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The Impact of Media Concentration on Professional ... - OSCE

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October 22 2003 was an historic date for the Polish print mediawith the German Springer group launching the tabloid Fakt as thePolish equivalent to the most successful German Bildzeitung. Outwent, according to <strong>on</strong>e Springer representative, the dull and boringessayistic style <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> journalism remembering past days <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> communist<strong>on</strong>e-party dictatorship, in came fast, hard hitting, sensati<strong>on</strong>aland entertainment style journalism.It was the latest in a l<strong>on</strong>g series <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> attempts by Westernand Northern European media giants to gain c<strong>on</strong>trol at leastover an important sector <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the most interesting print mediamarket in Central and Eastern Europe.RywingateOn 27 December 2002 Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> thedaily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, published a secretly tapedc<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong> with film producer Lew Rywin from July 2002. Inthis c<strong>on</strong>versati<strong>on</strong> Rywin claimed to have support from “a group<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> people in power” and <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fered to lobby the government for afavourable media law that would allow Agora S.A., the publisher<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Gazeta Wyborcza, to buy the private Polsat televisi<strong>on</strong>.Rywin thereby tried to solicit a bribe <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> US$ 17.5 milli<strong>on</strong> andsaid he was speaking <strong>on</strong> behalf <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Prime Minister Leszek Miller,Michnik reported.A parliamentary commissi<strong>on</strong> was established to examinethis matter. In February 2003 the first pers<strong>on</strong> interrogated bythat commissi<strong>on</strong> was Michnik, who said he believed Miller tobe uninvolved and innocent. What is more, Michnik suggestedduring his interrogati<strong>on</strong> that Polish Televisi<strong>on</strong> chief RobertKwiatkowski and member <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the Nati<strong>on</strong>al Radio and Televisi<strong>on</strong>Council, Wlodzimierz Czarzasty (who were menti<strong>on</strong>ed byRywin as the people behind his bribe <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fer) had plans to privatizethe sec<strong>on</strong>d channel <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the public Polish Televisi<strong>on</strong> and might166 THE IMPACT OF MEDIA CONCENTRATION ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM

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