The crisis of the RAI’s governance model and its political circumstances The political consequence of the RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) reform, made by Matteo Renzi’s outgoing government, was the legitimacy of the government and, consequently, the loss of credibility of the public broadcaster. The opposition, criticizing the law, saw in it a serious threat to media pluralism and constitutional guarantees freedom of expression. When the ruling coalitions controlled the RAI, the credibility of the broadcaster, raised by the opposition, was only a component of political rhetoric. According to her, the new media law was designed to subdue the RAI’s full control of the government and create the ground for future parliamentary elections. As a result, the RAI has been deprived of parliamentary scrutiny, so far held by a special parliamentary commission (Commisione Vigilanza RAI), whose influence has been significantly reduced. For many years the polemics of the Italian media system, the so-called duopoly, the dominant position of RAI and Mediaset, are of major importance in the political struggle in Italy.

The Political Consequences of the Amendments to the Media Laws in Poland in 2015-2016 Public media in Poland have become the subject of strong political pressure from the current government. This is demonstrated by the legislative initiatives undertaken to take full control of the circulation of information by the executive. According to the opposition, as well as the European institutions (the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Council of Europe) the implemented legislative solutions posed a threat to media pluralism, constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression, and their task is only to consolidate power. Depriving the public media of the function of the public debate forum makes them an instrument in the hands of government administration.

ZarzÄ dzanie Mediami » 2018 » Tom 6, Numer 4 » The impact of the reform of the Italian Public broadcaster RAI on the outcome of the 2018 Parliamentary Campaign A A A

Likwidacja cenzury i monopolu państwa w eterze w 1990 roku rozpoczęła proces transformacji mediów w Polsce, stanowiąc fundament do określenia polityki medialnej państwa w dziedzinie ochrony pluralizmu. Autor przedstawia polityczne okoliczności tworzenia forum debaty publicznej. Wskazuje na gwarancje wynikające z zapisów ustawy medialnej do prezentowania i wyjaśniania polityki przez naczelne organy państwa, a także możliwość przedstawiania na antenie stanowisk partii politycznych w tzw. „węzłowych sprawach publicznych”. Autor bada przyczyny konfliktu interesów pomiędzy partiami politycznymi a mediami publicznymi, w zakresie wzajemnych oczekiwań w prezentowaniu wydarzeń politycznych. W artykule omówione są także gwarancje dostępu polityków do mediów w czasie kampanii wyborczych (wraz z orzecznictwem Trybunału Konstytucyjnego) wynikające z zapisów Kodeksu wyborczego oraz rozporządzeń Krajowej Rady Radiofonii i Telewizji, a także sposób relacjonowania kampanii w programach informacyjnych nadawców publicznych.

The National Broadcasting Council as the authority of political control of broadcasters in Poland According to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the National Broadcasting Council: safeguards the freedom of speech, the right to information and the public interest in broadcasting. The protection of these values justifies the independence of the social flow of information in public affairs from the disposal of the government. In the meantime the chairman of the National Broadcasting Council due to his special statutory entitlements remains under exceptional political pressure as in the process of control broadcasters’ activity is among others entitled to impose financial sanctions what in fact makes the National Broadcasting Council in Poland the authority that takes actions of repressive censorship nature.

Analizowana przez autora realizacja przez media prawa do krytyki władzy napotyka w praktyce na spore trudności. Niezależnie od powszechnie akceptowanej i gwarantowanej konstytucyjnie wolności słowa istnieje jednak wiele barier ograniczających dziennikarską swobodę wypowiedzi. Chodzi przede wszystkim o bariery prawne oraz etyczne. Koncepcja materialnej (absolutnej) wolności mediów nie została bowiem zrealizowana przez ustawodawstwo żadnego z krajów europejskich. W opinii autora odpowiedzialność karna za nadużywanie wolności wypowiedzi nie ogranicza prawa obywateli do krytyki władzy, ale czyni je znacznie bardziej skutecznym, jeśli towarzyszy jej odpowiedzialność za słowo.

Nature of the media and the expectations of politicians in Italy The author analyzes political consequences of the transformation of the Italian media system, which is the result of the political crisis of the ‘90 – and the fall of the First Republic. He presents shape of the contemporary Italian media policy and its specificity in terms of conflict of interest, unprecedented in Europe. A conflict of interest was the result of the fact that the exercise of public functions, coming from a political choice, had been charged directly to the economic group, the head of which became of the former Prime Minister of the Italian government. Moreover, this conflict was intensified by the legislative initiatives of Italian government aimed to weaken the position of Silvio Berlusconi’s media empire market competitors.

Financing of public service broadcasting in the EU media policy. Examples of Poland, Hungary, France and Germany The article analyzes the issue of financing the public media as one of the most complex and controversial part of media policy in the European Union. European institutions have not opted for the specific model of financing, leaving the case to the member states. Using the examples of Poland and Hungary, the author shows how a broadcasting fee can be a bargaining chip for political purposes, and the announcements of the liquidation of such fees in election campaigns can result in further weak position of public broadcasters. In Hungary, receiving further grants and debt relief managed by the government was perceived as „payment for services” to the public broadcaster, rendered in favor of the ruling coalition. On the other hand, indicated examples of France and Germany show how consistently implemented media policy can create stable conditions for the development of public service broadcasters in those countries and provides protection of media pluralism.