Poland

[PL] TVP S.A. broadcasts under scrutiny by the National Broadcasting Council

IRIS 2026-2:1/9

Aleksandra Kaleta

KC Legal

On 20 January 2026, the Krajowa Rada Radiofonii i Telewizji (National Broadcasting Council – KRRiT) published a report entitled “No editing, no procedure, no balance. Monitoring of the current affairs programmes of TVP S.A. (in liquidation)”, which examined TVP S.A. in the context of the statutory requirement for public media to ensure pluralism, impartiality, balance and independence (Article 21(1) of the Radio and Television Act of 29 December 1992). The report aims to verify whether the current affairs programming of the aforementioned public television station meets the statutory requirements and, thus, whether the interests of viewers are being met.

The competence of the KRRiT to examine the activities of public media is set out in the Radio and Television Act, which requires the KRRiT to safeguard freedom of speech in radio and television, the independence of media service providers and video-sharing platform providers, the interests of service recipients and users, and the open and pluralistic nature of radio and television (Article 6(1)). At the same time, the tasks of the KRRiT include, among others, organising research on the content and reception of media services and video-sharing platforms (Article 6(2)(5)).

The report indicates that 30 programmes broadcast by TVP S.A. were examined over a period of just over a month (i.e. from 29 September to 4 November 2025). The analysis method was described as follows: “Each researcher filled out a form containing two types of questions: open and closed. In the open sections, they wrote down their own opinion about the programme and provided selected characteristic statements made by guests and hosts of individual programmes. The researcher answered the closed questions by placing an 'x' in the appropriate research category. The sum of 'x' in each category allows for the evaluation of a specific programme in relation to other programmes”.

The programmes surveyed included six selected current affairs programmes broadcast by TVP S.A. on TVP INFO, i.e. Bez retuszu (hosted by Marek Czyż, broadcast at 8:18 p.m. on Mondays), Trójkąt polityczny (co-hosted by Renata Grochal and Aleksandra Pawlicka, broadcast at 8:20 p.m. on Tuesdays), Bez trybu (hosted by Justyna Dobrosz-Oracz, broadcast at 8:18 p.m. on Wednesdays), Niebezpieczne związki (hosted alternately by Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf and Grzegorz Nawrocki, broadcast at 8:18 p.m. on Thursdays), Co ludzie powiedzą? (hosted by Wojciech Szeląg, broadcast at 8:18 p.m. on Saturdays), and Kontrapunkt (selected programmes hosted alternately by Karolina Opolska, Wojciech Szeląg and Mikołaj Lizut, broadcast at 6:20 p.m. Monday to Friday). The report did not mention the criteria for selecting the above six current affairs programmes.

According to the report, the tone of statements in the programmes in question was predominantly described as negative/accusatory towards the opposition (71% of programmes), defensive/controlling (19%) and neutral-analytical (10%). In view of the above, the KRRiT concluded that, in almost all programmes, the narrative was characterised by strong polarisation between the ruling party and the opposition.

The report points out that, in the analysed programmes, criticism was directed at key figures from one political party at the expense of important issues from recent years. It concludes that personal issues prevailed over systemic ones in the public debate. It estimates that “78% of the public debate was personalised, focusing on figures from political life rather than political, social or economic processes, which limited the space for systemic analysis, to which only 22% of the topics discussed in the programmes were devoted”.

In the opinion of the KRRiT, the report shows that the programmes analysed in the given period did not meet the statutory requirements imposed on public television, i.e. pluralism, impartiality, balance and independence. It points out that the current affairs programmes in question were characterised by bias and personalisation of the message at the expense of factual debate, which is contrary to the impartial expert exchange of views required and expected from public media, taking into account the current realities and views of Polish society.