read the latest news online? February 10th was a challenging and sad
day for all those who support democracy based on access to independent commentary
and news. Perhaps the initiative ‘Media Without Choice’ made many people aware
of where the Government of the ‘united right’ is heading and what politicians
can still go. Although 2021 started only five months ago, Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s
party has already decided to take away our right to abortion and information.
What is next? Taking away the ability to stand over our own bodies and choose
the channels from which we get information is a transgression of all democratic
boundaries. Thus, it is not surprising to see massive resistance from
journalists and media overall. In this article, we will talk about ‘Media
Without Choice’ all about, what is in the basis of that initiative, and which
impact it has.
The essence and roots of
the initiative
The Polish TV-feed during the Media Without
Choice action, look from the control room. tvn24/Twitter
Media Without Choice is an action carried out by private media in response to the announced bill introducing a tax on
advertising. According to the Polish
Government’s calculations, the new bill would contribute about one
billion zlotys to the state budget. Is that much? When we look at this amount objectively, it is unimaginable,
but on the scale of the state budget, it is not an amount that even for the
underfunded health service would mean a breakthrough. So if the project would not bring any changes for
citizens, why did it appear? The answer, for many, is unequivocal – it is about
the politicization of media.
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The beginnings of these political decisions can
be traced back to the Law and Justice
party’s takeover of Public Television and other media outlets that are subordinate
to the Government, which were transformed into propaganda tubes. The
manipulated pieces of information reach millions of Polish homes and create an
illusional image of a country flowing with honey and milk. All those who can learn about the actual situation of Poland,
thanks to the private media, find lies and manipulation in the information
provided by TVP. A perfect example can be the recent tapes of Obajtek published
by Gazeta Wyborcza, who, as a
supposed candidate for the new prime minister, is presented by the government
TV as a man of freedom, outstanding statesman, and our national good.
The frontpage of Gazeta Wyborcza about the
Obajtek tapes. Gazeta Wyborcza
We can only guess how much truth there is in
this, if only after the material from TVN24 (private media channel) Czarno na białym (Black on
White), in which information was revealed about Obajtek accepting bribes to
rig tender results in the municipality of Pcim, where he was mayor at the time.
However, no verdict has been made in this case. But for free media, would we
know about it? Certainly not. That is why it is so essential for the state to have
independent journalists who monitor the authorities
and look into their hands.
The role of a public
broadcasting in the distortion of the Polish media system
The Broadcasting Act of 1992 states that “public radio and television shall carry out
the public mission by offering, on the principles set out in the Act, to the
whole society and particular parts of it, diversified programs and other
services in the field of information, journalism, culture, entertainment,
education, and sport, characterized by pluralism, impartiality, balance and
independence, as well as innovation, high quality and integrity of the message”. It turns out that since
2015, public media in Poland have been operating against the law. One may ask
oneself what part of the media offers its viewers completely independent
information. However, it is worth realizing that private media are not financed
by us, the taxpayers, and advertisers. And here, the circle is made.
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censure ?
One of the news reports made by TVP (the Polish
public broadcaster): “Provocation of the LGBT-spaces to the God’s body”. TVP
Without money from advertisers, some media will
not be able to support themselves and provide salaries for their employees.
Perhaps the planned tax would not hit such giants as TVN or Polsat, but smaller
media could have a problem maintaining their position
on the market. Admittedly, the bill provides for a
threshold – the tax would be paid by companies whose revenues do not exceed 1 mln zlotys from TV, radio, or
cinema advertising and 15 mln zlotys in the case of press advertising. The tax is to cover also, among
others, Google or Facebook, which would pay only 100 mln zlotys. Governments,
guided by the experience of many countries globally, should be aware that such
companies know very well how to avoid taxes. The new tax would probably be
collected from media employing Polish journalists who work to inform us here in
Poland.
