Society of Journalists statement on alert number 253/2024
Society of Journalists statement on alert number 253/2024
on the Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists,
Council of Europe
Poland’s Society of Journalists notes that the Council of Europe’s Platform to Promote the Protection of Journalism and the Safety of Journalists has published an alert on Poland’s information broadcast policy towards its eastern neighbours in particular with regard to Belarus under the aegis of Belsat, a unit of TVP, Poland’s public service broadcaster. The unit is funded by Poland’s Foreign Ministry.
The alert entitled “Journalists under pressure as Belsat TV Restructures” (no. 253/2024 created 17 Dec. 2024 and authored by the EFJ/IFJ) charges that Belsat journalists are being subjected to “unjustified sanctions and intimidation” and that the restructuring “has led journalists to fear a loss of independence and production capacity”. The alert, however, in our opinion fails to reflect the complexities of the restructuring process and accompanying personnel decisions.
Belsat was established in 2007 to broadcast to Belarussia in the Belarusian language while promoting democratic values. More recently it also had a Russian language channel called “Wot Tak”, which was watched by Russian speakers in Belarus.
Under a TVP plan dated June 2024 and approved by Radosław Sikorski, the Polish foreign minister, Belsat will become part of a unit called “Polish TV Broadcasting Abroad”, which would include TVP World (English language), Belsat in Belarussian and “Wot Tak” broadcasting in the Russian language. According to the plan the various language services would provide independent news content and will have their own budget and editorial control.
The plan has been well received by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the head of Belarussia’s shadow cabinet. Alina Koushyk, a former member of that cabinet and a Belsat broadcaster of many years standing, has been appointed as the head of Belsat in its new form.
Contrary to fears expressed by the Belarussian Association of Journalists (BAJ) and Press Club Belarus that the changes will “significantly” limit the present access enjoyed by their countrymen to news in Belarussian and the fears of liquidation of Belsat raised by the Centre for the Monitoring of Media Freedom of the Polish Journalists Association (CMWP SDP), the new project will not “liquidate” Belsat. The new structure will continue to fulfill its original mission which is “to support Belarusian identity and democratic society”, the TVP project declares.
“TV Belsat has built a very important patriotic, pro democratic and pro-European milieu in Belarus, whose existence is important for Poland’s raison d’etat ” the plan states, adding that the structural changes do not mean that “Belsat’s structure will be liquidated”.
Funding is a problem, especially for the cash strapped TVP, whose licence fee income is being blocked by former Polish government loyalists ensconced in KRRiT, the national audio visual regulator. As the alert says Belsat’s 2023 budget set at 17.4 million euro has been cut to 12.7 million euro for this year. However, TVP management will be looking to the EU to provide an extra 10-15 million euro for 2025, which would allow the new Polish foreign broadcasting structure to provide programmes in three languages: Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian.
Alert number 253/2024 also touches on an incident when Alina Koushyk, the new head of Belsat, was interviewed by Siarhei Padsasonny, one of her journalists. The tone of the interviewer towards his new boss was judged to be hostile by Michał Broniatowski, the head of the new foreign broadcast operation. Broniatowski later criticised the way the interview was conducted at a meeting of the Belsat staff, saying that the language adopted by the interviewer was that of a “Komsomol functionary”. The then head of the Belsat newsroom Igor Kuley was dismissed from his post in the wake of the broadcast interview, but continues to be employed by the station. The interviewer who according to the alert was “blamed and threatened” in front of the station’s staff has also remains a Belsat employee.
The Society of Journalists, of whom Michał Broniatowski is a member, expresses its full confidence in Mr Broniatowski’s wide ranging managerial abilities at Poland’s new broadcasting project and even if his remark might be judged to have been inappropriate, it can be seen as a moment of irritation in the very stressful process that the Belsat restructuring has become.
However, in order to avoid such situations in the future, the Society of Journalists suggests that the new broadcasting project should see the establishment of an independent advisory council reflecting all strands of democratic Belarusian opinion, which would ensure that Belsat content would be free of external control and journalistic standards be upheld. In a word, to build on the democratic tradition of Belsat founded 17 years ago.
Warsaw
19.12.2024
