As a sign of solidarity with TVN24, dozens of Poland's largest nationwide and local media outlets have decided to publish on their websites a report titled "The Power of a Lie" by our own Piotr Świerczek. The report exposes lack of reliability in the works of the so called Smolensk Subcommittee led by MP Antoni Macierewicz, whose task was to investigate the 2010 presidential aircraft crash that killed Poland's then president Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and 94 other people. Now, instead of safeguarding the freedom of speech, Poland's National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT), acting on Antoni Macierewicz's request, seeks to punish TVN for its report.
"We are very grateful for this support. Those currently in power have once again learned that Polish media and journalists will not be intimidated or silenced," says Michał Samul, TVN24 and "Fakty" TVN editor-in-chief.
Among those involved in the support campaign are the following media outlets: Onet, WP, "Gazeta Wyborcza", gazeta.pl, "Rzeczpospolita", Tok FM, Radio Zet, RMF FM, "Press", "Fakt", "Newsweek", "Tygodnik Podhalański", OKO.Press, natemat.pl, "Polityka", "Dziennik Gazeta Prawna", "Tygodnik Powszechny" as well as media united under the Local Papers Association (Stowarzyszenie Gazet Lokalnych). At each of the above media websites, it will be possible to watch the full 77-minute-long report, in which we have cast doubt on the reliability of the Macierewicz subcommittee's work. Editorial boards mark the report on social media with the hashtag #wolnemedia.
In December, 2022, we received a letter from the National Broadcasting Council, which said that due to the airing of the TVN24 report, the Council chairperson launched proceedings aimed at punishing us. The Council accuses us of "promoting acting in violation of the law, Polish national interest, and acting with risk to security" as well as "unreliability and nonobjectivity".
The KRRiT has not presented a single concrete piece of evidence to support its claims.
Statement by "Fakty" TVN and TVN24 editorial board regarding "The Power of a Lie" report
January 2, 2023
In a TVN24 report "The Power of a Lie", we cast doubt on the reliability of the work of the so-called Macierewicz's subcommittee. We have uncovered supressed facts from the American NIAR report as well as accounts of people who took part in the Smolensk subcommittee works.
Instead of safeguarding the freedom of speech, Poland's National Broadcasting Council, acting on Antoni Macierewicz's request, wants to punish us. The only aim of such punishment is an attempt to restrict journalistic criticism of the subcommittee's work. It is absolutely unacceptable in under the constitutional duties of the press, which is obligated to watch public institutions.
TVN will carry on publishing facts, regardless of anyone who finds them inconvenient. Our viewers have the right to know what those in power want to keep secret. That is what the freedom of speech is all about.
"The Power of a Lie" received numerous accolades, while its author won a 2022 Grand Press award for investigative journalism. The report is available at tvn24.pl.
First aired on September 12, 2022, "The Power of a Lie" is a result of many months of meticulous work carried out by TVN24 "Czarno na białym" reporter Piotr Świerczek. The author has seen videos, images, and international expertise on the 2010 Smolensk plane crash. Although said expertise and documentation had been ordered by the so-called Antoni Macierewicz's Smolensk Subcommittee, they were never used in any of the subcommittee's reports, including the last one - meant to be the final report. Said materials either directly rule out assassination or point to an air disaster as the cause of the tragedy. Furthermore, Piotr Świerczek spoke with people who had worked for the subcommittee, but disagree with its conclusions suggesting that what happened in Smolensk was an assassination. On top of that, the same people state openly that their research was either manipulated or cherry-picked to match the theses preconceived by the subcommittee.
For his report "The Power of a Lie", Piotr Świerczek received a 2022 Grand Press award in the investigative journalism category. He is also the author of other reports, including "The Power of Facts" and "The Power of Sound".
