03/01/2024, 07:02
Changes have already been made in some TVP branches. Polish Radio Regional Stations Await Personnel Revolutions (PAR)
The regional centers of Polish Television and the regional companies of Polish Radio are awaiting a change of directors and presidents. Some of them already have a new government. TVP Białystok, TVP Rzeszów, TVP Katowice, TVP Gdańsk officially have new directors. They are still waiting in Krakow and Poznan, although unofficially the names of the new bosses are already known.
All regional radio companies went into liquidation, which, however, does not mean the actual closing of the station. Their employees have heard statements that salaries and vacations are not threatened. Liquidation also means that presidents of regional radio stations must be replaced by liquidators – their functions may also change. However, as of late Tuesday evening, none of the liquidators had been named.
TVP Białystok has a new director. Agnieszka Gielazyn-Sasimowicz, who will manage the center from September 2022, has been replaced by acting director Grzegorz Savicki. He was already the director of TVP Białystok in 2012-2016. He has been associated with the station since 1997.
At TVP Kraków, Rafal Marek, who was allegedly supported by Beata Szydlo, is expected to be replaced by Alicja Popiel – presenter, publisher and editor-in-chief of the news program “Chronicle”.
The head of the Poznań TVP center should be Jarosław Bażew – previously the production manager.
Józef Matusz was dismissed from the position of director of the TVP Rzeszów branch. He was replaced by Katarzyna Wrzesińska, who was a material producer in the center of Rzeszów.
There was also a change in TVP Łódź. Magdalena Michalak-Schwark, who worked at TVP 3 Łódź in 1993–2019, will take over the duties of director and editor-in-chief.
TVP directors from Katowice – Łukasz Miąsik, Szczecin – Piotr Dziemiańczuk and Bydgoszcz and Gdańsk – Michał Rybiński were also dismissed on Tuesday.
The new director of TVP Katowice is Tomasz Fajfer – long-time producer manager of “Aktualności” and other programs created in the center of Silesia. His priority is to restore TVP Katowice's own broadcasts as soon as possible. On Tuesday, the center broadcast, among others: its business magazine “Relationships”, and at 18:30 “Aktualności” returned to the air.
In Gdańsk, Marek Waluszko, a long-time journalist and author of reports, who was already the director of TVP in Gdańsk in 2016, became the head. He said that the regional “Panorama”, which returned to the air after the break, will be a new program, politicians do not prefer any option.
On Tuesdays, the centers of Bialystok, Bydgoszcz, Krakow, Poznan, Rzeszow, Szczecin and Wroclaw broadcast their local programs at 16:30. At that time, viewers from other regions could watch the nature film on TVP 3. However, the “Regional Journal” ran without any problems, although its first material was information from… Japan.
The situation in regional radio stations is tense. In the new year, the presidents of 14 out of 17 PR stations signed a joint statement on the liquidation of radio companies. Among others, the document emphasizes: the unconstitutionality of the decision of the Minister of Culture Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz.
“It seems clear that the real purpose of the alleged “liquidation” of public media is only to implement rapid personnel changes in the boards of directors of companies. At the same time, according to the regulations still in force, it is the only institution that can make personnel decisions. “The National Media Council is responsible for appointing and dismissing the managers and supervisory boards of the Public Broadcaster,” the statement said.
“Regional public radio media should not be held hostage to another edition of the political dispute, which this time could lead to their significant weakening and possibly their actual liquidation over time. The public mission is not only to provide information and valuable content to the recipients. It is also about local media finding what is worth promoting and spreading, and what is often not of interest to mainstream commercial media. So, if the local public media does not fulfill this mission, no one will,” added the signatories.
The presidents of three regional radio stations: Radio Katowice, Radio Opole and Radio Wroclaw did not sign the document.
There are currently 17 regional Polish radio stations in Poland: Radio Bialystok, Radio Gdańsk, Radio Katowice, Radio Kielce, Radio Kozalin, Radio Krakow, Radio Lublin, Radio Łódź, Radio Olsztyn, Radio Opole, Radio Pomerania and Kuyawi, Radio Poznan, Radio Rzeszów, Radio Dla Nasze (from Warsaw), Radio Szczecin, Radio Wrocław and Radio Zachód (from Zielona Góra).
(PAR, 03/01/2024)
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