{"id":2442,"date":"2016-01-05T12:15:16","date_gmt":"2016-01-05T10:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/?p=2442"},"modified":"2016-01-05T12:15:16","modified_gmt":"2016-01-05T10:15:16","slug":"aej-open-letter-asks-polish-ministers-to-shelve-hasty-plans-for-government-control-over-public-broadcasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/aej-open-letter-asks-polish-ministers-to-shelve-hasty-plans-for-government-control-over-public-broadcasting\/","title":{"rendered":"AEJ Open Letter asks Polish ministers to shelve \u2018hasty\u2019 plans for government control over public broadcasting"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Association of European Journalists urged the newly-elected Polish government to halt its proposal to place the country\u2019s public service TV and radio channels under its direct control, and instead to respect the widely-accepted principles of public service broadcasting, including editorial independence and impartiality.
\nIn an Open Letter addressed to Piotr Gli\u0144ski, Poland\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister and to Krzysztof Czaba\u0144ski, Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the AEJ expressed deep concern that the proposed radical shake-up of Poland\u2019s public TV and radio services would lead to \u2018systematic editorial bias\u2019 in favour of the Law and Justice Party, which won a majority in both of Poland\u2019s chambers of parliament in October\u2019s general election.
\nThe Open Letter stated that the government\u2019s announced intention to push through far-reaching and fundamental reforms within two monthsof taking office, and in the face of bitter opposition at home and abroad, shows \u2018excessive haste and a worrying lack of transparency in a matter of vital concern to the public\u2019. The AEJ urged the responsible ministers to hold an inclusive public debate before announcing any detailed reforms, and to ensure that the necessary safeguards against political interference are upheld so that Polish public broadcasting serves all sections of the public, in accordance with European standards agreed among all the member states of the Council of Europe.
\nHere is the full text of the Open Letter:<\/strong>
\n\u00a0OPEN LETTER FROM THE ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN JOURNALISTS<\/strong>
\nTo Mr Piotr Gli\u0144ski, Deputy Premier, Minister of Culture and National Heritage;<\/strong>
\nand Mr Krzysztof Czaba\u0144ski, Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage<\/strong>
\n29 December 2015<\/strong>
\nDear Deputy Prime Minister Gli\u0144ski and Minister Czaba\u0144ski,
\nWe write to express the serious concerns of the Association of European Journalists (AEJ) about the proposals outlined by members of the new Law and Justice Party (PiS) government for reforms that are intended to \u2018transform\u2019 Poland\u2019s public broadcasting system.
\nThe AEJ is deeply concerned that that the proposed reforms, if implemented, would effectively bring public service television and radio under the direct control of the government, involve the dismissal of respected journalists for political reasons, and lead to a systematic editorial bias in the content of PBS broadcasts in favour of the present government.
\nOur fears have been raised by public ministerial comments suggesting that the management board of the key public broadcasting organisations may in future be chosen in a such a way that it represents exclusively the priorities and wishes of the Law and Justice Party, and that journalists who question or criticise government policies and actions may be arbitrarily dismissed. We consider that the government\u2019s announced intention to adopt such fundamental changes within a matter of just a few weeks shows excessive haste and a worrying lack of\u00a0 moderation and transparency in a matter of vital concern to the general public.
\nOur confidence is further undermined by your government\u2019s hasty action in forcing through parliament a law containing changes to the system of appointing judges and other measures that threaten to undermine the independence of Poland\u2019s Constitutional Court, so watering down or removing necessary checks on the government\u2019s power.
\nIn view of these concerns we urge you at once to halt the work which you have embarked on to prepare such drastic and apparently one-sided plans. Instead, we ask you to delay any reforms until the issues have been fully and publicly aired in an inclusive public debate, with proper account taken of diverse views and opinions. We urge you to make a public commitment that any changes will include the necessary safeguards to ensure respect for the essential principles of public service broadcasting, including independence and impartiality.
\nIn this context we expect and recommend that the Polish Government will be guided by the Declaration on Public Service Media Governance and the related Recommendation which were unanimously adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, including Poland, on 15 February 2012.\u00a0 The Declaration states inter alia that:
\n\u201eThe primary mission of public service media is to support general interest objectives such as social progress, public awareness of democratic processes, intercultural under standing and societal integration, and to achieve this through a varied and high quality mix of content. As an important public source of unbiased informationand diverse political opinions, public service media must remain independent from political or economic interference and achieve high editorial standards of impartiality , objectivity and fairness\u201d.<\/span><\/em>
\nThe text of the Declaration adds, significantly, that \u201epublic media should be subject to constant scrutiny and be accountable and transparent when performing their functions, as they have the obligation\u00a0 to serve the public in all its diversity.\u201d
\nIt is clear to us that these principles will not be upheld unless you give up the declared intention of rushing to push through reforms which would inevitably be seen as partisan and undemocratic.
\nWe urge you also to bear in mind that the proposed reforms, as they have so far been outlined, will undoubtedly dismay those in Eastern Partnership countries such as Ukraine, Armenia and Moldova who are striving to achieve free and fair public media, as well as those in Russia who are struggling for free expression and independent public service media as important elements of democratic politics.
\nWe respectfully ask you, therefore, to heed our sincere concerns and to take steps to ensure that any reforms to public media are in line with the principles outlined by the Council of Europe.
\nYours Sincerely,
\nOtmar Lahodynsky, AEJ President
\nWilliam Horsley, AEJ Vice President & Media Freedom Representative –
\nKrzysztof Bobinski, AEJ Poland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The AEJ expressed deep concern that the proposed radical shake-up of Poland\u2019s public TV and radio services would lead to \u2018systematic editorial bias\u2019 in favour of the Law and Justice Party, which won a majority in both of Poland\u2019s chambers of parliament in October\u2019s general election.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[962,972,965,967],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-from-aej-bulgaria","category-latest-news","category-media-freedom","category-positions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aej-bulgaria.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}