The city of Katowice has its own website, television and newspaper, which it prints in 150,000 copies and distributes to the population every month. Now the local authorities have come up with the idea that they will take advantage of the political controversy surrounding the public media and quietly buy Radio Katowice.
Wednesday, January 10, 2024. National Press Agency The text was published, which shows that Katowice and GZM authorities want to buy Radio Katowice, which went into liquidation two days earlier. A letter has been sent to the minister, although there has been no official word on the idea, the letter has not been circulated and officials have said unofficially that they wanted to avoid a political dispute, adding that it is not about politics.
So what is it about?
Local government officials are trying to create a message: “The government wants to eliminate our radio station, which is important for the region, so we wanted to save it.” However, if we analyze this case from beginning to end, it is easy to come to the conclusion that this is a scandalous attempt to seize influence and create another propaganda mouthpiece. And it's really about politics.
He wants to save the Katowice radio station, which no one is going to liquidate
You should understand from the beginning that no one is going to eliminate public media, because it would be really unprofitable. Not only from the perspective of society, but also from the perspective of those in power at a given moment, who are used by the media for their own purposes. Of course, PiS did it extremely brazenly, but it was certainly not the first and probably not the last government to do so.
You can exit the liquidation at any time. So why was it introduced? Presumably in response to the presidential veto of the budget, which included an additional PLN 3 billion for public media. Ministry of Culture and National Heritage was published on employee companies due to lack of funding. The situation of public media in Poland is extremely dynamic and complex, both politically and legally.
Representatives of the local government insist that they are not politicians. And they are
Perhaps the words that it is not about politics refer to the public media dispute. Supporters of the new government have been celebrating the changes for several weeks – also on public television – on the other hand, last week a protest rally near the headquarters of the TV company gathered several tens of thousands of people. I believe the Katowice authorities really don't want to get involved. They just wanted to buy a radio station.
It may seem that it would be better if Radio Katowice changes ownership, as this would be a step towards decentralization. Another might say that it doesn't matter whether the taxpayer-supported media is state or local government, because they still depend on the government.
– Of course, there is a difference. It is much easier for local authorities to influence the media when they are located two streets away and journalists are subordinate to them than when they force their way into Warsaw, says Andrisiak Andrzej, publisher of Gazeta Radomszczańska and head of the local association. Newspapers for Krytyka Polityczna.
At the local government level, politicians often pretend that they are not politicians. Despite their obvious ties to national groups, they call themselves non-partisan, their work is not politics, but action for the good of the village/city/commune/local community. People who are used to this narrative may not notice how much pathology is unfolding before our eyes and how the propaganda makes it look like newspapers.
The media, first of all, has the function of forming information and opinion. They should look into the hands of the government. They will not do this if the journalists are PR and city-paid press representatives.
Who will legalize local government media? PiS has been receiving the relic since the 1990s.
Read also
Local government media is a laurel for local government
The city of Katowice already publishes a free newspaper “Nasze Katowice” which is delivered to residents' mailboxes; All numbers are also available online. The magazine has a monthly circulation of 152,000 copies and contains 24 color pages. Issue #184 was published in January, what can we find in it? Interviews with local artists take less than 2 pages, and a police article about a grandson scam takes less than one page. The next 2-3 pages are a cultural guide and information about the sport. The rest is information about investing in the city, as well as a four-page summary President Marcin Krupa summarizes his tenureWhere you will find a list of awards and distinctions from recent years, in case anyone was still in doubt how much Katowice is appreciated in Poland and around the world.
In the previous issues, we will not find criticism of the government or the problems of the population, but information about new investments, newsletters, etc. Because how can a free city guide contain bad words about the government? Is this what Radio Katowice will look like when the city manages to buy it?
Read also
In addition to the bulletin, the city of Katowice has its own television KatoTVand for two years also the WKatowice.eu portal, managed by Katowicka Agencja Wydawnicza – a company specializing in beer and marketing, is appointed by the city of Katowice.
In Katowice's defense, it is worth noting that local government media propaganda is a feature of many Polish cities. For example, Krakow has spent tens of millions on Internet TV, Lodz publishes a newsletter very similar to Katowice, but it is published not once a month, but three times a week. In 2021, 728 independent local newspapers and 868 titles owned by local authorities were published in Poland.
“We will depoliticize and socialize the public media” – this was one of the 100 specifics of the Civil Coalition in the 100 days after the 99th election. Can the acquisition of Radio Katowice by the local government be considered depoliticized? I guess I'm not the only one who has doubts.
**
Kajetan Wozhnikovsky He is a journalist, a keeper of memes from Givie, a student of political science.
(translate tags)fager 1