The economical context of
the turbulence of the Polish media
There is also a propaganda hook in the bill. Half
of the revenue from the proposed tax would go to the National Health Fund. The Government
assumes that it would be 400 mln zlotys. In light
of the long-term consequences of the emergence and
spread of the SARS CoV-2 virus and its impact on health, the Legislature has
proposed that the National Health Fund, from which health care services are
funded, be augmented with additional revenue to be derived from premiums from online
and conventional advertising. Why
the NFZ (National Health Fund) is not financed with an additional 2 bln zlotys a
year, which the Government gives for propaganda in TVP and polish radio, and
additional money for health care should be paid by media that already pay CIT
and VAT? We can find some hints on the strips in TVP Info: Media corporations treat
Poland as a colony or Media do not
want to pay for the health service, non-public media are therefore
anti-Polish and do not count with Poles’ health. 2 billion a year for
propaganda does not go into the forest…
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On the one
hand, the rhetoric above is presented by major TV stations and mainstream
private media and, on the other hand, by public media favoring the Government.
Representatives of the left, not necessarily those sitting in the Sejm, react to the tax proposal from an entirely different perspective. Piotr
Ikonowicz, a Polish politician, wrote on his Facebook profile on March 10th, 2021: “Will any private medium cease to exist due
to the ad tax? Will it go bankrupt? I have long advocated introducing an excise
tax on advertisements and using this money to finance a non-governmental,
community television channel. Where is
this hysteria coming from? Can’t we argue with each other anymore? Nothing
brainwashes people like advertisements. It would be best if there were no
commercials or as few as possible. But if they do exist, it would be good for
us, as a society, to get something out of it”. But do the authorities
want us, as a society, to have something from the money of advertisers? If the Polish
Government approached this tax honestly, then yes – probably thanks to the
amounts from the media tax Poland could become a more friendly place. However, one
should take into account the factors that limit trust in the “united right”.
Orlen’s
purchase of Polska Press, one of the
largest publishing groups in Poland, illustrates its desire to take control of
the media. The acquisition of control over newspapers published by Polska Press gives access to almost 20
million recipients. Is it about strengthening the sales of the whole Orlen group? Or rather about the
politicization of the titles? As readers of the titles that constitute parts of
Polska Press, we will quickly find
the answers to these questions. We will do so if we have access to alternative
sources of information, and if the takeover of the media by state-owned
companies continues, all that remains is vigilance. Our reaction to the change
of rhetoric in newspapers taken over by Orlen
depends on many factors. In particular, the degree to which we are privileged –
education, language skills, the ability to exchange views, the time we can devote
to seeking information. That is why it is so crucial for all of us, whether we
live in Warsaw or a small village somewhere in Poland, to have access to the
truth, coming from legitimate channels that respect their audiences and
employees.
Dark side of the media
insight
We repeatedly hear about violations of the
employment rights of people working in the media. Kamil Różalski, one of the
ex-cameramen for TVN, wrote, in response to TVN’s
narrative calling the bill harassment,
in a Facebook post on February 26th, 2021:
“I have been professionally connected with TVN since September 1997,
when the station was established. I worked on the largest productions over the
years, contributing to its development and current position in the market. By blackmail (like everyone else in the
implementation department), I was forced by the director to terminate my
contract by mutual agreement, and from 1.1.2013, I became a co-worker. From
that moment on, my colleagues and I were treated as second-class people. We
became victims of bullying, modern slavery, professional exclusion, blackmail,
and retaliation. Our employers forced us to work 16-17 hours a day, losing our
health as a result. Orwellian reality became a fact at TVN SA. Nepotism,
bribes, labor law violations, blackmail, humiliation, GDPR violations, and
other pathologies have become the daily bread at TVN. It is unbelievable that
this television station dares to lecture others on ethics while at the same
time failing to observe basic standards and legal regulations. Until recently, TVN SA employed about 1,800
people in violation of labor laws. These are people without the right to
retirement, vacation, health insurance. It is also massive money in unpaid
contributions to ZUS. A group of
people (of which I am also a member), according to the procedure, informed
Discovery Inc. (owner of TVN SA) about pathologies and violations of law. What
did the Americans do? They broke the methods they had established themselves. They
violated our anonymity, exposing us to retaliation by TVN (which, incidentally,
we did not have to wait long for). We
will consistently inform the press about the violations of law, misleading
investors, tax evasion in Poland,
hypocrisy, and double standards applied by Discovery Inc. and TVN SA so that
the public in the United States, Poland, and some EU countries will be reasonably
informed”.
