By Jacek Mikucki, University of Warsaw
In this piece, Jacek Mikucki presents an in-depth examination of the unintentional consequences of dismantling state captured media in Poland. He explains the controversy around public media that was perceived as a tool of the former ruling party and how a private media outlet has capitalised on that turmoil. Public service media is essential not only for inclusion and diversity but also democracy, and this piece provides lessons for nations trying to deal with high levels of political and media polarisation.
The political struggle over the capture of public service media
It would seem that a political system in which the dominance of two politicial parties develops may indicate the maturity of democracy. On the Polish political scene, the Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS) and the Civic Coalition (Koalicja Obywatelsks, KO) parties have fought for power for over two decades.
The struggle is also of an image nature, as the faces of the parties are analogously Jarosław Kaczyński and Donald Tusk, who are portrayed by the media as arch-enemies.
It would also seem that the most crucial goal for any party in a democratic system is to adhere to legal principles, especially the Constitution, and to create a society based on freedom of speech and pluralism. Indeed, a common space for informing and creating social dialogue is the public media, which, with the change of power, has become, more or less, a political tool in the hands of the governments in power.
The increased phenomenon of populism has been noticeable in Poland since the Law and Justice Party won the parliamentary elections on October 25, 2015. The actions of the political party, which won an absolute majority in the elections, were quickly directed toward the media.
The so-called “small” media law, or the amendment to the Broadcasting Law, which the Parliament passed on December 30, 2015, concerned, among other things, provisions excluding the National Broadcasting Council (Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji, KRRiT) from the process of appointing the authorities of Polish Television and Polish Radio – the public broadcasters. According to the Constitution, the role of the KRRiT must be preserved in the regulations. Indeed, legislators have the freedom to organise the public media.
Still, the limit of this freedom is set by the Constitution, including the existence of a constitutional body such as the KRRiT. On March 24, 2016, the law was challenged by the Commissioner for Human Rights, Adam Bodnar, arguing that the “small” media law violates constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and the media by subordinating public radio and television directly to the government, significantly devaluing the constitutional role of the KRRiT. Almost a year later, the Constitutional Court ruled that the provisions of the “small” media law were partially unconstitutional.
On October 15, 2023, parliamentary elections ended the eight-year rule of the Law and Justice party. The winning party was the Civic Coalition, which formed a coalition government with the Poland 2050, Polish People’s Party and New Left parties.
The new government did not wait long to reform the public media.
On December 19, 2023, the then-Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz, dismissed the existing presidents of the Management Boards of Telewizja Polska S.A., Polskie Radio S.A. and Polska Agencja Prasowa S.A. and the Supervisory Boards, based on a Parliamentary resolution passed the same day. The Minister appointed new Supervisory Boards of the Public Companies above, which appointed new Management Boards.
However, Wednesday, December 20, 2023, will long go down in the history of modern Polish television. Shortly after the Minister of Culture and National Heritage issued an official announcement, the TVP info (the public broadcaster’s news channel) signal was turned off. The broadcast of the planned programme was interrupted, and a block of commercials appeared on the screen. In the following hours on TVP info, some viewers could see the TVP Polonia programme, others the TVP1 programme, and others could watch the Polish series “Rancho” on air. Thus, new directors were appointed: in TVP, Mateusz Matyszkowicz was replaced by Tomasz Sygut, and in Polish Radio, Agnieszka Kaminska was replaced by Paweł Majcher. Marek Blonski became the new head of PAP in place of Wojciech Surmacz.
This event caused many controversies, resulting in a tussle between the “old” and “new” public media authorities in the public media headquarters. The public and media spheres watched with concern the actions of the antagonistic power camps – the Law and Justice and the Civic Coalition. The public service media in Poland was put into liquidation.
The journalistic community, as well as the public, had a polarised opinion on the events surrounding the shutdown of the TVP info signal, which continues to this day.
On the other hand, the government changes in Poland after 2023 also caused wider changes in the public and private media market.
Where two fight, the third benefits
The events of December 20, 2023, caused many layoffs in the public media, causing well-known faces of TVP to lose their jobs, including Danuta Holecka, Krzysztof Nowina-Konopka, Maciej Kurzajewski, Sebastian Staszewski and Rafał Brzozowski. Still, most of them did not have to look for work for too long, as the media market in Poland found an entity that, back in the days of the Law and Justice government, propagated conservative values and the actions of the then-ruling party – TV Republika. It is worth mentioning that from 2016 to 2017, many TV Republika journalists and publicists left, having started working for Polish Television and Polish Radio.
Republika TV is a Polish news station that was established in 2013. The station’s editor-in-chief is Tomasz Sakiewicz, a Polish political activist, journalist, and columnist who is also the editor-in-chief of “Gazeta Polska” and “Gazeta Polska Codziennie”. The TV station initially began broadcasting through the internet and satellite (2013) and then, in July 2024, received approval for terrestrial broadcasting on MUX 8.
The importance of TV Republika paradoxically increased after the events of December 2023. At the time, TV Republika was critical of the actions and changes the Civic Coalition government made in the public service media. The TV channel covered in great detail and criticism of the events from the headquarters of TVP, Polish Radio and the Polish Press Agency. Thus, TV Republika became the primary source of information for viewers who shared PiS views.
According to Nielsen Media, on December 25-26, 2023, it was the most-watched news station in Poland – more than 400,000 people viewed the evening news service bands. A few days after the changes in the public media, TV Republika increased its market share, becoming the second most-watched news station in Poland after TVN24.
A thesis can be advanced here that TV Republika’s enormous importance and growth in viewership was influenced by the transition of the viewing group from TVP Info, which was already sympathetic to Law and Justice.
