Fakty TVN reporter Marcin Pawłowski passed away 20 years ago

Marcin Pawłowski hosted his final edition of Fakty just two months before his death. Today marks 20 years since his passing. He was 33 years old.

Marcin Pawłowski began his journalistic journey as a teenager, writing for a high school newspaper in Kielce, his home city. He made his broader debut on the pages of the local Echo Dnia. After completing his studies, he worked for various media outlets, including the newspaper Nowy Świat and Radio Kolor.

In July 1997, Pawłowski joined the newly formed Fakty team at TVN as a reporter and presenter. His work focused on political and social issues. When TVN24 launched in 2001, he began hosting Magazyn 24 godziny.

He reported on some of the most significant events in Poland and around the world, including Pope John Paul II's pilgrimages to Poland, Ukraine, and Israel; the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States; the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City; and the war in Afghanistan. He was also in the studio when the war in Iraq began.

In 2002, Marcin Pawłowski was diagnosed with cancer. After a six-month break, he returned to work, physically changed.

Addressing the viewers during his first Fakty broadcast after his hiatus, he said: "It's hard not to notice that I've changed a bit. It's true - I am ill, and an important part of my fight against this illness is my work, which is why I decided to return. My doctors, bosses, colleagues, and friends understand this. I hope you, the viewers, will understand it as well."

The illness returned in January 2004. Despite feeling very unwell, the journalist went back to work. His final appearance on air was on September 10, 2004. By mid-November, his condition worsened, and blood donations became urgently needed. Tomasz Sianecki, in a tribute to his friend, recalled that blood donation centers had been filled with people carrying notes indicating they had wanted to donate blood for our newsroom colleague.

On November 24, 2004, Pawłowski was laid to rest at Warsaw's Powązki Cemetery. Posthumously, he was honored with the Grand Press Journalist of the Year 2004 award.

"As a basketball player, he was a believer in teamwork and the idea that success - especially in news - comes from playing together," said his wife, Aleksandra, who accepted the award on his behalf.

Marcin Pawłowski met his future wife in the 1990s during a shared bus ride. The couple married in 1993.

"He was a joyful person. A connoisseur of pleasant things: fine clothes, good food, gifts he loved to give, a quality gym, or a swimming pool," his wife recalled. "He would wait for me outside my building at 5 a.m. with flowers. He once spent his entire paycheck on Armani perfume," she shared in an interview with Press magazine.

In 1997, their daughter Zuzanna was born.

Since 2016, TVN and TVN24 have annually recognized the best news reports, honoring the authors with the Marcin Pawłowski Award. Alongside it, the Dariusz Kmiecik Award is presented for the year’s best feature story. This initiative, spearheaded by friends and colleagues, was created to honor the memory of both journalists.

Each year, on the anniversary of Marcin Pawłowski's death, the day’s edition of Fakty concludes with a special tribute segment in his memory.