The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) formed a pioneering partnership with the leading Polish news and media company, TVN, to research and strengthen journalism standards and principles.
TVN’s news networks TVN24, TVN24 Bis and the nightly broadcast news show “Fakty” provide the most watched news coverage in Poland. The media group is also the leading Polish online news and multimedia company.
The initiative began with visits to TVN’s Warsaw headquarters and will be followed by exchanges to share best practices and insights between TVN journalists and SMPA faculty.
SMPA Director Frank Sesno and J.B. and M.C. Shapiro Professor of Media and Public Affairs Robert Entman will lead the partnership with TVN’s senior news department managers.
The SMPA team will also include former Shapiro Fellow and former NBC News director Jeffrey Blount and Richard Griffiths, former vice president and senior editorial director at CNN.
“This project has attracted some of our most accomplished researchers and experts in journalism’s best practices — a team that has helped to define the meaning of responsible and effective journalism,” said former CNN anchor and D.C. bureau chief Frank Sesno.
The groundbreaking partnership will help TVN build on its dedication to providing high-quality news, with expert journalists and researchers identifying and measuring newsroom standards and procedures at the Polish broadcast company.
“Our partnership shows TVN's strong and admirable commitment to journalistic principles by welcoming researchers into the newsroom with complete access and a willingness to receive thoughtful feedback on their work,” said principal investigator Robert Entman.
“It is a unique and exciting opportunity for us to deepen our understanding as scholars, and an innovative way to carry out our school’s dedication to a free press.”
Entman will also lead a team of scholars conducting a detailed content analysis of TVN’s online and on-air reporting to measure the balance and diversity of voices in news reports as part of the project.
SMPA’s independent reports on its research will provide TVN an independent overview of the news operation’s strengths and areas for improvement.
“We are excited by the prospect of working with GW to ensure that TVN is a leader not only in Poland, but a standard setter among the world’s most respected news organizations," said Scripps Networks International and TVN Management Board President Jim Samples.