After one of the last editions of the program “Dot the i” a scandal broke out. All because of the question what Monika Olejnik she asked the person present in the studio Radosław Sikorski. The journalist, referring to “Tygodnik Powszechny”, asked the politician about his wife, referring to her Jewish roots. – I read that your wife's origin is a problem for KO members. What would you answer to the author? – Olejnik blurted out. Sikorski immediately reacted and said that “it is already a secular tradition that people of Jewish origin should become first ladies,” and then quickly left the studio.. After the episode was broadcast, it turned out that the statement quoted by Olejnik appeared in an article by Piotr Śmiłowicz on the Gazeta.pl website, and not in “Tygodnik Powszechny”, as the journalist suggested. After visiting the studio, Radosław Sikorski published an entry in which he admonished the station. “I believe that making the origin of the candidate's wife a topic in… elections presidential elections is unacceptable. Contrary to the insinuations of editor Olejnik, we are not a country of anti-Semites. From TVN and Warner Bros./Discovery, I demand the restoration of journalistic standards,” the politician wrote on X. As it turns out, the “Kropka nad i” program has been receiving complaints to the National Broadcasting Council.
“Dot the i” under the microscope. The National Broadcasting Council receives complaints. It is known what the allegations are about
After the broadcast of “Kropka nad i” with Sikorski Monika Olejnik was sharply criticized by viewers. “I don't know what the intentions were, but it turned out very poorly”, “Apologies are due first of all to Anne Applebaum, who really has a lot more to offer than just her Jewish origins. Reducing one of the greatest intellectuals of our times to the role of a 'Jewish wife' it's terrible. Where's the feminism?” – it was written in the comments. Due to the media storm, the journalist published an apology online. She emphasized that she herself was outraged by these words, so she wanted Sikorski to have the opportunity to comment on it. “I believed that the minister should have the opportunity to refer to them, which he did in “Kropka nad i”. I apologize to all my viewers – if I was not precise and emphatic enough. I did not intend any insinuations, just like Minister Sikorski. that Poland is not a country of anti-Semites! – wrote the journalist.
However, the journalist's apology did not stop viewers from sending it individual complaints to the National Broadcasting Council. As reported by the WP portal, Teresa Brykczyńska, spokeswoman for the authority, announced what the allegations were about and emphasized that Explanatory actions have already been initiated. According to the website, eight complaints were filed. All with the same allegations.
The allegations concern the use of anti-Semitic stereotypes when talking about candidates in the presidential elections
– Brykczyńska said in an interview with WP.
The head of the National Broadcasting Council speaks out on the “Kropka nad i” case. “It's a sensitive issue”
Maciej Świrski, head of the National Broadcasting Council, also spoke on the matter. He joined the Council on the recommendation of PiS and repeatedly defended the PiS media. In a recording published on YouTube, he emphasized that there would most likely be more complaints and that proceedings resulting from the submitted complaints had already been initiated. “We will check what it looks like from the point of view of the program itself, what is the documentation of this program. We cannot rely on what we see on TV, we just need to have all this material to consider and check how it relates to the issue legal issues as to whether such a question arouses anti-Semitic sentiments or not. This is obviously a sensitive issue, but we will consider it,” said the head of the National Broadcasting Council.