As late as December 2023, some of the journalists who had previously worked at TVP began hosting programmes at TV Republika, including Michal Rachoń (also the current programme director) hosting the #Jedziemy programme, or Danuta Holecka – one of the most popular faces of TVP under the Law and Justice government, hosting the “Today” news service and “Today’s Guest”. In the following months, other former TVP employees joined the station, including Edyta Holdyńska, Adrian Borecki, Miłosz Kłeczek and Rafał Patura.
Copy-Paste: a recipe for the capture of public media audience
It turned out that the December 20, 2023, event created a new powerful player in the news media market, which makes no secret of its plans to win the public consciousness with the name of public media. TV Republika emphasises its public character, using the slogans of freedom and independence – “Support Free Media!”, thus asking for a “donation for free media”. Anyway, TV Republika has indeed been financed with public money – in the six years (no previous data available) of the Law and Justice government, as of 2017, 13 of the 15 state-owned companies have allocated 110 million zlotys for sponsorship and ad purchases in all media.
One of the reasons for the success of attracting such a large audience for TV Republika can be traced to the use of formats, people, and communication strategies that characterise public service media under the Law and Justice government.
The first measure was to acquire “faces” closely associated with conservative and national media. Among the leading media images were hiring Danuta Holecka, formerly the host of the main edition of TVP’s news service, the News (Wiadomości). Holecka’s joining the TV Republika team contributed to a significant increase in viewership – her TV debut (December 29, 2023) was watched by more than 556,000 viewers, and 20,000 watched the programme on YouTube. Due to overload, the programme’s website crashed for several minutes. Her subsequent appearances gathered a river of viewers; e.g. the interview with Mateusz Morawiecki was watched by 760,000, and with Mariusz Blaszczak by more than 800,000 viewers (Wirtualne Media, 2024).
On TV Republika, it can also be relatively straightforward to notice a significant inspiration from TVP television formats. On TV Republika, we will see not only similar programme formulas but also the same hosts who previously hosted these programmes on TVP.
Another interesting aspect is the broadcasting of the programmes – they are aired at similar times when on TVP news services. For example, the “Express of the Republic” news service is aired at 4:55 p.m., while the public media service – “Telexpress” – is aired at 5 p.m. Besides, “Express of the Republic” is hosted by the former host of “Telexpress” 2016-2023 – Rafal Patyra. Thus, a peculiar phenomenon of communication transcoding occurs, in this case, a smooth transformation of the communication strategy. This process occurs smoothly on many levels of communication – from the use of the body and image to sight or hearing.
One also can’t help but think of the typical TVP news strips at the bottom of the screen under the Law and Justice government. So-called “horror strips,” whose slogans are strongly suggestive, also characterise TV Republika, such as referring to the current Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, as a dictator.
Watch and learn
TV Republika continues to struggle with the consequences of controversial statements by journalists and politicians, causing many brands to withdraw their ads from their channels, including Carrefour, IKEA and SkyShowtime.
However, the television station is constantly looking for sources of income, officially announcing the need to expand the TV studio. The Independent Media Foundation has been established to collect contributions (from Poland and abroad) for the operation and expansion of TV Republika. Contributions are referred to as “Donations for Free Media,” and can be made via online, bank, postal or QRcode transfer. One of the slogans promoting the initiative is: Solidarity with Republika!
TV Republika is also expanding its TV, radio, online and mobile media portfolio. The TV station reports that 150,000 users have downloaded a mobile application called Radio Republika. Another example of diversification of media products is the introduction of a show business portal – blaskonline.pl. TV Republika is also rapidly developing a merchandising model through, among other things, the sale of footwear and clothing with the TV Republika logo, the Polish Emblem and Polish Flag, etc., where the station’s TV presenters are the models in the promotional campaigns. The TV station also sells clothing stickers commemorating the 2010 Smoleńsk plane crash. All clothing products can be purchased through the online store or also by phone. In addition, the online store sells books, comic books, coffee and fertilisers, among other products.
Civic media for one political wing?
With TVP’s ratings dramatically declining, TV Republika has joined the fray for the public media’s civic status. Thus, it worsens the current position of the public media, which has to face the legitimacy of its actions or depoliticise itself and fight for an increasingly melting audience.
TV Republika may be a kind of black horse that is an example of the capture of public media. In this case, it is not a matter of capturing the media only through political action. TV Republika has touched an even deeper layer – pre-emptive and protective, as television seems to be a gift to Law and Justice in times of lack of access to public service media.
Since they were prevented from managing the public media, TV Republika has become a communications tube for conservatives, nationalists and traditionalists. This is evidenced not only by the values expressed on the air by the journalists but also by the numerous guests with conservative views – mainly from the Law and Justice party and the Confederation. All the more so because the chairman of the Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, himself anointed TV Republika.
The TV station has gained viewers sympathetic to conservative parties, thanks to which it has long occupied second place as the most-watched news programme in Poland. The noticeable inspiration of TVP Info’s services during the rule of Law and Justice helped, as did hiring journalists strongly associated with values and views favourable to right-wing parties. Thus, exposure is used – from the presenter to the format – which should be related to the days of TVP before October 2023.
TV Republika is following a path of expanding and diversifying its media products, offering an increasing range of communication channels for its viewers. An essential source of income is the Foundation, which allows fundraising and emphasises the media’s community and social dimension. Thus, TV Republika is becoming a medium created by and for citizens.
About the author
Dr Jacek Mikucki is a media scholar, researcher, and lecturer at the Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies at the University of Warsaw. His research focuses on the transformation of media systems, the platformisation of communication, and audiovisual policy within the context of European media, cultural, and democratic ecosystems.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Media Diversity Institute. Any questions or comments should be addressed to the editor at [email protected] of the Media Di
