Peace gives us the belief that we are doing important things. We do it responsibly and no one, including the current government, will take it away from us – emphasized Brygida Grysiak, deputy editor-in-chief of TVN24, during a discussion panel during the “Freedom Games”. Together with Jarosław Kurski, deputy editor of Gazeta Wyborcza, and Bartosz Węglarczyk, head of the Onet portal, she looked for answers to the question about the future of the media.
The “Freedom Games” take place in Łódź on September 15-17. This year’s event is under the slogan “Turning Point”.
Grysiak: I feel very calm
The guests of the discussion panel moderated by Karolina Lewicka (radio TOK FM) included Brygida Grysiak (TVN24), Jarosław Kurski (Gazeta Wyborcza) and Bartosz Węglarczyk (Onet). They were asked about the future of the media in Poland.
– I feel very calm – said Brygida Grysiak at the beginning. – All the big questions we ask ourselves about the future, how difficult the past was, how difficult it is for us today, how beautiful our profession is, how big a role we play today, become less important – she explained.
In her opinion, “peace gives us the belief that we are doing important things.” – We do it responsibly and no one, including the current government, will take it away from us – she emphasized. She also admitted that “not so long ago we couldn’t imagine what we are seeing now.” – Constantly not answering our questions or answering the questions that “you are enemies of the nation”, “you are allies of the opposition, Putin, Berlin, foreign capital”. Which means that “your message is not a journalistic message.” It’s difficult, she said.
Freedom Games. What is the future of media? Brygida Grysiak commentsTVN24
“Freedom of speech hangs over business”
Jarosław Kurski said that he was not at peace. – The fact that is giving me sleepless nights PIS managed to invalidate public opinion. This means that in the free media we can listen and reveal various scandals, and although they accumulate, they do not stick to PiS – he noted.
According to him, representatives of the current ruling camp “are Teflon-like.” – In the sense that they divided public opinion into two parts. Each public opinion listens to its own media. The latest recent example, the visa scandal. Marshal Grodzki decides, very rightly, to go to TVP. He delivers a message. Ziobro is waiting for him and straightens everything and says it’s not like that – he explained.
Read more: Marshal Grodzki in his speech: the visa scandal is the biggest scandal of the 21st century
He added: “We have a narrative and a counter-narrative. The truth and another truth, the counterfactual.” – Inverted sign. There is no normal mechanism like Watergate, where Nixon resigns because a series of texts put pressure on public opinion. There is no such thing, he noticed. He noted that “we have reached a point where our freedoms and freedom of speech hang on business.” – I have some doubts here – he pointed out.
Russian or Turkish scenario
In turn, Bartosz Węglarczyk agreed with the statement that “the last eight years have been one of the greatest periods of Polish journalism.” – The number of great texts, TV reports, great books, investigations, radio broadcasts, and podcasts that appeared during this time is incredible. This is a flood of great content in every possible format, he said.
He also warned that “our profession hangs in the balance right now.” – If the government does not change on October 15, it is very difficult for me to imagine a good future. I think that the media in Poland will not be interested in the Hungarian variant. Then the Russian or Turkish variant will happen here – he pointed out. In his opinion, they are the same. – The authorities will lead to a situation in which creating commercial media will not be profitable – he said.
He assessed that media businesses are “underwater”. – Contrary to many people’s beliefs, media companies do not make a lot of money and it is very easy to throw them underwater and cause them to start making losses. This happened in Russia and brought good results for the Kremlin. This means throwing out independent media broadcasters and replacing them with broadcasters and media owners favorable to the Kremlin, he concluded.
Main photo source: TVN24