Media freedom is under renewed threat in Poland, where the Law and Justice party is waging a multipronged attack on independent and critical media.

Recent developments are leading to growing concerns that the EU’s fifth most populous state is heading further down the path forged by Hungary and causing fresh headaches in Brussels on how to respond.

In the sixth episode of IPI’s podcast ‘The Press Freedom Files’, IPI Advocacy Officer Jamie Wiseman talks with guests Piotr Stasiński, deputy editor of Poland’s biggest daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, and Anna Wójcik, a journalist at the investigative news outlet OKO.press.

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These concerns were summarized in a report published last month by the International Press Institute and the Media Freedom Rapid Response, who held a virtual press freedom mission to Poland in November and December 2020.

Click here to download the report: Democracy Declining: Erosion of Media Freedom in Poland.

This episode of The Press Freedom Files was produced and prepared by the International Press Institute (IPI) as part of the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR), a mechanism which tracks, monitors and responds to violations of press and media freedom in EU Member States and Candidate Countries. The project is co-funded by the European Commission.