Culture in danger!
On 8th July Polish Radio 2 shall be silent for 24 hours.
It is a protest against the dramatic decline in the financing of its mission.

The worsening financial situation of Polish Radio 2 has forced us to take this unusual form of protest. It is a call to our listeners, our friends, the creative class, our fellow journalists and those who decide about the fate of public media in Poland.

We – the Team of Polish Radio 2 – do not agree for the degradation of the most important elements of the mission of the public radio in Poland. We have conducted our cultural and educational activities with due involvement and conviction. We have always kept the highest standards. We treated the worsening financial situation of our programme as only a temporary problem.

The level of debate on the role of public media in Poland has forced us to give up hope for any solution to this problem in the near future. The attention of the public is almost entirely focused on television and political quarrels. We feel that the voice of culture is ignored in this discussion and our work is simply disregarded.

The lack of stable financing of the Polish Radio has the strongest impact on Polish Radio 2, as this programme is fully dependent on the subsidies. This year we cannot afford to organise The Polish Radio Music Festival. There is less and less contemporary literature and music on air. We have no money for the concerts and recordings, which have already been planned. We cannot support prestigious festivals, which we did co-organise in the past. Even the fact that we have agreed for a radical reduction of our remuneration cannot change this situation.
Next year we shall celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Fryderyk Chopin. The Polish Radio has traditionally supported such events. In the present financial situation it seems impossible to continue this tradition.

The Polish Radio 2 does not broadcast commercials. Our activity cannot be supported by a commercial mechanism. In the developed countries there are proved ways of sustaining such institutions as ours. The lack of unequivocal declarations from people, who decide about the fate of public media in Poland, worries us deeply.
We do not agree for the marginalisation of culture!
On 8th July Polish Radio 2 shall be silent in order to draw public attention to issues neglected in the official debate.
For 24 hours we shall broadcast only this message:

Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a protest of the Team of Polish Radio 2.

Our existence is threatened because the income from the subscription fee is dwindling drastically.
Only stable financing shall let us maintain the quality of our offer in music, literature and cultural journalism.
Only ensuring financial means sufficient for the cultural and educational mission that we fulfil shall save our programme from broadcasting our last concert: The Requiem for Polish Radio 2.
Do not let the Polish Radio be condemned to silence.

We beg for your solidarity with our protest. Do what you can to help us.
You can write or speak about us in other media.
You can also write to us:
dwojka@polskieradio.pl


We do not want to fight alone!

The Team of Polish Radio 2