Poland&’s parliamentary elections were held last October and since then the far-right Law and Justice party has controlled the presidency and both houses of parliament. Parliament has passed an amendment to the country&’s media law, which was signed by the President last week; it dismissed the management of the public television and radio broadcaster TVP and Polskie Radio. The directors of TVP resigned the night the law was passed, i.e. on December 31. The European Commission has warned Poland that there may be strict consequences for such an illiberal move. If Poland is found to have violated principles of the European Union&’s charter its voting rights could be suspended. EU commissioner for Digital Economy Gunther Oettinger said: “There are solid grounds for us to activate the rule of law mechanisms and put Warsaw under monitoring”. Now the Polish government has the authority to appoint the heads of public broadcasters, notwithstanding reservations of the European Union and condemnation from rights groups.  The influx of foreign capital and new ownership patterns have been major causes of controversial new media laws. Since 1989, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, French, Italian, Swiss, Norwegian and German investors have funded Polish mass media. The media system has been a victim of elite continuity in Poland like in other post-communist regimes, where former bureaucrats recast themselves as owners of private capital. An ambivalent attitude towards mass media delayed the required regulatory legislation. Poland is part of what are called transition economies. And its mass media, like those in Russia and China are moving away from the communist model of spreading information to news, opinion and objectivity, seen as freedom of expression in constitutional democracies. In communist Poland, the aggressive and ideological role of the mass media overrode its professional requirements of objectivity and freedom. Although freedom of expression was severely restricted during the dictatorship years, a vibrant underground press did exist.

In Poland the debate is seen as unnecessary interference in internal affairs. Democratic transition in post-communist societies is redefining the relationship between mass media and social change. Like the rest of Europe, Poland is mired in problems of slow economic growth, unemployment and populism. The unresolved issues of whether mass media leads or follows change, whether it reflects society or creates it, whether it is a force of change or a representative of the status quo are in play in Poland. The European Union&’s preliminary assessment is the first step towards a larger process that could lead to suspension of Poland&’s voting rights in the European Parliament. Poland may well have to re-evaluate its position on press freedom.