Poland's News sources

What do people use as their sources for news about current affairs in Poland?

My go to places are...

gazeta.pl/0,0.html

and

wp.pl

a little less often

onet.pl

if you want the government party line:

youtube.com/user/YTtvpinfo

if you want the opposition view:

tvn24.pl

The government-controlled media have become useless as a source of information in Poland today. The PiS party propaganda which prevails there reminds of Bolshevik propaganda in the times of the October Revolution in Russia and shortly afterwards. But true, the Stalinist propaganda that followed was much much worse.

It really is that primitive. I'm absolutely convinced however that the propaganda is framed to fit the mentality of those consuming it.

There are a few Polish news outlets aimed at english speaking readers who wants to learn about current affairs in Poland.

thenews
polanddaily

There's also a decent section of news about Poland on emerging Europe and Visegrad Post:

emerging-europe.com
visegradpost.com/en/home/

Both of them are propaganda outlets for PiS and completely untrustworthy.

Which of course cannot be accessed in whole swathes of Poland, leaving the way open for more of that ole PIS sponsored TV brainwashing which people are so susceptible to, sparing the population the necessity of working out the truth for themselves.

PiS is the Neo-PRL, despite the lip service paid to decommunization a large percentage of PiS voters began missing the PRL once it became clear they wouldn't automatically become rich in capitalism and wanted someone to blame...

Every single PiS 'reform' is aimed at returning PRL practices and institutional structures (increasing centralization and decreasing transparency and accountability).

On social media there's a good news source "Notes from Poland", run by someone who used to post here. Politically neutral and unaffliated too.

Given bolek's other postings I was assuming he was interested in Polish language sites (far more informative and interesting than English language sites about Poland)

That is absolute crap.

The corrupt Polish judiciary is an institutional structure that PO/KOD are desperately clinging on to because it enables them to throw out any cases they don't like.

PiS wants to remove old Communist judges and modernise the judiciary by removing it from the control of the self serving elite and providing some degree of democratic control over it.

Also, maybe remind me about the old PRL practice known as 500+ which has been returned in recent years.

More about having axes to grind. A common thing for people on the political extremes, fed in part by the news media who need as many readers as possible.

How long have you lived in Poland? How much Polish bureaucracy have you dealt with? I've seen the changes away from the commie mentality and they're swinging back again in that direction under PiS[

In the PRL that was called 'full employment' where people were given jobs that were absolutely unecessary. Now they're just dispensing with the pretense of work and just giving money to people who should not be having children (rather than institute policies that would help the productively employed with children).

Yes, the systematic stripping of powers from local/regional authorities and centralising everything in Warsaw is a great example. Gliński recently turned round and announced that all the Polish film studios will be under one central roof, and there are many other examples where they've taken away autonomy and returned things to direct ministerial control.

Of course, someone who only reads pro-government propaganda and who doesn't live in Poland will have no idea about this.

the university reform is pretty sucky too, I don't know the specifics but a conversation with colleagues made it sound dreadful (doing away with wydziały in favor of large centrally controlled 'institutes'...)

heh Notes from Poland neutral heh

Completely. Unaffiliated to any party and not advocating any political tendency or point of view. Run by someone who was a very regular poster here.

sure jon - we just have different feeling of what is neutral and what is not

Quite. You prefer government-controlled propaganda sources.

A couple of expat Brits who know nothing about Poland and have their own private multi-culti snowflake agenda'

Read the article below and see what you think !!! lol

intrepidtimes.com/2017/06/poland-today-interview-daniel-tilles-politics-people/

I couldn't put it any better than that

He's not a Brit. He's a Kiwi with Polish roots who's lived in PL for a long time. The other person who runs it is a Pol-Am.

Seems sound, and a breath of fresh air compared to the PiS-sponsored propaganda sites.

I couldn't do better either their own articles do the work for them, why does this country attract soooo many brit academic losers.

The original founder when it was a blog is the Director of the Polish Studies programme at the University of Cambridge. Perhaps you think he knows "nothing about Poland".

Are there any Brit expats here (paid from multis/UK firms)? Maybe jon....
Funny about us knowing nothing about Poland. I know the truth seems to hurt the nationalists here - though why it would I have absolutely no idea. Quite a few Poles have told me that I know more about Polish history than they have forgotten, seeing as they had to suffer the usual history lessons of lectures with the maps of changing Poland and a long lecture every time from the over-enthusiastic graduate teacher.

I doubt it. Personally, nope, never been one, not even on arrival the best part of three decades ago.


Some confuse not 'knowing' with not sharing their particular point of view. That's the most common perspective.

Plus there's someone pretending that the Director of the Polish Studies programme at the University of Cambridge "knows nothing about Poland".

I would agree, that's why anyone with half a brain gets their information from a wide range of sources, even the Guardian RT and the morning star can contain little gems that some Politicians / governments would not wish you to know about.

Radio Poland is ok but thin on detail, you have to sift through the tvns , polsats, wyborgois marias(lol) etc

I wouldn't bother with RT, and the Morning Star is dreary. The Guardian and The Times are the best. About Poland, the Radio Poland site used to be OK though started to deteriorate a couple of years ago. GW is on the conservative side (which says a lot about its extremist detractors), however the tabloids in PL are often OK for general news, and the news magazines have so much competition that they (the real ones, Polytika and Wprost) have to keep their content decent.

Sorry mate the universities had been taken over by the commies decades ago , full of snotty privileged little wanabee marxists all brainwashed by the dons.

I prefer to listen to people who have lived and worked in the real world not some nunnery that you would call a university, you goto admit all they do is manufacture useless politicians on all sides who know jack shite about the real world.

You (in your work) probably know more about how the real world works and it aint pretty is it, and those prats that have come out of those institutions in the last five decades have done bugger all about it.

I would rather talk to you all day than some university dick

Is that a fact? It would surprise many members of the various SCRs at Cambridge.


Those pesky experts.

I do know what you mean about Ivory Towers, though the news site in question does give a very good analysis of events in PL.