The largest Polish television company "Telewizja Polska" is planning changes in the work of foreign editorial offices. The changes will primarily affect the Belarusian-language TV channel "Belsat" - it will be subordinated to a new structure - the Center for Programs for Foreign Countries. The current project of "Belsat" for the Russian-speaking audience - "That's how", which is dedicated to news from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia and opposes dictatorial regimes, will take its place in the new structure. Also, on March 1, 2025, a Ukrainian-language edition will be added to them.
Therefore, in March 2025, we will meet on the air (in particular, satellite) an updated TV channel with a new name, which will be sent to all the eastern neighbors of Poland, and will cover Russian-speaking, Belarusian-speaking and Ukrainian-speaking audiences. The editorial offices of the three regions will attract (and are already attracting) democratic journalists from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
In general, these changes can speak about the activation or reformation of Poland's information policy in relation to foreign audiences, primarily in Belarus and Ukraine. We remind you that in October of last year, parliamentary elections were held in Poland. After them, there were changes in the management of TVP. Among them was the dismissed long-time director of Belsat, Agnieszka Ramashevska. Now the channel is managed by Alyaksei Dikavitsky. Taking into account the statement about the new channel, we can conclude that the new ruling coalition has decided to gather under one "umbrella" the direction of informational influence on the region that is important to them. This can make it easier to maintain a coherent information policy and respond more promptly to social requests and sentiments. Some bugs may have been fixed. In particular, we all remember the social conflict on the border with Ukraine, when Polish activists blocked the Ukrainian border for a long time - certainly, proper communication and coverage of events can mitigate such incidents and generally promote understanding.
The new center will be managed by the current management of TVP World. The head of "TVP World" Michal Broniatovsky assures: "Belsat will not be liquidated, there will be a new structure." I want to emphasize: "Belsat" is not disappearing, it is gaining new opportunities."
It can be expected that the restructuring may also threaten some foreign language radio stations in Poland. We remind you that now the Belarusian Service of Polish Radio, European Radio for Belarus, Radio Racyza, as well as Belarusian-language programs on Polish Radio WNet broadcast from there. Most of them somehow depend on Polish or European budgets.
As we can see, Poland is responsible for the information space and the possibility of conveying its narratives to the audience of its neighbors in their languages. Maybe Ukraine should also take an example from them in some ways, do you think?
Comentarios