In May, the 21st edition of RSF’s World Press Freedom Index was published. One EU country that was able to improve its ranking for the first time in eight years was Poland. It moved up from its lowest-ever rank of 66 to 57th position. But despite the improvement on the index, the ground reality of the media in Poland hasn’t changed much.

The report goes ahead to highlight the situation of journalists in Poland. The country witnessed fewer arrests of journalists compared to previous years which helped it secure a higher rank. Yet, many journalists continue to face verbal attacks and other legal obstacles for having performed their work.

Krzysztof Dzięciołowski, a previous journalist fellow at the Reuters Institute, highlighted the struggles journalists face in Poland. He told The Fix, “In the border area with Belarus there have been incidents involving harassment of journalists connected with the coverage of the illegal migration into the EU instigated by the Belarusian government”

Article 19’s Global Expression Report (2022) analysed the freedom of expression enjoyed globally. Poland (rank 73rd) along with Hungary (rank 82nd) performed the worst out of all the EU countries. Within a decade (2011-21), Poland lost 34 scores and Hungary lost 20. The decline of freedom of expression is seen along with a decline of pluralistic media in both these countries.

Poland – media capture and suppression

The media in Poland is increasingly controlled by the government. This is particularly true after the takeover of Poland’s largest regional newspaper publisher Polska Press by PKN Orlen, the state-controlled oil company. This purchase is in alignment with the efforts directed at the ‘repolonisation’ of the Polish media.

Since this acquisition in 2021, eight editors-in-chief of Polska Press have been removed from their posts. This move has been seen as a major suppression of media freedom. Norges Bank Investment Management, part of Norway’s central bank, has put the oil company under observation for a period of three years due to “serious violations of human rights.”

In March, PKN Orlen temporarily ceased the sale of Nie, a left-wing magazine, that displayed the former pope on its front page after the allegation of neglect in the child abuse case. This claim was aired by Polish broadcaster TVN, who after the release of the documentary have faced multiple attempts at intimidation from investigations to verbal attacks.

Hungary – tight grip on media

In 2019, seven press freedom organisations published a joint statement stating that “the Hungarian government has achieved a degree of media control unprecedented in an EU member state.” Some estimates claim that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán holds an astounding 70-80% control of the Hungarian media market.

Dr Judit Bayer, a professor of media law at the Budapest Business School, tells The Fix that “Most of all audiovisual and print media has been dominated by the Orbán media empire.” She further explains the way in which this dominance of media was achieved in Hungary.

The first step was to introduce a series of restrictive laws in 2010-11. With this, the country saw the creation of a new media control body that would monitor the contents of all media including the Internet. A fine could be levied upon those media that produce “unbalanced coverage.”

This new media law was brought into action stating that it had been modelled after the media regulations in other EU member states. However, a study found that the 56 precedents provided by the Hungarian government “inaccurately characterise(d) relevant factors of the other countries’ regulatory systems.”

Bayer lists biassed state advertising policy and the acquisition of media houses by people and companies loyal to Orbán as possible answers to the great dominance of the Prime Minister on Hungary’s media landscape.

Upcoming election and consequences

The situation is dire in both Hungary and Poland. This is particularly daunting with the Polish parliamentary elections on the 15th of October and the European Parliament election scheduled in the next year. The 2019 European Parliament election took place when both countries were witnessing the rise in populism and growing concerns about press freedom.

Both countries need a more vibrant and secure independent media landscape. Independent media scene in Hungary, says Bayer, remains under-financed and hence has low reach. She adds that the situation is made worse by the biased state advertising policy.

Similarly in Poland, states Dzięciołowski, “The funding remains the main challenge for many independent outlets given the government has redirected the advertisement money [spent by] the state-owned companies towards media organisations loyal to the government.”

Joint statement to protect press freedom

The issue of worsening press freedom is not only a concern for Poland and Hungary. It is a problem that daunts the entire EU. In efforts to improve the media landscape in all of the EU, 15 media and press freedom organisations released a joint statement in mid-September. This statement urged the Members of the European Parliament to negotiate for a European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) where there is more accountability in the way media is funded.

Their call stated the following course of action (editor’s note — the full section on the proposed course of action is republished here under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 free licence):

“No reintroduction of the ‘1 million inhabitants’ threshold for publishing information regarding state advertising.
An EU-wide online database of state advertising that is easily accessible for the general public and which journalists and civil society can use to connect seemingly unrelated occurrences of public revenue allocation.
Full inclusion of emergency messages, as introduced by Article 2 (15 a) of the Report of the [European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education], in the concept of state advertising, to prevent authorities from using catastrophes or states of emergency as justification for funding politically affiliated or friendly media.
Regular and mandatory reporting obligations for authorities which are fully transparent and show the full allocation of state advertising, and which include information on media ownership. The reporting must be available to relevant independent and accountable regulators and resulting reports to all stakeholders.
Monitoring of state advertising and state aid allocation to media, ensuring that enough data is collected by the [European] Commission on the true state of these resources in a centralised manner.”

A closer watch is needed to make sure the media enjoys plurality and independence from the government. The lack of this seen in Poland and Hungary aggravates problems not only for the EU but for the functioning of democracy. As Article 19’s report points out, “If you care about democracy, stop ignoring attacks on expression.”

Source of the cover photo: https://unsplash.com

Media pluralism challenges in Poland and Hungary

Priyal Shah

15 press freedom bodies come together with a solution to protect press freedom in the EU

Author

Priyal Shah

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