Media blackout in Poland

WARSAW: Poland’s commercial TV and radio networks went off air on Wednesday and newspapers blacked out their front pages in protest against a proposed tax that critics say will crush independent media.

Dozens of news outlets took part in the unprecedented 24-hour blackout, accusing the government of designing a tax that would limit freedom of expression and media pluralism.

“This is where your favourite programme was supposed to be,” read a message in white letters on a black background on the TVN24 news channel, which is owned by the US group Discovery. The front pages of national newspapers, including the most widely read dailies Fakt and Gazeta Wyborcza, read simply: “Media Without Choice”.