Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf, tapped to co-moderate Poland’s upcoming presidential debate, has once again showcased her “objectivity.” The journalist, employed by the state broadcaster’s controversial interim management, has reposted an online screed targeting, among others, Karol Nawrocki. Social-media users are livid.
Will Wysocka-Schnepf Really Host the Presidential Debate?
On Tuesday, a closed-door meeting took place at the headquarters of the state broadcaster (currently under liquidation). Campaign representatives for the presidential contenders sat down with executives from the Television Information Agency to iron out details of the 12 May debate, which the soon-to-be-dissolved TVP plans to co-produce with Polsat and TVN.
Broadcaster officials announced that Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf would serve as moderator. The reporter, known for controversial pieces that earned her Poland’s 2024 “Hyena of the Year” anti-award, immediately drew pushback: delegates from eight separate campaign teams objected to her appointment.
The Hate-Laced Post
The storm of criticism appears to have done little to prompt self-reflection. Wysocka-Schnepf recently retweeted a post that lambasted three presidential hopefuls — Karol Nawrocki, Marek Jakubiak and Krzysztof Stanowski.
“Stanowski, Nawrocki and Jakubiak — Kaczyński’s trio. Three PiS puppets sent to face a laser-focused Trzaskowski. Pre-debate brown-nosing. The masks have slipped off these clowns,” the hostile tweet read, before being shared by the would-be debate host.
Online Backlash
The move has sparked a wave of condemnation online. A sampling of comments:
- “So this is what passes for an ‘independent’ TVP journalist? So much for free media.”
- “In any normal country with normal public broadcasting — think the BBC in the UK — retweeting something like this would be grounds for dismissal.”
- “Unbelievable.”
Supreme Court judge Kamil Zaradkiewicz posted a photo of Wysocka-Schnepf posing with former Constitutional Tribunal president Andrzej Rzepliński. Meanwhile, PiS MP Anna Czerwińska resurfaced a clip from last year’s European Parliament campaign debate, co-hosted by Wysocka-Schnepf and Justyna Dobrosz-Oracz, to underscore her point.