The president versus the media. Editors-in-chief defend the TVN24 reporter

In an appeal published on Wednesday, the Polish Media Council asked the President of the Republic of Poland and his associates to respect the role of journalists in the democratic system. As it is written, a journalist's duty is to ask questions, and a politician's duty is to answer these questions.

“The editor will sort it out”

On Monday, President Karol Nawrocki, together with the President of Hungary Tamas Sulyok, took part in the celebration of the Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day in Przemyśl (Podkarpackie Voivodeship). The TVN journalist asked Nawrocki whether he was bothered by the intimacy between the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, and the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. The president turned to the journalist and asked if he had not listened to the conference and what he had said about Putin. – The editor will calm down and listen to what the President of Poland says. I'm talking to you, Mr. Editor. Vladimir Putin is a criminal, do you understand, editor? Goodbye – he added, waving his finger at the journalist.

President @NawrockiKn after the press conference to the journalist ⤵️

🗣️ “Come together and listen to what the President of Poland says” pic.twitter.com/OvZsvIWoMC

— tvp.info 🇵🇱 (@tvp_info) March 23, 2026

“A journalist's duty is to ask”

“The basic duty of a journalist is to obtain information and convey it to the public. One of the instruments of journalistic work is to participate in press conferences and ask questions. This is what our colleague, TVN24 reporter Mateusz Pół Chłopek did. Just as a journalist's duty is to ask questions, it is his duty, and not the good will of a politician, to answer these questions. Verbal aggression, shouting words or mockery of a journalist's name are contrary to the seriousness of the office of the President of the Republic of Poland and do not bring pride of his colleagues” – emphasized in the appeal signed by the Presidium of the Council. As noted, RPM expresses solidarity with the TVN24 journalist and appeals to the President of the Republic of Poland and his associates to respect the role of journalists in the democratic system.

The Polish Media Council was established on the initiative of editors and editors-in-chief in 2023. The founders of the Council emphasize the universal right to freedom of speech, commitment to constitutional values, the right to independent and impartial journalism, compliance with high editorial standards, the importance of news media in a democratic society, responsibility for information processing and dissemination, and the public's right to information and knowledge.

Bartosz Węglarczyk (editor-in-chief of the Onet.pl portal) is the chairman of the Council. The functions of vice-chairmen are held jointly by Jerzy Baczyński (editor-in-chief of the weekly “Polityka”), Kamila Ceran (editor-in-chief of TOK FM), Brygida Grysiak (deputy editor-in-chief of TVN24), Magdalena Kicińska (editor-in-chief of “Pisma” in 2019-2024), Michał Szułdrzyński (editor-in-chief of “Rzeczpospolita”). (PAP)

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