US media giant Discovery, Inc. has issued a statement promising to defend TVN, a broadcaster that it owns in Poland, after the Polish ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party moved to pass a law that could force it to sell up. The US embassy and European Commission have both also expressed concern.
Meanwhile, one of the PiS MPs behind the bill has said that he cannot rule out a state-owned company seeking to buy TVN and that he wants Poles to have “some influence” over the station. State oil giant Orlen recently bought hundreds of local newspapers in a move that critics see as an effort by the government to exert control over the media.
There remain doubts, however, as to whether PiS can muster a majority in parliament to push through the bill restricting foreign ownership, after one of the party’s junior coalition partners made it clear that it does not support the legislation in its current form.
On Thursday last week, a group of PiS lawmakers submitted legislation to parliament that would ensure media outlets cannot be owned by entities from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
The measure is seen to be aimed in particular at TVN, the country’s biggest private broadcaster, which has been US-owned since 2015 and is disliked by PiS for its often critical coverage of the ruling party.
One of the MPs who submitted the bill, Marek Suski, told the Rzeczpospolita daily that the bill is not specifically directed against TVN and denied that it is a threat to media freedom. He argued that other European countries have similar ownership restrictions in place.
He admitted, however, that Discovery would “probably have to sell some of its shares” in TVN if the legislation is passed. Asked if state-owned firms could then seek to buy the station, Suski said he “cannot rule it out”.
They aren’t even pretending now. PiS sponsor of amendments to media laws: “if we manage to pass this bill and part of the shares [in TVN] are bought up by Polish businessmen, we’ll have some kind of influence on what happens at that station.” https://t.co/KZk6aGQWb6
— Ben Stanley (@BDStanley) July 11, 2021
In separate remarks quoted by Onet, Suski said that “if this law is successfully passed and some of these shares can be bought by Polish businessmen, we will have some influence on what is happening on this station”. He also suggested protests outside TVN headquarters and the offices of MPs who do not support the bill.
PiS has long pursued what it calls the “repolonisation” of Polish media, by which it means reducing foreign ownership. It argues that allowing outside entities to have so much influence is against the national interest.
Critics, however, note that only a minority of Poland’s main broadcasters and newspapers are under foreign ownership. They see PiS’s policies as being aimed at silencing independent media outlets that do not provide positive coverage of the government.
Earlier this year, Orlen completed the purchase of hundreds of local media outlets from their previous German owner. The move was hailed by government figures but has faced criticism from the opposition and been challenged in court.
In response to last week’s proposed legislation, Discovery yesterday issued a statement saying that it was “closely monitoring the situation and will defend our business against the increasing overstepping of their competences by the regulatory authorities”.
“Discovery, Inc. is proud of TVN and deeply engaged in its activity as the leading independent broadcaster in Poland,” added the firm.
Similar statements have been issued by the acting US ambassador to Poland – who is “observing the TVN licensing process and the newly proposed legislation with rising concern” – and the European Commission, which is “following the situation of media freedom and pluralism [in Poland] with increasing concern”.
Since PiS came to power, Poland has fallen every year in the annual World Press Freedom Index produced by Reporters Without Borders, from a record high of 18th in 2015 to a lowest-ever 64th this year.
PiS’s proposed legislation has also drawn criticism from its junior partner party, Agreement (Porozumienie), which is the most moderate member of the national-conservative ruling coalition.
The party’s spokeswoman, Magdalena Sroka, announced yesterday that Agreement would propose changes to the bill to allow ownership from not only EEA countries, but also those in the OECD, an intergovernmental body that includes non-European democracies such as the US, Canada, Australia and Japan.
“This will prevent media takeovers by Russia, China and Arab countries but will not hit our ally, the United States, against which we do not need to defend ourselves and with whom we want to continue to build friendly relations,” said Sroka.
Wykluczy to możliwość przejęcia mediów przez Rosję, Chiny i kraje arabskie. Poprawki nie uderzą jednak w naszego sojusznika, jakim są Stany Zjednoczone, przed którymi nie musimy się bronić i z którymi chcemy nadal budować przyjacielskie relacje 2/2 @Porozumienie__
— Magdalena Sroka (@MagdalenaSroka) July 12, 2021
Without Agreement’s support, PiS would need to turn to the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) and small right-wing Kukiz’15 if it wanted to obtain a parliamentary majority. Both parties have, however, already indicated that they would require concessions in return for their votes.
As well as the proposed new law, TVN is also facing uncertainty over the extension of the broadcasting licence for its news channel, TVN24, which expires in September. It applied to renew it 18 months ago, but the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), the state broadcasting regulator, has still not approved the request.
On Friday, the head of KRRiT, Witold Kołodziejski, told Reuters that TVN24, Poland’s most-watched news channel, is in breach of existing foreign ownership laws, enforcement of which he argued has up to now been too lax.
In fact, the expression has been used repeatedly to describe a regular tactic of PiS to signal harsh measures (in order to appeal to their hardcore base or as a distraction for something else) and then to withdraw them or not quite follow through, thus defusing the conflict. 2/
— Stanley Bill (@StanleySBill) July 9, 2021
Main image credit: Maciek Jazwiecki / Agencja Gazeta
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
