Page 21 - Sample PRO weekly report Poland

because, as RSF states, the government has put the freedom of the media and its pluralism in “jeopardy”.
The government has turned the state media into propaganda tools, while trying to financially throttle several influential independent print media outlets by ordering all state agencies to cancel their subscriptions.
“Concern is now focused on a proposed law to “re-Polonise” the country’s press by setting a limit on the level of foreign capital in Polish media companies”, RSF writes in the report.
In response to the “grave and repeated violations” of media freedom and pluralism, RSF issued a call to the EU in October 2016 to impose sanctions on Poland, including financial sanctions.
Poland’s Baltic neighbor Lithuania dropped one place in the report to the 36th position of “limited freedom,” with RSF assessing that media are basically free to criticise the government. However, that is not always the case when it comes to media’s focus on big business.
In Latvia, which dropped four places to the 28th spot, there is a “two-speed freedom” of the media, RSF notes. The Latvian-language media enjoy a great deal of independence, but the Russian-language media are “strong supporters of the pro-Kremlin Harmony party and are riddled with propaganda and fake news”.
Latvian whistleblowers are likely to be prosecuted and convicted, especially if they publish true facts revealing corruption and misdeeds in the public sector, the report adds.
Slovakia is the only Visegrad state to sit in the top 20 for press freedom in
the ranking. However, the country still slid 5 places this year to 17th, mainly as a result of the hostility of Prime Minister Robert Fico. The PM called journalists “dirty anti-Slovak prostitutes” late last year, and has initiated several lawsuits against media in his time.
In the Czech Republic, which dropped 2 places to 23rd, it is the increasing grip of politicians and oligarchs on the media that is the main concern. While a conflict of interest bill introduced late last year forced likely next PM Andrej Babis to put his media interests in a blind trust, the majority of major outlets are under the control of local business groups close to the major parties.
Several bills were also drafted during 2016 with the aim of increasing the penalties for criminal defamation, especially when the president is concerned.
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