Czech Television has joined the EBU's call opposing the adoption of new media laws in Poland. Its Managing Director has warned of the dangers posed to a democratic society of placing the control of public service media directly in government hands.

Managing Director of Czech Television and EBU Executive Board Member Petr Dvořák said: “The situation in which public media in Poland now finds itself is extremely disconcerting. It’s a move towards a government takeover where public media will disappear, and with it the ability of Poles to access any independent information. On the contrary, commercial media will never be able to guarantee independence from economic or political influences.” 

Dvořák went on to add: “This development shows that not even in countries with 25 years of democratic tradition are the foundations of a free society unshakeable. It doesn’t take much. Today, the role of public media must be protected perhaps more intensively than at any other time during the past two decades.”

The European Broadcasting Union believes the new media laws passed by the current Polish government run counter to the basic principles and common standards for public media anywhere in Europe. “It is a direct attack on the independence of public service media in Poland. Such a structure indeed makes the editorship of the PSM entirely dependent on the government. It constitutes a retrograde step back to the pre-1989 days when Poland had a state broadcaster” said EBU in its official statement.

Czech Television supported the official EBU statement, saying that the new law is criticized in particular for its concentration of legal authority associated with public media in the hands of a single member of government.