Abolishing the TV and radio license fee and funding public media from personal and corporate income tax deductions are among the main ideas of a new media bill presented in the lower house of the Parliament, the Sejm, by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).

The party estimates that the amount needed annually would be around 950 mln zloty. Ten percent of this amount could be allocated to private media for public mission broadcasting.

SLD wants the draft to be discussed among parliamentary parties and hopes it would gain the support of both the ruling Civic Platform (PO) and the largest opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS).

In December artists from the Citizens Committee of Public Media group presented their own draft law. Among its main proposals were ending the TV and radio license fee and replacing it a common obligatory fee, the so-called audio-visual fee to be paid jointly with personal and corporate income tax.

The Civic Platform-led government has attempted to abolish the licence fee - and wants to find TVP television and Polskie Radio from direct taxation - but the legislation was vetoed by President Lech Kaczynski. Public broadcasters are currently in desperate financial condition, with Polskie Radio’s new president, Jaroslaw Hasiński saying last week that the broadcaster had only enough money to keep going till the end of June this year. (di/pg)