TVP suspends journalist after interview with deputy PM

Poland's state-owned broadcaster TVP has suspended Karolina Lewicka, a journalist, who interviewed  the Minister of Culture and deputy Prime Minister, Piotr Gliński on Sunday evening. The interview was centered on the theater play Death and the Maiden by Elfriede Jellinek, which was being staged at Teatr Polski in Wrocław. The play has stirred controversy, as it was suggested by Ewelina Marciniak, the director, that foreign porn actors will perform a sexual act on stage during the opening night on Saturday. On Friday, the Minister of Culture wrote a letter to the Marshall of the Dolnośląskie voivodeship forcing him to halt preparations for the play as it breaks the generally accepted rules of social behavior. His request was turned down by the Marshall. In the interview, Lewicka asked Gliński what the basis of his decision was. The minister tried to make a statement by reading his whole letter, but he was interrupted by the journalist, who insisted on asking the same question about the basis of the decision. Upset that he couldn't present his statement, Gliński said that it was "a propaganda program and the broadcaster has been manipulating the audience for several years. But it will end." Following the program, the CEO of TVP has suspended the journalist, claiming that the interview "deviated from journalistic standards." Nonetheless, journalists from TVP Info channel have issued a statement, also signed by the CEO of the broadcaster, in which they say that they are offended by unjust claims about propaganda and manipulation.