ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the media politics of Poland similar to the preceding reviews of Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. It discusses the inadequacy of legal reform of the media then detail the political maneuverings, primarily over broadcasting, of competing political actors. The chapter reviews the media-related issues, particular to Poland, involving the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state. The reform of broadcasting law is important in Polish media politics because the process of reform itself was the source of political conflict for several years. Not only did political actors disagree over interpretations of broadcasting regulations, but laws were changed, amended, or overturned regularly. The most important aspect of politicization and control of the print media involve the persistence of direct connections between political actors and newspapers. Political parties maintain their own newspapers. The Polish Press Agency was the object of fairly intense political contention.
