Poland’s new Cabinet moves to free state media from previous government’s political control

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s new pro-European Union government has begun wrestling control of the country’s state media and some other state agencies from the conservative party that consolidated its grip on them during eight years in power. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, which took office last week, said Wednesday it fired the directors of the state television and radio outlets and the government-run news agency. It seeks to reestablish independent media in Poland in a legally binding and lasting way. Tusk’s government  has made it a priority to restore objectivity and free expression in state media, which the previous government, under the Law and Justice party, used as aggressive propaganda tools, attacking Tusk and the opposition.