Poland Fines Scripps' Unit for Coverage of Anti-Cabinet Rallies

TVN24 unit propagated illegal actions, media regulator says
Scripps will appeal regulator’s decision in Polish courts

A woman holds a giant Polish national flag as People attend the anti-government demonstration of opposition parties supporters and Committee for the Defence of Democracy movement (KOD) the day after the parliament crisis in front of building of Polish Parliament, in Warsaw, on December 17, 2016. / AFP / AFP PHOTO / WOJTEK RADWANSKI (Photo credit should read WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP/Getty Images)Photographer: WOJTEK RADWANSKI/AFP

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By Marta Waldoch

December 11, 2017 at 4:43 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Poland’s media-market regulator fined a news channel owned by Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. for its coverage of anti-government protests last year, raising pressure on the U.S. company being bought by Discovery Communications Inc.

Scripps’s main Polish 24-hour news network, TVN24, “violated” regulations by “propagating actions breaching the law and fostering activities that threaten safety” during its coverage of protests in December, 2016, the regulator said in a statement on Monday. Scripps said it “strongly disagrees with the decision” and will appeal it through the Polish court system, spokesman Dylan Jones said by email.