The International Press Institute (IPI) and the Media and Journalism Research Center (MJRC) announce the release of the Media Capture Monitoring Report for Poland, the latest publication in our series assessing media capture across Europe. The report evaluates Poland’s compliance with the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which came into effect in May 2024, setting new standards for the safeguard of media independence and pluralism across the European Union.
Poland’s 2023 change of government presents opportunities for substantial reform to ensure an independent and pluralistic media landscape. After eight years under the United Right coalition, the new government prioritised freeing the public media from the control of the previous government before launching a programme of reforms to bring the country into line with the principles enshrined in the EMFA. However, the legacy of entrenched political control over public media, and politicization of the regulators makes the reform process both more urgent and more challenging.
This report delves into the current state of Poland’s media, the legacy of the previous government and assesses the proposed reform plans and whether they meet EMFA’s standards and will be sufficient to guard against future forms of media capture. It also provides recommendations for policymakers and media stakeholders to foster an environment where independent journalism can thrive.
The European Media Freedom Act mandates significant changes in national media laws to combat media capture. Its provisions include protecting regulatory bodies from political interference, ensuring public service media independence, enforcing ownership transparency, and monitoring the fair distribution of state resources.
The Poland report is part of a broader series covering seven EU countries – Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. These reports serve as essential resources for media rights organizations, policymakers, and advocates working to uphold media freedom across the EU.
For more information or media inquiries, please contact:
- Oliver Money-Kyrle, Head of Europe Advocacy and Programmes – IPI: [email protected]
- Marius Dragomir, Project Editor – MJRC: [email protected]
The project is a part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response, a Europe-wide mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The project is co-funded by the European Commission.