TVP's decision on Katyn ceremony draws criticism
Public broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) faced sharp criticism last week for its failure to broadcast the opening of the Polish cemetery in Katyn, Russia, the burial site of 4,400 Polish army officers massacred there on Joseph Stalin's orders in 1940.
Critics of TVP management's decision not to broadcast the historic opening, which many Poles had been waiting more than half a century for, contend that the station failed in its duty as a national broadcaster.
According to TVP's press office, the station didn't have enough time to prepare the transmission because the date of the ceremony, July 28, was confirmed only two weeks earlier. "It's nonsense (TVP's explanation that they had technical problems)," said Andrzej Dlugosz, a former member of TVP's supervisory board. "It's really bad that we didn't have that live transmission."
Representing their countries at the cemetery's opening were Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Wiktor Christienko. President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who decided not to attend the ceremony, last visited the site Sept. 17, the anniversary of the 1939 Soviet invasion.
At the Katyn ceremony last year, TVP managed to prepare a live broadcast despite having an equally tight deadline. "Still, I wouldn't look for a political reason," said Dlugosz, referring to TVP's decision last week. "It's not politics; it's above all a mess and no sense of responsibility on (ulica) Woronicza (TVP's headquarters in Warsaw)."
Lech Jaworski, a member of TVP's supervisory board, wants the board to address the incident at its next meeting Aug. 10. "I demanded that part of the meeting be dedicated to discussion of the management's actions and that they be explained in writing," he said.
Meanwhile, Joanna Stepien, press spokeswoman for Juliusz Braun, chairman of the media watchdog National Television and Radio Council (KRRiTV), said last week that the council had received two letters of complaint against TVP. "Due to claims filed by the Rzeszow-based Solidarity's regional board and by the Association of the World War II Combatant Organization, the council will ask TVP's management for an explanation as to why it did not prepare a live broadcast of the opening," she said. "Once we get that explanation, the council might start a debate on it at one of its earliest meetings (but not within the next 10 days)."
But according to Jaworski, there is little the council can do. "KRRiTV can do nothing but issue a statement on TVP's actions," he said. "All decisions regarding the management are made by the supervisory board." Dlugosz, on the other hand, wasn't sure whether Robert Kwiatkowski, TVP's president, should be forced to resign over the incident if it's proved that the station is at fault. "I am sure that the supervisory board will take some steps; it's too important an issue," he said. "But considering the current structure of the board and the coming presidential elections, I don't think anybody will get hurt."
In addition, KRRiTV's Stepien said that there was little the council could do to guarantee that TVP's management would prepare a live broadcast of the opening of another cemetery in Miednoje, Russia the third Polish cemetery to commemorate the deaths of over 27,000 officers killed by the Soviets in 1940.
Warsaw-based Tenbit, a subsidiary of ITI Media Holdings and an operator of a web site under the same name (tenbit.pl), is planning to launch a new service by the middle of this month that will allow site visitors to create and participate in an "open interactive community." In addition, the company plans to air a television program on TVN, also owned by ITI, in September.
"It (the TV program) will be closely related to our web site and based on the concept of interactivity," said Lukasz Modelski, programming director at Tenbit. "And the idea for tenbit.pl is that it won't be a portal."
Modelski said that an open interactive community means there will be no news or politics on the site. "The main difference is that a portal directs internauts to other places on the net whereas we're going to be a kind of a hub directing one user to another one," he said. "We will provide users with a good excuse to meet on the net."
Tenbit.pl will provide both entertainment (computer games using its server) and various communication tools. It already offers free e-mail accounts and a speedy search engine called Google. Users can also have their own web site within Tenbit's. In the future, the site will provide opportunities for users to meet in a chat room or forum. "We will also offer a tool, which we call wzywak (caller), that allows users to be admitted to a limited discussion group, online," Modelski said.
Advertising for the project will not use the electronic media or billboards. "We're not interested in advertising for big money. That's why we're focusing on public relations activities," he said. Tenbit is distributing its brochures where its 16-25 year-old target group can be found at schools and universities. "We also have a tent full of computers at the seaside in Sopot, where potential users can log on," Modelski said. "And we will have a van, e-Star, driving around Poland with computers on board."
