On Thursday, TVP Info aired a segment summing up Andrzej Duda’s 10 years as president. It fuelled debate over the principles guiding public media journalists, including Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf, a symbol of the recent intensive changes at TVP.
Public television, now in liquidation, broadcast a programme summing up Andrzej Duda’s presidency. The material sparked a storm and raised questions: do TVP’s propagandists still have any principles at all?
TVP Info – from „mouthpiece of power” to new propaganda
For years, TVP Info has been associated with a hard-line style of messaging: first as a tool of the ruling PiS government, and more recently as a vehicle for fierce criticism from journalists sympathetic to the Civic Coalition (KO). After the political changes, TVP formally remains „in liquidation”, yet in practice propaganda is thriving. The latest film attacking President Duda is another proof that the changes did not clean up television’s bias; they merely reversed the direction and pulled the lever the other way.
„Dangerous Liaisons” – satire or reliability?
The programme opened with a compilation of blunders and ironic quotes from Duda’s presidency, from jokes and unfortunate remarks to signing bills in unusual places, such as the railway station in Końskie. Among the guests, the presenter Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf asked questions about Andrzej Duda’s competence and independence, not shying away from clear insinuations and sharp comparisons to historical hate campaigns.
Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf – principles, personality, controversy
Wysocka-Schnepf, a controversial journalist, is regarded both as a symbol of change and of continuity in the partisan capture of public television. Her active role in recent debates and political coverage divides public opinion: some see in her an uncompromising hunter of lies, while others accuse her of lacking objectivity. She herself comments directly that „the world has changed, the media have changed, and a lie must be called a lie”, declaring realism rather than radicalism.
- In May, Wysocka-Schnepf moderated a high-profile presidential debate, during which she was accused of bias.
- Accusations of propaganda come from both sides of the political spectrum, both during the PiS government and after the change of power.
- The Polish Journalists’ Association (SDP) even awarded her the anti-prize „Hyena of the Year”, accusing her of crossing the boundaries of journalistic reliability.
Do propagandists have principles?
Paradoxically, the position of Wysocka-Schnepf, and more broadly of the commentators of the „new-old” TVP, illustrates the problem of the lack of clear principles in public media. Recent TVP materials show that, regardless of who is in government, the following remain key:
- loyalty to the current authorities,
- quick adjustment of tone and language to current political priorities,
- readiness for sharp, often personal attacks on „inconvenient” politicians.
TVP trapped by its own habits
Recent events at TVP and the conduct of people such as Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf show that the problem of propaganda is universal: it belongs not to individuals but to the whole public media system. Instead of serious reform of messaging and standards, we see yet more examples of irony and sharp satire. It is hard today to defend the claim that journalists, whether from the left or the right, follow clear, consistent principles. It seems that principles at TVP? All too often they depend on who happens to be in government.
