European Commission alarm over new Polish media situation that has been true for Malta for years

The Polish government has legislated to put the country’s public broadcasters under its direct control.

The European Commission has reacted immediately, with Guenther Oettinger, European Commissioner for the Digital Economy, saying: “There are solid grounds for us to activate the rule of law mechanism and put Warsaw under monitoring.”

Last year, the European Union adopted a ‘rule of law’ mechanism, allowing the Commission to escalate pressure on a member state to amend or retract any measure considered to be a “systemic threat” to fundamental EU values.

Malta has a Broadcasting Authority which is not under the control of the government and which is supposed to regulate the public service broadcasters, TVM and Radio Malta. But the reality is that the key appointments at the stations are made directly by the government – the chairman, the chief executive officer and the all-important head of news. When the party in government changes, the incumbents are pushed out and new choices are pushed in. Incumbents survive only if they reach some form of accommodation with the incoming government.

This is the situation which we take for granted as completely normal. Yet this is the situation which, in Poland, has led to resignations from public service broadcasters, alarm bells rung by media watchdogs, and the European Commission issuing a stern warning.