--- description: Poland's conservative government has introduced a controversial bill to reform the way the country's public broadcasters are run title: A New Media Bill in Poland Sparks Concern Over Press Freedom image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc979347c90e94a7c/6988773be20a8784e3a8edbf/501980698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Media Bill in Poland Sparks Concern Over Press Freedom by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 31, 2015 4:20 AM CUT  Protesters show victory sign during an antigovernment demonstration in Warsaw on Dec. 19, 2015 Protesters show victory sign during an antigovernment demonstration in Warsaw on Dec. 19, 2015Janek Skarzynski—AFP/Getty Images by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 31, 2015 4:20 AM CUT Poland’s conservative government has introduced a bill to reform the country’s public broadcasters, effectively giving the government power to appoint or dismiss their media executives. That power would give the country’s national media council, which is closely tied with the ruling Law and Justice party, significantly more influence over the operations of television broadcaster TVP and Polish Radio, the [BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35202280 "undefined") says. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) reports that TVP reaches over 90% of the Polish population weekly, according to the [BBC](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35202280 "undefined"). Poland’s lower house of parliament, the Sejm, already approved the media law on Wednesday, according to Polish press agency [PAP](https://twitter.com/PAPinformacje/status/682266262853038080 "undefined"). Press freedom bodies have already panned the move. The European Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders and EBU [released a statement](http://europeanjournalists.org/blog/2015/12/30/poland-media-organisations-to-oppose-abolition-of-safeguards-for-pluralism-and-independence-in-public-service-media/ "undefined") on Wednesday criticizing the bill. The move comes after the President signed into law a [controversial amendment](http://time.com/4162882/poland-constitutional-court-amendment-european-commission/ "undefined") to the functions of the country’s top constitutional court on Monday that, critics say, weakens the court’s ability to give checks and balances to the ruling party. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35202280 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4164787/poland-media-bill-press-freedom/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4164787/poland-media-bill-press-freedom/"},"headline":"A Media Bill in Poland Sparks Concern Over Press Freedom","datePublished":"2015-12-31T04:20:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:42:28.344Z","description":"The bill seeks to change the way the country's public broadcasters are run","url":"https://time.com/4164787/poland-media-bill-press-freedom/","keywords":["eu","Poland"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc979347c90e94a7c/6988773be20a8784e3a8edbf/501980698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joanna Plucinska","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc979347c90e94a7c/6988773be20a8784e3a8edbf/501980698.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"POLAND-POLITICS-DEMO","caption":"POLAND-POLITICS-DEMO","creditText":"Janek Skarzynski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4164787/poland-media-bill-press-freedom/","name":"A Media Bill in Poland Sparks Concern Over Press Freedom"}}]}] ```