Controversy has emerged in Poland after the salaries paid to key figures at state broadcaster TVP under the former Law and Justice (PiS) government, which left office earlier this month, were revealed by an MP from the new ruling coalition.
The revelations, including that two figures earned around 1.5 million zloty (€345,000) this year, have been condemned by the new administration, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk. They say that the pay was excessive and note that TVP was used by PiS as a propaganda mouthpiece.
But PiS has responded by pointing to what it says were similarly high earnings by TVP stars when Tusk was previously in power before 2015.
Counter-point to PiS talking about high earning of prior TVP stars:
*TVP did not generate losses during that time. The people mentioned above turned a profit from advertising. During the PiS era, TVP generated only losses, despite increased subsidies.
*These are not earnings, but total production costs of programs in which the hosts were mentioned.
Why would people want a public utility to generate profit?
It says that the service received subsidies as well, so I figure it just means that their books are balanced, and that they’re not spending more money than they take in via subsidies and advertising revenue?
It’s not important, but it shows PiS to be at best bad at managing, and at worst benefactors of graft, and trying to throw that back at the new government is silly
I mean, if they decided to make some channels ad-free and increased subsidies that would be acceptable IMHO. Probably not what happened here, but it’s a model used for public broadcasters elsewhere (and ad-free channels are definitely a good thing).
If it’s a public utility it should be run to benefit the public, not make a profit off of them.
Anyone upset by that part is an idiot or a conservative, not that there’s a difference.
It also shouldn’t generate excessive waste in spending. It’s not a binary of profit vs. public good.
You’re the first one here to mention excessive waste?
That’s a seperate issue to turning a profit. There needs to be a cost/benefit analysis, but there never needs to be a profit driven motive.
It’s implicit in your comment above. Arguing otherwise is in bad faith.
No, you’re very clearly introducing it into the discussion to try and deflect from criticism of profit seeking behaviour in public services.