Politicization as a Factor of Shaping News in the Public Service Media : A Case Study on Public Television in Poland

Abstract

This study addresses the positioning of Poland’s public television network (TVP) within the country’s contemporary political system� In a democratic country, the media laws determine journalism practices and the media content� In this study, three perspectives of analysis were used to assess the relationship between the process of politicization and the selection and shaping of news� Three areas of the TVP’s politicization were focused on: media law, journalists, and media content, to show the dependence between these fields and how the news was shaped and presented� Mixed methods of empirical research were used to investigate the raised issues; the authors focused on Polish parliament papers (N = 45) regarding the legal regulations of Polish public broadcasters during the period of 2015–2016; conducted in-depth interviews with journalists with TVP experience (N = 20); and performed — ABSTRAKT —