Politicization as a Factor of Shaping News in the Public Service Media : A Case Study on Public Television in Poland
Politicization as a Factor of Shaping News in the Public Service Media : A Case Study on Public Television in Poland

Summary/Abstract: This study addresses the positioning of Poland’s public television network (TVP) within the country’s contemporary political system. In a democratic country, the media laws determine journalism practices and the media content. In this study, three perspectives of analysis were used to assess the relationship between the process of politicization and the selection and shaping of news. Three areas of the TVP’s politicization were focused on: media law, journalists, and media content, to show the dependence between these fields and how the news was shaped and presented. Mixed methods of empirical research were used to investigate the raised issues; the authors focused on Polish parliament papers (N = 45) regarding the legal regulations of Polish public broadcasters during the period of 2015–2016; conducted in-depth interviews with journalists with TVP experience (N = 20); and performed a content analysis of the Polish public television channel TVP1’s “Newsnight” news program during the period of February 4–10, 2019. We found that an increased level of politicization at Poland’s TVP led to direct influence on the shape and selection of news.

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