. ABOUT MEDIA

Shackling the fourth estate

The goings-on in the highest places that have recently been revealed much to everyone's surprise are a common occurrence at the lower levels, far from the capital, and they no longer amaze anyone. The realities of the media world, as monitored by the Press Freedom Monitoring Center of the Polish Journalists Association, provide dozens of similar examples. Reporters are officially censored or quietly corrupted by the local authorities. It is mostly those authorities themselves that are publishers of local dailies and weeklies. (Those in power like to see themselves in print.) In such cases it is not even necessary to use pressure tactics: It is enough to have a friendly editor. The country's press law says that it can be anyone, so long as he is an adult and does not have any convictions for breaching the press law. Therefore outsiders are the most desirable.

This is not just going on at the municipal or powiat levels. Last year I had the opportunity to conduct a survey among journalists from more than 10 publications of one of the western European media concerns in the country, which showed a frightening collapse of ethical standards in the face of pressure from politicians and businesspeople. Here are some quotes from journalists with years of experience at respectable publications outside Warsaw:



"The awareness of advertisers' pressure is rising;" "I see owners (abusing their) rights to interfere and advertisers calling in order not to be presented negatively; otherwise, the next time they will not come to us;" "The focus is only on economic results, sensationalism and good connections with authorities;" "There is too much pressure from politicians;" "Editors and politicians are too close;" "Top editors are too cozy with local politicians;" "There were cases of editors asking journalists to do certain topics;" and "Gifts for journalists are becoming common."

The straight question "Have you ever been offered a bribe?" brought chilling answers, including: "I was offered to edit a business paper when getting a story about a certain company;" "I was offered a monthly salary for getting to certain individuals at a local company (and asking them) expert questions;" "PR for this person would be achieved this way;" "I was offered money and expenses for a description of a certain entrepreneur's problems, but I refused;" "I was given money for not writing about local people protesting big investments;" and "I was offered a car to test-drive, then keep."

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