Public media in Poland in the context of forthcoming parliamentary work on a new media law implementing the European Media Freedom Act.
Public media are potentially key contributors to the security of the state and society in the face of the global flow of information, the phenomenon of disinformation and mass manipulation of audiences. Many countries have realised this and prioritize media education from a young age. Poland is not doing enough to ensure that society, thanks to strong and independent public media, can make mature choices based on reliable sources rather than manipulated messages. Polish society is increasingly vulnerable in the face of misinformation at home and abroad and public media are failing to fulfill their role as providers of trustworthy and pluralistic content. This is because of successive past governments failed to create iron clad conditions for the proper functioning of independent public media. Finally the credibility of Polish Television, Polish Radio as well as public regional broadcasters which had been built up over the years thanks to the efforts of journalists, was completely destroyed in the then Law and Justice government in the years between 2015 and 2023.
Now after the change in government in 2023 public media are operate within an organizational model designed for the realities of analog technology and mass linear broadcasting. Meanwhile, rapid technological changes — including digitalisation, platformisation, the development of streaming services, the algorithmisation of content distribution, and the growing role of artificial intelligence — are fundamentally altering the conditions for the production, distribution, and consumption of media content. Currently keeping in place complex, hierarchical broadcast and departmental structures without adapting these structures to actual needs are leading to excessively high costs relative to the results achieved. The lack of integration between radio, television, and digital operations perpetuates structures characterized by a lack of collaboration between departments, and the current model hinders the implementation of the public mission in a digital environment, especially in respect of younger audiences. Thus any systemic reform of public media should include a shift from thinking in terms of a classic “broadcaster” to a model of an integrated, modern multimedia organization. This needs a thorough internal restructuring of Polish Radio and Television, as well as a redefinition of public media’s mission in the context of the existence of digital platforms, and the adaptation of finance mechanisms to the diverse forms of public service content. This is a model of public media in which users are treated not as passive consumers but as active citizens, aware of their rights and responsibilities.
The draft bill amending the Broadcasting Act unveiled by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage fails to meet these expectations. The bill attempts to adapt national regulations to the standards of the European Media Freedom Act. However, it is fragmented and interventionist in nature and inadequate to the scale of the challenges which we face. It is not a comprehensive systemic reform, but is limited to adjustments, which risk that they will neither achieve a permanent depoliticization of public media nor gain the trust of society at large.
The significant expansion of the National Broadcasting Council’s powers envisaged in the draft deserves particular criticism; the draft puts regulatory, supervisory, ownership, and financial functions into the hands of a single body. From a rule of law perspective, combining the powers of public media management, decisions on the allocation of public funds, assessments of the way public mission is implemented, and interpreting standards of editorial independence creates a permanent conflict of interest and a structural risk of instrumentalizing the regulator. The draft does not provide sufficient mechanisms to counter balance the influence of the ruling political majority on the public media system. The proposed regulations regarding editorial independence—a key issue for journalists—are largely declarative in nature. They do not create legal norms with clear-cut consequences, establish procedures for their enforcement, or designate bodies competent to resolve disputes. This means that the standards proposed in EMFA have not been effectively “translated” into national law, and that the regulations will have no effect or will be applied selectively. The Society of Journalists’ Association also underlines the failure to implement public media financing mechanisms , which will respect their true independence. Stable, predictable, and politically resistant financing is a prerequisite for the effective implementation of public media’s mission. However, the project fails to address the fundamental problem of the our current model which is the discretionary nature of financing.
Society of Journalists
Warsaw, January 14 2026
