On September 17, the flood crisis team met in Wrocław with Prime Minister Donald Tusk's participation. TV Republika's reporter Janusz Zyskkowski appeared on site and wanted to ask questions about the current flood situation on behalf of millions of viewers. Unfortunately, the reporter was not allowed into the conference and was told he was "not on the list."
A few days later, the Platform for the Protection and Safety of Journalists, a project of the Council of Europe, was notified about this case.
The Platform for the Protection of Journalists has indicated that it expects all media to be provided with equal access to public meetings and press conferences.
The Platform authorities classified the case as "intimidation and harassment of journalists" and assigned it "level 2" as a threat to media freedom.
An interpellation on this matter was submitted to the Speaker of the Sejm - Szymon Hołownia - by PiS MPs. A response came from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, signed by the head of the Chancellery - Jan Grabiec:
"The Chancellery of the Prime Minister makes every effort to provide all citizens with equal access to information on the work of the government and enables following the speeches of Prime Minister Donald Tusk. During the September flood, the Chancellery of the Prime Minister broadcast live all meetings of the crisis staff, which took place on September 16-25, 2024. Broadcasts of the above-mentioned meetings were published on the Chancellery's official social media profiles. In addition, each of the above-mentioned broadcasts was published on YouTube. Thanks to this, anyone interested in the course of the crisis team's meetings could watch the full course of each of them at any time. Media that were not present at a given meeting could also make the broadcast available to their viewers in real time and play these materials at any time."
"The Chancellery of the Prime Minister ensures access to information for the media, in accordance with Art. 54 section 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and art. 2 of the Press Law. All media are subject to the same rules for obtaining accreditation and must always submit applications within the prescribed deadline. During organized media events, the Chancellery of the Prime Minister is obliged to maintain order and ensure absolute safety of all participants (and in particular the Prime Minister and members of the Government). If any medium violates the rules, we reserve the right to refuse accreditation."
Here comes the most interesting bit from the government. The never before-made allegation, something we are expected to believe, of the attack by a reporter on an unsuspecting officer of the State Protection Service (SOP):
"Before a meeting of one of the staff, on September 16, 2024, there was an attack by a representative of TV Republika on a SOP officer. This is unacceptable behavior and cannot affect the accreditation process. The Chancellery of the Prime Minister has been granting accreditations to editorial offices since the beginning of the term of office of the current Government. Regardless of the materials they presented, TV Republika, like other editorial offices, regularly received accreditations for media events organized by the Government Information Center. However, representatives of TV Republika repeatedly failed to comply with the rules applicable to all media participating in the events. They disrupted the course of events organized by the Government Information Center."
PN: In other words, the official explanation for why the reporters of TV Republika have (by my count) NEVER received entry into the current government's press conferences is that they stupidly always break the law right before such conferences. (I think I got that right.) And you thought that Big Tech's censorship against the American conservative media is bad.
- Based on reporting by Niezalezna
