US broadcast group threatens legal action over Polish media law
Source: Politico
U.S. broadcast company Discovery is threatening to bring legal action against the government in Poland after lawmakers there passed a controversial media law that tightens rules for foreign companies.
The legislation, which must still pass the Polish Senate, proposes only allowing companies majority-owned by entities from the European Economic Area to hold broadcast licenses. That would exclude U.S.-based Discovery, owner of TVN, one of Poland’s most popular TV stations, and its all-news subsidiary TVN24.
The news channel, whose license expires on September 26, has been a thorn in the side of a government that has made great efforts to bring the media under its control.
Discovery said in a statement Thursday that it sent notice of its intentions to Polish President Andrzej Duda and that while the company “continues to strive for a positive resolution to this situation … should this fail, Discovery intends to commence arbitration proceedings” under a U.S. investment agreement with Poland “and seek full compensation for Poland’s breaches.”
Read more: https://www.politico.eu/article/discovery-poland-media-law-legal-action/
Discovery is promoting the Free Press in a country whose government is hyper-conservative and trying to crack down on the dissenting and alternative press. IOW, they don't want people knowing the truth, which has a liberal bias, as Colbert famously quipped. My question: why is Discovery so bold in favor of truth and democracy in Poland but doesn't mind waddling in our murky sub-democratic press issues in the USA? Unfortunately, I already know the answer: money, of course.
Still, good for the Polish people that an American company is standing up for their rights and freedoms. Let's have more of that on the home front!
