Continuation of the scandal with Campus Polska. Maciej Orłoś resigns from participation in the panel

Maciej Orłoś, a popular television journalist, has not been associated with the Public Television since 2016, where he worked for 25 years. Currently, he runs the channel “W Telegrafowym Krócie” on YouTube. On August 26, Orłoś was to take part in a discussion panel devoted to public media at Rafał Trzaskowski’s Campus Polska Przyszłości event. He changed his mind after the organizers canceled the “symmetrists debate”. Grzegorz Sroczyński, a journalist and columnist for Gazeta.pl, was to be one of the panellists.

Symmetrists debate at Campus Poland cancelled. Eagle protests

Maciej Orłoś explained why he agrees with the decision to cancel the debate. “Journalists must be guaranteed freedom of expression, freedom and independence. These are the basic assumptions of this profession,” he wrote.

He added that he understood and supported “Marcin Meller, who did not agree to lead the panel without the participation of Grzegorz Sroczyński.” “I understand Sroczyński’s explanation of his polemic with a group of staunch supporters of PO Strong Together. I understand the argument that a polemic with this group is an action for the Civic Coalition. And I do not understand the decision of the organizers of the Campus to exclude Grzegorz Sroczyński from participating in the panel – for saying what he thought on TOK FM, for a good cause anyway, “- explained Orłoś in a Facebook post. He added that the situation was absurd because the name of the panel suggested that the participants would not be uncritical towards PO and KO.

“In view of the above, in order to express my disagreement with shutting the mouths of journalists, I decided to resign from participating in the panel on public media, which is scheduled for Saturday, August 26 and will take place as part of the Polska Future 2023 Campus,” he wrote.

Earlier, historian and journalist OKO.Press Adam Leszczyński and Inicjatywa Wschód withdrew from the event. Leszczyński wrote that he regarded the organizers’ decision as stifling an open debate. “After the news about the removal of the panel of four critical journalists, we decided that Inicjatywa Wschód will not take part in this event. We will not be a tool of the party’s struggle for power,” wrote activist Dominika Lasota.

On Thursday, Marcin Meller announced the cancellation of the “symmetrists debate”. “In short: the organizers of the Campus called me asking if I could lead the panel without Grzegorz Sroczyński. I replied that there was no such possibility. As a result, I heard that the invitation is being withdrawn,” he wrote. The organizers issued a statement explaining the reasons for their decision.