The move comes as a significant shift in Poland's media landscape, which saw a significant decline in the World Press Freedom Index during the previous government's tenure.
The state TV channel TVP Info, which had become increasingly aligned with the ruling party's narrative under the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, was taken off the air as part of these reforms. “By law, state media should not serve the political interests of any one party. In practice, it is normally partial to whichever government is in power. After taking office in 2015, PiS went much further than any previous government in controlling TVP's narrative,” BBC wrote.
Under the previous administration, officials “changed Poland's media law and set up a rival media regulator to allow it to sack management boards and pack the public media with journalists sympathetic to its policies,” according to BBC.
“In recent years, TVP's main evening news broadcasts, and TVP Info, became a propaganda machine for the PiS government,” which the Tusk-led coalition has committed to reversing, aiming to restore the state-run media as a platform for “reliable information”.
The BBC also reported that Poland's new government has been met with cautious optimism from media watchdogs and advocates for press freedom, who view these changes as a positive direction towards reinstating journalistic independence in the country's public broadcasting.
(jh)
Source: PAP, BBC
