In the spotlight: Andrzej Urbański
Wildstein, who was nominated by Law and Justice (PiS) last May, recently started receiving heavy criticism for PiS' negative portrayal on the public station. Under Wildstein's direction, TVP was accused of criticizing PiS just as much as commercial stations and not emphasizing the government's successes enough. In response to the late-night change, a number of TVP journalists resigned.
Urbański has experience in both journalism and politics. He was the head of the political section of Tygodnik Solidarnoć and then Express Wieczorny (then owned by the now-defunct party, the Center Agreement led by the Kaczyński brothers ) in the early 1990s. Later, he headed Życie Warszawy for a few months and hosted a number of TV shows. In 2002, newly-elected Mayor of Warsaw Lech Kaczyński appointed Urbański Deputy Mayor. Urbański was responsible for matters of education, culture, promoting the city, and for infrastructure development. He is credited for Kaczyński's media success and the candidate's image as "the sheriff," which played a vital role in his presidential campaign.
After Kaczyński became President of Poland, Urbański headed his Chancellery, and between January and August 2006 he led the Office for National Security (BBN). He left the Chancellery after an article was published accusing him of having business links with a Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) official accused of corruption. The accusations were never proven.
