Trump Envoy Defends U.S.-Owned Polish TV Targeted by State Media

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. envoy to Poland stepped in to defend TVN, a television network owned by Discovery Inc., which has been targeted by the public broadcaster following a negative report about the head of the ruling party.

Polish state television, which human rights groups say has become the mouthpiece for the nationalist government, has for days run negative stories about TVN’s main nightly news show, Fakty. The pieces include reports about alleged communist links of the families of some journalists.

“FaktyTVN is part of the Discovery family -- a publicly traded U.S. company listed on the NY Stock Exchange, committed to transparency, freedom of speech, and independent, responsible journalism,” Ambassador Georgette Mosbacher wrote on Twitter. “To suggest otherwise is simply false.”

Public television lashed out at TVN after it reported that Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the head of the ruling Law & Justice party, visited his mother’s grave this month, even though the cemetery was shut to ordinary Poles because of coronavirus lockdown measures. Kaczynski has not commented, but his party said he was carrying out official state duties.

“Our mission and our task is to inform about important matters, regardless of who is in power and what option the heroes of our materials represent,” Fakty responded to the attacks with an on-air statement.

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