Liberalism absent in Polish media
Administrator Wednesday, 06 April 2011 06:57
Please note that we do not really have working democracy in Poland (The Economist ranks it below Jamaica nad Panama- see Democracy Indewx 2010). I have friends in several new parties formed by younger generations, that were not involved in the transitory regime jointly formed by postcommunists and members of Solidarity trade unions.
They all complain that they are unable to compete on the political market with established political parties, that attributed public subsidies to themselves. Financially the political market is closed to new entrants. In order to get the same amount of money as the established parties are taking from state budget for their campaigns from the state budget, 10 % of all Poles would have to voluntarily pay member fees to them. That is why we do not have a proper liberal party in Poland.
Most Poles mostly have never heard that there are several alternative political ideologies such as for example "liberalism". In Polish media they are told only of conservatism, etatism and post-communism. It is impossible for a proper liberal to appear in the state-owned TV station (currently taken over by a group of politicians from ruling populist parties) or public radio. Ordinary people do not even know that such political ideologies as for example British LibDems at all exist.
Free-market conservatives do not get any media coverage at all, except for the newspaper they print themselves. No one heard of such ideological stream as for example the British LidBdems. Although I myself support such political directions, the only thing I can do is to get published in Internet. The only smal lsocially liberal political magazine in Poland (www.liberte.pl), is, to my dismay, not really a tribune for Polish liberals.
For me it seems clear that if You want to get heard in Poland, You need to publish Your own newspaper... It feels and seems as if media were somehow subjugated to current government. It is not even possible to read what is being published in the "mainstream" media, the amount of economic nonsense or not-fact-based statements causes your intestine to twist. Being a liberal both economically and, to some extent, socially, to avoid internal pains I read predominantly social media. Polish social activists, even if they are conservative ones, on average provide better quality coverage that established journalists. And, with the rise of social media, a rather shocking reality is being unveiled.
I do wonder where the foreign journalists take their opinions? Maybe from Polish government-supporting media such as Gazeta Wyborcza (the name is not accidental, it is a former electoral bulletin of one political movement grown and turned into a daily newspaper), or TVN, that is known for close ties with the current government?
Seeking for independent coverage of Polish event I look for social media, respected authors, economists, scientists. The coverage of Poland, given by such foreign media as "The Economist", is as if You reported on Libya using Gaddafi's owned media.
Are foreign journalists kind of blind? Can't they see that we have a situation similar to this in Italy? There is only one nationwide private television apart from public TVP, and another big player is TVN (the rest has small market share and negligible influence). What would You tell if in Britain there were only two private nationwide TV stations? Well, You would say that this is an organised crime to exploit economically the society of such country, and government protects a cartel of two private tv stations, that earn billions of PLN yearly by that. Supporting government may be very profitable for those that are profiting from governmental protection from competition.
Adam
