Top Polish journalists protest against fine on US-owned broadcaster

The judges of Poland’s main journalism award have condemned a state regulator’s decision to impose a fine on a private US-owned TV station for its coverage of anti-government protests in 2016, AP said. The jury of the Grand Press award also called on the regulator, the KRRiT, to cancel a fine of nearly 1.5 million zlotys ($420,000) that it imposed on the TVN24 all-news station on Monday. It is owned by the US Scripps Networks Interactive. The fine could be interpreted as an “attempt at intimidating the broadcaster, whose message does not suit the ruling team,” the judges said. The regulator stated that TVN24 promoted unsafe behavior in its reports from last year's street protests. The station will appeal the penalty.