Mass media in Poland

According to the 2023 report by Warsaw-based media monitoring firm Instytut Monitorowania Mediów (IMM), the most quoted media outlet was RMF FM radio followed by Wirtualna Polska news portal, Rzeczpospolita daily, TVN24 news station and Radio Zet.

The TVP is an importante source of information for many Poles, in particular in small cities, though its popularity has been declining in recent years.

The main features of the media system of modern Poland are the product of the country's socio-political and economic post-communist transition.

[1]The two main business-oriented dailies are Dziennik Gazeta Prawna and Puls Biznesu: they both have a narrow, professional readership and are typically not engaged in the country’ political conflict.

According to the Constitution, the KRRiT's role is to "safeguard the freedom of speech, the right to information, and the public interest in radio and television broadcasting".

These attempts have been strengthened by the right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) government which, after winning the parliamentary elections in October 2015, partly replaced the management at the public television and radio broadcasters.

The cleavage concerns both PiS's controversial decisions and policies and diverging attitudes towards issues such as equal rights for LGBT people, refugees, the EU.

The main domestic competitor is Agora, which owns Gazeta Wyborcza and a number of magazines, radio stations, internet platforms, a publishing house and additional ventures.

[1] Foreign ownership is very strong also in the regional media which are largely owned by the German Polska Press.

[15] In August 11, 2021, The bill Lex TVN which forbids companies except those from the European Economic Area from holding more than a 49% stake in Polish radio and television stations passed the Sejm.

In recent years, according to Reporters Without Borders, in particular since the PiS went to power in 2015 and ended in 2023, media freedom in Poland has been significantly deteriorating.

Several weeks after winning the 2015 parliamentary elections, the PiS passed a media law which gave the government direct control over public broadcasting.

[1][16] According to Freedom House, this effort is part of a broader attempt to weaken checks and balances, silence independent voices and control the public sphere.

[1] In January 2016, the European Commission launched a procedure in order to impose the respect of the rule of law in the country.

[18] Reporters Without Borders in its 2019 assessment of Poland stated that the public media "have been transformed into government propaganda mouthpieces.

[20] After winning parliamentary elections in October 2015, the PiS party replaced the management positions at the public television and radio broadcasters.

This effort was not limited to public broadcasters since the party leadership tried to control also private media outlets for instance by advancing a proposal to restrict reporters’ access to the parliament.

The proposal, which was conceived as a temporary measure before the adoption of a more comprehensive media law, provided for the termination of the mandates of the current members of the national television and radio broadcasters’ management and supervisory boards and their replacement through the direct appointment by the treasury minister.

The arrangement established by the law effectively guarantees the rule party a key role in appointing the members of the national Media Council.