A major Polish publisher of newspapers, TV channels and news sites is acquired by the Polish oil company PKN Orlen, of which the state is the largest shareholder. Critics and opposition politicians fear that freedom of the press will be at stake, because the oil company is led by a prominent politician from the ruling party PiS.
The company, Polska Press, is acquired from the German media company Verlagsgruppe Passau. Politicians from the ruling party PiS have long argued for the ‘repolization’ of Polish media, fearing too great foreign influence. Culture Minister Piotr Glinski called it abnormal in October that the Polish press is in the hands of a German company.
Polska Press is one of the largest publishers in the country, with an annual turnover of 90 million euros. According to the new owner, the media company is the market leader in 15 of the 16 voivodships (provinces) of Poland. The Polska Press news websites reach 17.4 million Poles every month, about half the population.
‘Propaganda barrel’
In a press release PKN Orlen writes that the oil company and the media titles can reinforce each other in the field of sales and big data. Critics call this statement a cover for a takeover for political motives. So writes the left-liberal newspaper Wyborcza that the career of Orlen owner Daniel Obajtek is dominated by loyalty to the PiS party.
Former secretary of state and MP Malgorzata Kidawa-Blonska of the largest opposition Civil Coalition party fears that Polska Press is being misused for “blunt propaganda”. “Little by little, the versatility and independence of the Polish media is being destroyed,” she writes on Twitter.
Collision with the EU
The takeover comes at a sensitive time. Poland is located together with Hungary in de clinch with the European Union. The two Central European countries have vetoed it against the EU budget and the corona relief fund, for a provision that countries can be cut back on EU subsidies if they do not adhere to fundamental EU values, such as an independent rule of law and freedom of the press.
Brussels’ criticism of Poland focused in particular on the curtailment of the powers of the judiciary. Concerns about freedom of the press have so far mainly been for Hungary, where there has been news media before were taken over by supporters of the government.
In the global free press ranking of Reporter Without Borders, Poland ranks 62nd. Within the EU, only Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece and Malta are lower. According to the organization, the position of the independent media has been in recent years deteriorated, in part because critical journalists are prosecuted for libel and slander.
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