As the most consequential Polish election campaign since the fall of communism got into its stride this summer, one study found that almost 100% of the coverage accorded by state television to the main opposition candidate, Donald Tusk, was negative. The only surprise in this was that the occasional even-handed story somehow slipped through the net.
Poland’s ruling radical right Law and Justice party (PiS) has systematically eroded liberal democratic norms over the past eight years. Public TV and radio channels have been straightforwardly commandeered and now, as PiS seeks a third term, they are being deployed as the government’s most potent propaganda arm. For months, Mr Tusk, who was Poland’s prime minister from 2007 to 2014 before becoming president of the European Council, has been subjected to scurrilous vilification.
