Poll shows Poles believe public television gives distorted view of country

About half of the Poles believe that public television deliberately gives a distorted view on Poland in its broadcasts. This was revealed during a conference on the role of public broadcasting in Poland, organized by the Radio and Television Council (KRRiTV). Some speakers at the conference complained that a lot of journalists had a tendency to talk more than their guests during interviews, a phenomenon that made it impossible for the audience to receive first hand information of what was happening in their country. Some of the most critical comments included: Government spokesperson Krzysztof Luft, "Telewizja Polska (TVP) is keen on portraying changes in Poland as catastrophic." Former government spokesperson Jaroslaw Sellin, "TVP has adopted Belarussian broadcasting standards." KRRiTV member Marek Jurek, "TVP is slowly becoming a closed circle not sensitive to what the society needs." (Rzeczpospolita, page A7) S.M.