Sieci

SieciEditor-in-chief| Jacek Karnowski

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Political alignment| Right-wing
Categories| News magazine
Political magazine
Frequency| Weekly
Publisher| Fratria Sp. z o.o.
Paid circulation| 38 993[1]
Total circulation
(2019)| 92 835
Founded| November 26, 2012; 11 years ago (2012-11-26)
Country| Poland
Based in| Warsaw
Language| Polish
Website| www.wsieciprawdy.pl
ISSN| 2299-5579

Sieci (English lit.: the Network), also stylised as W Sieci, wSieci, or Tygodnik Sieci; is a right-wing weekly magazine published in Poland.[2][3][4]

## Founding and editorial policy[edit]

Sieci (as well as the similar competing Do Rzeczy) was founded following a conflict within Uważam Rze which led to the termination of many journalists. The first issue of Sieci was published on 26 November 2012.[5]

Sieci's editorial policy is inline with the Law and Justice (PiS) party, and has been opposed to the competing Civic Platform party since its founding. The editorial line follows identity journalism which aims not to inform, but to integrate and mobilise supporters of a particular political option.[6] The magazine regularly features interviews with people connected to the PiS platform and presents social issues in a dichotomous manner that is divided between PiS supporters and detractors. The magazine places an emphasis on politics, presenting political affairs in a monochromatic fashion referring frequently to economic freedom and "Catholic values".[5]

## Controversies[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (April 2021)

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In 2013, the magazine feature a front page with Tomasz Lis is an SS uniform with the tag line "almost like Goebbels".[7]

The magazine was ordered by the court to publish a correction and public apology to Ewa Kopacz for falsely claiming that she pays for a personal stylist using public funds.[8]

In 2016, the magazine ran a cover with a white women assaulted by dark males under the title "The Islamic Rape of Europe" which evoked outrage,[4][9] and has been compared to WWII propaganda with the same imagery.[10][11]

In July 2017, it was uncovered that the Ministry of Culture paid the magazine zl 145,500 in 2016 and 2017 for a series of interviews with the director of the World War II museum in Gdańsk, prompting allegation of corruption and cronyism.[12]

In 2017, the editor-in-chief Karnowski accused the courts of enacting revenge on the magazine due its critical stance on the separation of powers and the Polish judiciary, calling them a "caste of judges", with the ruling forcing the magazine to change its name from wSieci as infringing on Rzeczpospolita's column trademark.[13]

In July 2019 the city of Gdańsk issued defamation court proceedings against the magazine for numerous highly provocative and slanderous claims of Germanophilia, treason and Polonophobia including: "the leaders of Gdańsk do not cherish Polishness", "they want to join Germany", "they are actively engaging in war against Poland", they are cultivating a politicised history which rejects the heroism and pride of the Polish soldier and they are consciously referring to the traditions of the Free City of Danzig" , "the city restored the sign "Postamt" on the council postal office", "they have led the area of Westerplatte to ruins", "they did not send a representative to the funeral celebrations of the one of the last veterans of the Battle of Westerplatte, mjr. Ignacy Skowroń".[14]

A front cover questioning whether the COVID-19 pandemic is real (cover title "Is this a false pandemic?") was heavily criticised in August 2020 as promoting anti-science.[15]

In September 2020, the magazine ran a cover with Jarosław Kaczyński's homophobic statement that "LGBT ideology threatens our civilisation".[16]

In November 2020 the city of Sopot won a libel case against the magazine for spreading fake news[17] claiming in 2019 that "In Sopot you will not see the Polish flag anywhere. There all the flags; the flags of the city, the voivodeship, the EU, but you will not see a red and white flag."[18]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Tygodniki opinii ze spadkami w 2019 roku, "Gazeta Polska" najbardziej w dół. "Wydawnictwa będą miały problem z utrzymaniem się na rynku" (in Polish), www.wirtualnemedia.pl, 2020-02-28
2. ^ [1], Repozytorium Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2019-07-02
3. ^ Migration on the Move: Essays on the Dynamics of Migration, Brill, page 32
4. ^ a b Polish magazine's 'Islamic rape of Europe' cover sparks outrage, The Guardian, 16 February 2016
5. ^ a b JAS-KOZIARKIEWICZ, Marta. "POLISH OPINION WEEKLIES ABOUT BREXIT IN 2015 AND 2016." Online Journal Modelling the New Europe 29 (2019).
6. ^ In context of Do Rzeczy in: Brzoza, Katarzyna and Kornacka-Grzonka, Monika (2017) Narracja medialna wyrażona na okładkach wybranych tygodników opinii podczas parlamentarnej kampanii wyborczej 2015 roku, (Polish), Polityka i Społeczeństwo, No. 4(15), p. 115.
7. ^ "Tomasz Lis w mundurze SS - kontrowersyjna okładka". 13 October 2013.
8. ^ "Sprostowanie do artykułu opublikowanego w dziale Przegląd Tygodnia - tygodnik "Sieci"".
9. ^ The Everyday Politics of Migration Crisis in Poland: Between Nationalism, Fear and Emphathy, Palgrave Macmillan, chapter by Krzysztof Jaskulowski, 2019, pages 31-53
10. ^ Goździak, Elżbieta M., and Péter Márton. "Where the wild things are: Fear of Islam and the anti-refugee rhetoric in Hungary and in Poland." Central and Eastern European Migration Review 17.2 (2018): 125-151.
11. ^ The so-called 'Islamic rape of Europe' is part of a long and racist history, Washington Post, 16 February 2016
12. ^ "145,5 tys. Zł od Ministerstwa Kultury dla wydawcy tygodnika "Sieci" - Polsat News".
13. ^ "Tygodnik "W Sieci" musi zmienić nazwę. Tak zadecydował sąd". 30 June 2017.
14. ^ "Miasto Gdańsk broni dobrego imienia. Tygodnik "Sieci" wezwany do przeprosin i wpłaty 100 tys. Zł na cel społeczny".
15. ^ "Tygodnik "Sieci" pyta na okładce, czy pandemia jest fałszywa. Szumowski: Takie teorie obrażają pamięć zmarłych na koronawirusa".
16. ^ "Ireland is a "Catholic wilderness with rampant LGBT ideology" and Poland could follow, warns Kaczyński". 16 September 2020.
17. ^ "Wyborcza.pl".
18. ^ "Tygodnik "Sieci" sprostuje nieprawdziwe informacje o flagach w Sopocie".

## External links[edit]

Official website