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Description
The Polish media face many challenges that stand in the way of their democratic functions. Among them, are SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) actions regularly undertaken against journalists. They can take a form of, for example, defamation lawsuits, or other civil lawsuits that aim to silence any inconvenient and critical voices. In Poland, both the local and national media face that problem, but there aren’t sufficient legal guardrails to protect the members of the press. Some of the regulatory institutions, like the National Broadcasting Council, can also display politically-motivated bias. The Council, for example, decides who can legally broadcast, as well as punish broadcasters. Another challenge we have noticed, are direct threats of violence against journalists. These are threats posted online, as well as direct confrontations during demonstrations, etc.We would like to address these three problems by taking educational and protective actions. We will monitor actions of institutions that are of the highest priority when it comes to the proper functioning of the media nationally, and we will analyze their work. We will prepare three reports that will focus on the strategic problem of legal actions (SLAPPs) aiming to silence a democratic debate, safety of journalist, and regulatory actions relevant to the media. We will translate these reports into English in order to reach beyond the boundaries of Poland. We will also create practical handbooks that will teach how to defend oneself against SLAPPs and other forms of aggression. We will conduct workshops on SLAPPs and safety in journalism for about 90 representatives from both local and national media. The goal of the workshops, beyond educating, will be to facilitate networking between the participants and strengthening of relationships between newsrooms across Poland.
Summary of project results
The media in Poland face several challenges that hinder their democratic functions. One of the most important problems is the proceedings against journalists taking the form of so-called SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation). These involve, among other things, accusations of defamation or civil suits aimed at silencing inconvenient voices. In Poland, this problem affects both national and local media. However, there is a lack of effective legal regulations to protect journalists. The media in Poland also face the problem of bias in some regulatory bodies, such as the National Broadcasting Council. Among other things, it decides on the granting of licenses to TV and radio stations and can impose penalties on broadcasters. A third challenge we noted was the security risks for journalists and journalists, both in the online world and concerning physical security (e.g., during demonstrations).
We responded to these problems by implementing watchdog and educational activities. We monitored the activities of the most important institutions for the functioning of the media in the country and analyzed the effects of their work. We prepared three thematic reports that addressed the problem of strategic legal actions aimed at suppressing debate (i.e., the aforementioned SLAPPs), the safety of journalists/women, and the actions of regulatory bodies relevant to the media. We translated the reports into English to reach beyond Poland with this information. We will also create two practical guides that indicate what to do to protect yourself from SLAPPs and other forms of aggression. For interested media representatives/people (especially local and grassroots media), we conducted six trainings on SLAPPs and safety in journalism. Their aim, apart from increasing knowledge, was networking between the participants - establishing and strengthening relations between different editorial offices in Poland. In addition, we organized three debates. Their topics were the safety of journalist(s), the issues of SLAPPs, as well as regulatory bodies in the media sphere.
From the evaluation questionnaires, we know that the project participants have increased their knowledge of journalist safety and their resilience to various attacks.
As an additional part of the project, we conducted a brand survey of ours to establish public awareness of the HFPC''s activities and values. The information gleaned from the survey will be used to further develop the HFPC''s legal assistance activities for journalists, as well as to build a communications strategy that will include not only mining the HFPC''s core messages and communications, but also strengthening its position as a leading NGO providing assistance to journalists.