The management of Polish public television, radio and state news agency PAP have been dismissed and one public news channel that critics say was politicised under the previous government has gone off air.
The culture ministry under Poland’s new pro-European Union government announced the dismissals of the chairmen and boards in a statement on Wednesday, citing the need to restore the outlets’ impartiality.
Critics say that state-run media, in particular 24-hour news channel TVP Info, became an outlet for propaganda during Law and Justice’s (PiS) eight years in office.
On Wednesday TVP Info’s signal disappeared, and so did its website.
“The end of TVPiS. TVP Info was turned off,” Civic Platform – the biggest party in the new government – posted on X.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s coalition, which took power last week, has vowed to create news outlets that take a more balanced approach.
On Tuesday, Poland’s new parliament adopted a resolution calling on “all state authorities to immediately take action aimed at restoring constitutional order in terms of citizens’ access to reliable information and the functioning of public media”.
The vote prompted PiS lawmakers to stage a sit-in in the state television buildings, with the party officials posing for pictures with the television employees.
