Last week we went over a brief overview of the media in Poland following The Cold War. Today we are going to take a look at some of the media policies that are in effect throughout Poland.
The Polish Constitution guarantees freedom of the press and also prohibits both preventive censorship and licensing of the press. It also states that the main task of the National Broadcasting Council is to protect the freedom of speech, the right to information, and the public interest in radio and television. Poland passed an act in 1992 following The Cold War and it was called the Broadcasting Act. It basically just regulated the whole broadcasting area throughout Poland. It also determines the mode of appointment, responsibilities and competences of the National Broadcasting Council, as well as general tasks of broadcasters, status of public broadcaster, licensing of commercial broadcasters, retransmission of programmed services in cable and satellite networks, and programming obligations. However, in 2004 the Broadcasting Act was amended in order to comply with the EU audiovisual policy requirements and the Television without Frontiers Directive.
Today, The National Broadcasting Council is the main broadcasting regulator throughout Poland. Make sure to listen to our next program as we will also uncover much more about the media in Poland.