he sat on the couch in Krzysztof Stanowski’s Kanał Zero. The journalist was persuaded to reminisce about old times. He rarely appears on traditional television anymore, but that doesn’t mean he’s no longer up to date with what’s happening there. In Channel Zero he said that he saw the increasing Americanization of programs and the tying of the presenters’ hands with purchased ready-made scripts. He also does not look with hope at what is currently happening on TVP.
Wojciech Mann critically about changes in television
The legendary journalist and host of many cult entertainment programs recalled how during the PiS government he broke his doctrine and clearly chose one side of the political dispute. Until 2020, he worked at Radio Trójka and left as a gesture of solidarity with the dismissed Anna Gacek. “I decided that I would make this decision, and not someone else for me,” he said in “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
In the previous months, he had already directly attacked ruling politicians – for example, he dedicated the song “Neanderthal Man” by Hotlegs to Morawiecki after the former prime minister ignored the mayor of Gdańsk during the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the elections. Aleksandra Dulkiewicz tried to say hello to Morawiecki, but he, separated by a wall of security guards, did not react.
Mann also criticized changes in radio (the departure of Andrzej Andrus and others) and signaled that journalists self-censor themselves when appearing on air. He did not do it during the Polish People’s Republic, as he mentioned on the air:
During Gomułka’s time, I did not criticize Gomułka on the radio. Presumably because in my 20s I knew it would put an end to my dream career as a music editor. Perhaps I was a coward, he summed up honestly on Channel Zero.
Now he speaks more often and willingly about politics, which he observes and analyzes on an ongoing basis. The conclusions he draws are not optimistic:
Political leaders on all sides have somehow become convinced that television is a useful tool. It will not be useful if it is a place that teaches and entertains, it just needs to be filled with “didactic stink”, propaganda. Attachment to the fact that it is useful – there is no escape from it. It’s more convenient this way. When all the television is against me, I feel sad. But when I can help someone else, I feel happier – he said in a conversation with Krzysztof Stanowski.
He also looks at changes in TVP and public radio from the perspective of a professional and music market expert, not just a citizen and journalist.
Even in those earlier times, politicians’ interference had its place. Apart from him, things happened that were valuable today, if you take off the stinking ideological crème de la crème. And in the recent period of television, I haven’t seen any initiatives that would move me positively.
I look at it with great suspicion, because on the radio where I appear, I said that I was irritated by the self-deprecating declaration of current television that “artists are coming back to us after 8 years” and that veterans of the Polish entertainment scene were mentioned. And I thought that bragging about the return of those who were stars 15, 20, 30 years ago is a bit of an embarrassment to this television. She should show new breath, new people. There are plenty of young, excellent bands, and plenty of young, very bad bands. And let them show you what’s going on. And they mention veterans whom I like privately, but this should not be on the banners of the new regained television, he concluded.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
