Every third Pole wants public media to be financed from a radio and TV license fees, shows a poll by Homo Homini.

Almost 60 per cent of Poles and 90 per cent of companies do not pay license fees because they feel they can escape punishment. Nevertheless, 30 per cent of Poles support the license fee.

Poles also accept other ways of financing public media. Almost 27 per cent of respondents think that media payment should be included in income or corporate tax and 21 per cent think that it should be included in one’s electricity bill. Only 12 per cent of Poles support the idea of financing public media from the state budget.

There has been an on-going debate in Poland on how to finance public media. Recently, President Lech Kaczynski vetoed bills which aim to abolish the license fee by establishing financing of state-owned media from the budget.

Public media in twenty-one EU member states are financed from license fees and in six countries from state budgets. (mg/mmj)

Source: Dziennik Gazeta Prawna