Incident
Poland: state oil company Orlen buys the Polska Press newspaper group
Poland's state-controlled oil company PKN Orlen completed the purchase of Polska Press, a group of 20 regional newspapers reaching millions of readers, from its German owner, over objections from Poland's human rights commissioner.123
What happened
PKN Orlen, an oil and gas company majority owned by the Polish state, announced on December 7, 2020, that it would buy Polska Press, a group of 20 regional daily newspapers and about 120 local weeklies and websites reaching an estimated 17.4 million readers, from Germany's Verlagsgruppe Passau. Poland's national human rights commissioner, Adam Bodnar, warned in March 2021 that state control over the group could let officials influence editorial boards. Orlen completed the acquisition in April 2021 and installed a new management team. Some journalists at member papers, including Polska Times, said their day-to-day assignments had not changed immediately but that they feared future interference. On February 10, 2021, dozens of independent Polish outlets, including national broadcasters, staged a one-day protest against a separate proposed advertising tax, running the message "Media without choice" instead of normal programming, a protest that took place against the backdrop of the Orlen deal.123
Sustained as of the sources reviewed.123
What reason was given
Stated justification
What changed for reporting
Polska Press journalists described uncertainty about their outlets' editorial direction once a state-controlled company held ownership, even before any specific change in coverage was reported.1
Timeline
2021
Who acted
| Name | Role in this incident | Office at the time |
|---|---|---|
| Mateusz Morawiecki | other | Prime Minister of Poland |
| PKN Orlen | other | Poland's state-controlled oil and gas company |
Outlets and journalists
| Name | Kind | Relation |
|---|---|---|
| Polska Press | outlet | affected |
Sources
- Mission Journal: 'Trench warfare' in Polish press as government eyes next election cycle
- Poland uses state-owned refiner to buy regional media firm
Claims and evidence
Each numbered claim quotes the source it rests on.
- A journalist inside the acquired group describing the atmosphere after the sale.
For the time being, our work has not changed but we are, of course, full of concerns that this scenario could be repeated
Mission Journal: 'Trench warfare' in Polish press as government eyes next election cycle, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2021-04-01.Claim 532, checked 2026-09-22. - Statement from Poland's human rights commissioner on the risk of the sale.
could easily gain influence over editorial boards, and thus transform a free press, which is tasked with producing honest and fact-based criticism of the public administration and the people who man it, into pro-government information and propaganda bulletins
Mission Journal: 'Trench warfare' in Polish press as government eyes next election cycle, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2021-04-01.Claim 629, checked 2026-09-22. - Description of the one-day protest by independent outlets.
Media without choice
Mission Journal: 'Trench warfare' in Polish press as government eyes next election cycle, Committee to Protect Journalists, 2021-04-01.Claim 630, checked 2026-09-22.