Poland’s pro-EU government announced on Wednesday it has sacked authorities at state media outlets, widely seen as government mouthpieces during the right-wing populists’ time in power.
The chairmen and boards of the state television, radio and news agency were removed, Poland’s Culture Ministry said in a statement citing the need to restore impartiality of the outlets.
The state-owned media under the Law and Justice (PiS) party were regularly accused of biased reporting, transmitting government propaganda and launching verbal attacks on the opposition.
The new ruling coalition in Warsaw on Tuesday adopted a resolution calling on the restoration of “impartiality and reliability of the public media”.
The vote prompted the PiS lawmakers to stage a sit-in in the state television buildings, with the party officials posing for pictures with the television employees.
A former Culture Minister in the PiS government said the state media authorities reshuffle was “illegal”.
“This is clearly an attack on the free media, it is a violation of the law,” Piotr Glinski told AFP.
The PiS government was frequently criticised by the opposition and non-profits alike for trying to stifle the independent media and limit freedom of expression.
Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in 2020 said “partisan discourse and hate speech are still the rule within (Poland’s) state-owned media, which have been transformed into government propaganda mouthpieces.”