The public broadcaster in Poland and the PAP news agency will be dissolved.
The new Polish government announced the liquidation of all state media with the aim of restructuring. Minister of Culture Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz announced on Wednesday evening A week ago he had already fired the entire leadership of Polish state media.
For years they were seen as spokespeople for the previous right-wing nationalist government. Following the October elections, the new pro-European prime minister, Donald Tusk, and his allies took over the government in Warsaw two weeks ago. The opposition and non-governmental organizations have repeatedly accused the previously ruling PiS party of increasingly restricting media freedom during its eight years in power, channeling significant financial resources to state media outlets and converting them into spokespeople for right-wing nationalist government propaganda.
The non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) concluded, around 2020, that one-sided reporting and “hate speech” were the order of the day in state media in Poland. State media outlets were transformed into “government propaganda mouthpieces”. In its 2023 report, the organization noted that the PiS government is also increasingly trying to bring private media outlets under its control. (APA)