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Regarding those views, how do you address the
moral calls of TVN, which is accused in the above post of, among other things,
breaking the law and avoiding paying taxes in Poland? Why does a station that
is regarded as the democratic savior of the nation disrespect some of its
employees? People who do not have access to this kind of information can trust
the station and consider it the only honest news channel. In the above case, we
see how powerful the freedom of speech is, which allowed Różalski to reveal
information that presents an accurate picture of what can affect employees of
media giants.
February 10th,
2021 as a historical day for Poland
Left-wing activist Ben O’Connor wrote about the media outcry and the
storm that was unleashed over the proposed new tax:
“Remember this day as a defining day for the media as we know it. The
media oligarchy, which for years has been creating an oligopoly in access to
information, has just shown how free media works in practice. People who
professionally dealt with the promotion of neoliberal propaganda, people who
told crude lies through the mouth of ‘experts’, predicting the collapse of the
Polish economy at even the slightest attempt to redistribute capital, are just
blocking access to information in the name of their own economic interest. This
is how taxes are avoided in Poland. This is how power is abused—enough of this
bullshit. The media in Poland are corrupt. They are ruled by cronyism and
propaganda, not only in TVP but in every more prominent media company. The
media in Poland are free from telling the truth and taxation. This is where our
freedom of media ends”.
Did this day actually become decisive? Perhaps it
led to even more annoyance of people with the rule of Law and Justice, but it is certainly worth looking at the
phenomenon of propaganda, used by everyone, everywhere. Limited access to
information, which the media use as and when they want creates information
bubbles in which we, as recipients, live—using the political message, which is
always against some issue or candidate. In Polish reality, you can hardly look
for a medium that would simply pass information as it is. The neoliberal
rhetoric exposed by O’Connor also seems to have monopolized the most significant
Polish press, so that we are closed in two bubbles – a liberal one on the side
of TVN or Onet, and a strictly pro-government
one as in TVP and Polskie Radio. It is probably in Public Television, such a
large station, that falsification, restriction, and manipulation of information
is the most widespread.
Conclusion
Since 2015, the public news channel has ceased to
inform and has become a place through which messages are poured into the heads of viewers
and readers to create individuals who are forced to live in an artificially
created information bubble in which what is conveyed by the media is true.
Anyone who lives and thinks differently is discredited. It is not easy to find substantive content in the
articles available in the online edition of TVP. Manipulation of information,
slander, and aggressive discrediting of political opponents make TVP an
unreliable medium, and its actions lead to the destruction of human lives.
Opposition politicians have repeatedly asked for
the liquidation of the TVP Info channel. Would it become a fact in case of the
victory of the opponents of the ‘united right’? Since its creation, the
television was supposed to evoke specific reactions. Ever since politics
revealed the power of media, it has been using them repeatedly. Maybe the level
of party affiliation on public television will never change. Perhaps only the
politicians who are responsible for it will change. A similar situation shapes
the narrative of private media, which always takes sides. To what extent we
will be able to break through the imposed interpretation of the phenomena
occurring in Poland and distinguish falsehood from truth depends on us. In an
ideal world, we would learn about disinformation already at school. For now, we
can only fight the lies on our own, with the methods we know. We can also
completely cut ourselves off from the media, which would probably be good for
us…Above all, however, we should not believe the narratives imposed on us but
instead look for them individually.
Written by Julia Smogorzewska, a ‘Mlodzi o polityce’
(Youngsters about Politics) project, University of Warsaw, Poland