Sieci (meaning “network” in Polish) is a magazine known for its right-wing bias. The magazine was formed after a split of the newsroom at the Uwazam Rze, another Polish news outlet. Sieci published its first issue in November 2012.
Media assets
Publishing: Sieci
State Media Matrix Typology:
Ownership and governance
The state doesn’t have any influence in the governing structures and ownership of Sieci, the publication being private owned.
Source of funding and budget
A recent study by Kantar, an advertising agency, found that Sieci’s revenue from state advertising increased 30fold between 2015 and 2018 to more than €7m. Although Sieci does not disclose any information about its operation, the state financing accounts today for more than half of its budget, according to local journalists and experts.
Editorial independence
Sieci is openly promoting the interests of the PiS government, which is rewarding the publication for its supportive coverage. Sieci’s editorial policy is fully in line with PiS party. Its journalism is mostly aimed at political mobilization rather than informing. It regularly features PiS representatives and people supporting PiS, according to ad hoc content analyses from 2020 and May 2022, as well as local experts and journalists.
There is no domestic statue and no independent/oversight mechanism validating the independence of the publisher.
October 2023