Support from the largest nationwide outlets and local media:
WP.pl https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/macierewicz-zrobi-wszystko-zeby-ukarac-tvn-za-glosny-film-nie-ma-na-to-zgody-6851630570777504a Onet.pl https://www.onet.pl/informacje/onetwiadomosci/sila-klamstwa-reportaz-tvn24-o-podkomisji-antoniego-macierewicza-wideo/3rptzq5,79cfc278 Interia.pl https://wydarzenia.interia.pl/kraj/news-krrit-wszczyna-postepowanie-po-reportazu-tvn-publikujemy-mat,nId,6514185 RadioZet https://wiadomosci.radiozet.pl/Polska/sila-klamstwa-antoniego-macierewicza-publikujemy-reportaz-piotra-swierczka-z-tvn24 Rzeczpospolita https://www.rp.pl/kraj/art37723831-tvn-do-krritv-widzowie-maja-prawo-wiedziec-czego-wladza-nie-chce-ujawniac Tygodnik Podhalański https://24tp.pl/n/102366 Newsweek https://www.newsweek.pl/polska/newsweek-solidaryzuje-sie-z-tvn-publikujemy-reportaz-sila-klamstwa/pcmg5hz Wyborcza https://wyborcza.pl/7,82983,29324294,wyborcza-solidarna-z-tvn.html Gazeta.pl https://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/7,114883,29323412,tvn24-na-celowniku-wladzy-za-jeden-film-dlatego-gazeta-pl-teraz.html#s=BoxMMtImg1 Fakt https://www.fakt.pl/polityka/sila-klamstwa-wladzy-nie-podoba-sie-reportaz-zobacz-co-ustalil-dziennikarz-tvn24/mpvdb2g Press https://www.press.pl/tresc/74543,takze-_press_-publikuje-reportaz----sila-klamstwa---_-wladza-nie-moze-zastraszac-mediow Polityka https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/2196312,1,publikujemy-reportaz-za-ktory-szef-krrit-chce-ukarac-tvn.read OKO.press https://oko.press/w-gescie-solidarnosci-publikujemy-reportaz-tvn24-sila-klamstwa Wprost https://www.wprost.pl/kraj/11030578/tvn24-wydalo-oswiadczenie-ws-skargi-macierewicza-na-tym-polega-wolnosc-slowa.html RMF FM https://www.rmf24.pl/fakty/polska/news-sila-klamstwa-reportaz-pod-lupa-krrit-oswiadczenie-tvn-i-tvn,nId,6513960#crp_state=1 TOK FM https://www.tokfm.pl/Tokfm/7,103085,29325061,sila-klamstwa-publikujemy-reportaz-za-ktory-przewodniczacy.html Dziennik.pl https://wiadomosci.dziennik.pl/media/wideo/8626409,tvn-krrit-sila-klamstwa-antoni-macierewicz-katastrofa-smolenska-maciej-swirski.html Puls Biznesu https://www.pb.pl/pis-znow-atakuje-wolne-media-komentarz-1173904 Więź https://wiez.pl/2023/01/04/jak-niszczyc-wolnemedia/ Tygodnik Powszechny https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/sila-klamstwa-obejrzyj-reportaz-o-podkomisji-smolenskiej-181933 natemat.pl https://natemat.pl/460234,natemat-tez-publikuje-reportaz-sila-klamstwa-to-obowiazek-mediow wirtualnemedia.pl https://www.wirtualnemedia.pl/artykul/jak-zobaczyc-reportaz-sila-klamstwa-tvn24-podkomisja-antoni-macierewicz radomszczanska.pl https://radomszczanska.pl/artykul/wolnemedia-akcja-solidarnosciowa/938142 beskidzka24.pl https://beskidzka24.pl/akcja-solidarnosciowa-polskich-mediow-publikujemy-reportaz-piotra-swierczka-sila-klamstwa/ nowagazeta.pl https://nowagazeta.pl/artykul/nie-zgadzamy-sie-na/1390403 ekoszalin.pl https://ekoszalin.pl/wideo/43253- lowiczanin.info https://lowiczanin.info/pl/11_wiadomosci/297622_w-obronie-niezaleznej-telewizji-atakowany-reportaz-obejrzyj-u-nas.html radiotop.pl https://radiotop.pl/reportaz-sila-klamstwa-pod-lupa-krrit-oswiadczenie-tvn/ przelom.pl https://przelom.pl/44244-wolne-media-reportaz-quotsila-klamstwa-quot-tvn24-na-cenzurowanym-zobacz.html lifeinkrakow.pl https://lifeinkrakow.pl/w-opinii/5844,duze-i-male-redakcje-publikuja-reportaz-sila-klamstwa-gest-wsparcia-dla-tvn24 palukitv.pl https://palukitv.pl/artykuly/polityka/5411-sila-klamstwa-reportaz-piotra-swierczka palukimogilno.pl http://www.palukimogilno.pl/artykuly/artykuly-polityka/6629-sila-klamstwa-reportaz-piotra-swierczka tuolawa.pl https://www.tuolawa.pl/artykul/29227,sila-klamstwa-a-w wolnemedia-akcja-solidarnosciowa-redakcji bielsko.biala.pl https://bielsko.biala.pl/aktualnosci/50162/akcja-solidarnosciowa-polskich-mediow-publikujemy-reportaz-sila-klamstwa-wideo chojnice.com http://www.chojnice.com/wiadomosci/teksty/Sila-klamstwa-Bezprecedensowa-akcja-wsparcia-TVN24/31606 rzeczkrotoszynska.pl https://rzeczkrotoszynska.pl/pl/11_wiadomosci/7924_oswiadczenie-redakcji-faktow-tvn-i-tvn24-w-sprawie-materialu-sila-klamstwa.html
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, TVN24