Everyone knows what the yellow triangles, green circle or red square in the corner of the screen mean. These symbols indicate which children may watch a given program. All Polish stations are required to label their broadcasts. The law has been in force for several years. At the Bolesławiec television station, however, we will not see these labels.
– Under the Broadcasting Act, programs that may negatively affect the development of minors must be labeled. Until now, the television station had not been inspected in this regard – admits Katarzyna Twardowska, spokesperson for the National Broadcasting Council, Katarzyna Twardowska.
However, the lack of program labels is not the only thing we noticed. Since May this year, sponsored broadcasts should end with a screen displaying the sponsor’s name and the large word “SPONSOR.” In our opinion, this should also apply to programs financed by the Municipal Office or the District Office.
In May alone, the television station broadcast two programs paid for by the Bolesławiec Municipal Office. Interestingly, preparing and broadcasting a recording lasting less than 15 minutes of a meeting concerning education cost more than PLN 3,200. At the end of the program, it was stated only that “The program was produced at the request of the Bolesławiec Municipal Office.” The word “sponsor” was absent.
As Katarzyna Twardowska of the National Broadcasting Council explains, “sponsorship means any contribution to financing […] a broadcast by an entity […] in order to promote its name, company, reputation, activity, goods or services […]”. The programs paid for by Bolesławiec officials fit this definition perfectly, although, as Twardowska points out, the National Broadcasting Council must first watch the programs in order to assess them.
We asked Alicja Burchardt-Kubów, president of the “Azart-Sat” television station, why the programs were not labeled. Unfortunately, she did not answer this question. In a bizarre reply, she wrote that we should ask the holder of the license. In other words, effectively her, because she is also vice-president of a company from Jelenia Góra that holds the license to distribute the Bolesławiec program.
A mistake? Negligence? Lack of knowledge of the law? Or perhaps simple oversight? In the end, it is not known. The National Broadcasting Council will settle the matter and also decide on any possible penalty for the broadcaster.
(information: Krzysztof Gwizdała)
See also
Regulation on the manner of sponsoring broadcasts or other communications