The Media
Poland's Twins Against The Polish Media
Warsaw, Poland 12 November, 2007 Poland's President and his ex-Prime Minister brother have gone on the offensive against the Polish Press. After last week announcing that he would take on the role of protecting press freedom in Poland, ex-Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has now announced, because as a member of the opposition he lacks the ability to limit the press, he will sue people of the media.
President Lech Kaczynski said on Polish Radio that the Law And Justice Party (PIS) will be marginalized and even harassed. He said that proof of his words lie in the events of the last few days that saw PIS accused of destroying documents and that the President had materials concerning Minister of Foreign Affairs designate Radek Sikorski.
According to him, such false information are distributed by the enemies of PIS.
He opined that the PIS government scared some people who felt threatened by lustration. Some of those people are influencing the media.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski said, in an interview for the Polish daily "Polska", that some journalists are forced to write bad things about PIS.
He said that he thinks that some media have a rule: "If you want to work here, you have to bash PIS. Or at least don't write well about it." "This is a pressure thing".
Jaroslaw thinks that there is a sense of terror in the media. Recent events in PIS prove that. If something similar to the three senior people in his party stepping down had happened two years ago in PO, the media's reaction wouldn't be as heated.
Jaroslaw, who barred journalists from his initial press conference for being part of the "unreliable media, said that PIS didn't start the war with media. See The Church Against The Church And Government
PIS established a rule in 2005 that they would not respond to opposition party Civic Platform attacks. But it the media pronounced PIS the aggressors. As an example, he cited the "fact" that the media say that the Kaczynski brothers call others ZOMO. "What Kaczynski brothers? My brother never said anything like that".
It was, in fact, Jaroslaw who made the infamous speech in which he classified all those who do not support him and his policies as standing with ZOMO.See Polish prime minister draws black line
And his brother did not say anything like it. Nor did he distance himself from the remarks.
Jaroslaw also said that he will not be any more pleasant than he has in his relationship with the media. " Wagging your tail in response to aggression does not yield a benefit. Now we will sue. As the people in power we didn't want to do that, so that others couldn't criticise us for limiting the press. As an opposition, we have no way to limit the media". See in Polish http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/Wiadomosci/1,80269,4663922.html Lech Kaczynski: PiS jako opozycja bedzie szykanowane
It was Jaroslaw who earlier this month announced that he would be the defender of press freedom. Poland's Jaroslaw Kaczynski To Monitor Polish Press Freedom
