08/01/2024, 06:06
This year marks the end of the three-year term of office of the current ruling council of the SDP (Photo: Pavel Wodzinski/East News)
According to “Presserwis”, Yolanta Hajdaski will probably replace Wojciech Skowronski as the president of the Association of Polish Journalists. However, the members of the association in the regional branches want to depoliticize the activities of the organization.
Krzysztof Skowronski, head of Wnet radio, has been SDP president since 2011. Last year, he announced that he was not going to run for re-election. As “Preservice” found out, the most serious candidate for the position of SDP president in this year's elections is Yolanta Hajdas, previously the head of the Labor Freedom Monitoring Center. He has recently been the most active member of the organization's government.
The association focuses on politics
However, his potential candidacy is causing controversy among SDP members in regional branches. Hydas, like Skowronski, is associated with the previous government. Under his leadership, the CMWP mainly focused on interventions in the cases of PiS-affiliated journalists, and Hajdas himself appeared frequently in pro-government media.
The SDP government is elected every three years by congresses of delegates attended by representatives of local branches. They are elected by the members of the association (for every twenty members). But the members of the outgoing government are also congress delegates – a total of 33 people (in addition to the government, there are also members of the audit committee, journalistic court and intervention committee).
This gives them the most important pool of votes that can decide the outcome of the election. All the more so, in case of several candidates and in the case of undecided elections in the first round of voting, only the votes of those present are counted in the next round, without the need to gather a quorum. This voting system helps elect people who continue the policies of the previous government.
At the same time, the journalists of the regional branches of the SDP have been pointing out for a long time that the association focuses on politics instead of the interests of journalists. – I want the Silesian branch of the SDP to focus on essential activities – says Pawel Gasiorski, head of the Silesian SDP. His plans include: publishing the first monograph on Silesian journalism.
Similar voices come from one of the most dynamic branches – the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.
The oldest journalistic organization in Poland
Some members of the SDP also talk about the need to change the statute of the association, which was announced by Krzysztof Skowronski at the 2023 congress. Among others, the changes should include: rules for admission of SDP members. Currently, some of them have little connection with journalism, but in the association they have the same rights as professional journalists.
The Association of Polish Journalists is the oldest journalistic organization in Poland (founded in 1951). He has more than 2 thousand. Members are affiliated with 16 local branches. In recent years, the SDP has operated mainly thanks to subsidies from government institutions (including the Ministry of Culture and the National Institute of Freedom).
SDP revenues from statutory activities in 2022 amounted to PLN 408,000. PLN and was lower by 67%. of them in 2021. PLN 17,000 came from donations and membership cards. PLN (down 55.4%). Grants and funding brought PLN 391,000. PLN (down 64.7%). SDP received PLN 3.4 million from its business activities (excluding the Creative House of Kazimierz Dolny), i.e. 53%. More than a year ago. Foksal House of Journalists provided income of PLN 1.8 million (down 1%), Foksal Press Center – PLN 535,000. PLN (growth of 32.5%).
Other income from business activities amounted to PLN 1.1 million compared to PLN 6.5 thousand. PLN in 2021. The income from Kazimierz Dolni's creative work house increased by 16.4%. – up to PLN 1.4 million, of which PLN 1.3 million came from hotel services (38.3% increase). Statutory activity expenses decreased by 28% to PLN 1.8 million. The activity of the Press Freedom Monitoring Center cost PLN 122,000. PLN (25.1% more). Operating expenses of the business increased by 52.2% to PLN 2 million.
The Association of Polish Journalists reduced the annual loss by 16.5%. – from PLN 420 thousand to PLN 351,000 in 2021. PLN in 2022.
(PAR, 08/01/2024)
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