''Sieci'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lit.: ''the Network''), also stylised as ''W Sieci'', ''wSieci'', or ''Tygodnik Sieci''; is a

right-wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...

weekly magazine published in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

.Polish magazine's 'Islamic rape of Europe' cover sparks outrage
''The Guardian'', 16 February 2016

Founding and editorial policy

''Sieci'' (as well as the similar competing ''

Do Rzeczy ''Do Rzeczy'' (, lit. ''To the point'') is a Polish-language conservative and liberal weekly news and political magazine published in Warsaw, Poland. It often promotes the PIS party narrative. History and profile ''Do Rzeczy'' was established ...

'') was founded following a conflict within ''

Uważam Rze ''Uważam Rze. Inaczej pisane'' ("that"), was a reference to the daily newspaper '' Rzeczpospolita'', whose journalists launched the magazine. was a Polish conservative weekly news weekly. History The weekly was launched on 7 February 2011 und ...

'' which led to the termination of many journalists. The first issue of ''Sieci'' was published on 26 November 2012.JAS-KOZIARKIEWICZ, Marta. "POLISH OPINION WEEKLIES ABOUT BREXIT IN 2015 AND 2016." Online Journal Modelling the New Europe 29 (2019).
/ref> ''Siecis editorial policy is inline with the

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

(PiS) party, and has been opposed to the competing

Civic Platform Civic Platform ( pl, Platforma Obywatelska, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a political party in Poland. It is currently led by Donald Tusk. It w ...

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. 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".

Controversies

In 2013, the magazine feature a front page with

Tomasz Lis Tomasz Rafał Lis (born 6 March 1966 in Zielona Góra) is a Polish journalist and former TV anchor of “TVN Fakty” ("TVN Facts") and “Wydarzenia” ("Events"). Life and career Lis was born on 6 March 1966 in Zielona Góra to parents Stef ...

is an SS uniform with the

tag line In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

''"almost like

Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...

"''. The magazine was ordered by the court to publish a correction and public apology to

Ewa Kopacz Ewa Bożena Kopacz (; given name, née Lis; born 3 December 1956) is a Polish politician who has served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament since 2019. She previously was Marshal of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014, the first woman to hold th ...

for falsely claiming that she pays for a personal stylist using public funds. 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,The Everyday Politics of Migration Crisis in Poland: Between Nationalism, Fear and Emphathy
Palgrave Macmillan, chapter by Krzysztof Jaskulowski, 2019, pages 31-53 and has been compared to WWII propaganda with the same imagery.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. 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 Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

and

cronyism Cronyism is the spoils system practice of partiality in awarding jobs and other advantages to friends or trusted colleagues, especially in politics and between politicians and supportive organizations. For example, cronyism occurs when appointin ...

. 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 Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

and the Polish judiciary, calling them a "

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

of judges", with the ruling forcing the magazine to change its name from wSieci as infringing on

Rzeczpospolita () is the official name of Poland and a traditional name for some of its predecessor states. It is a compound of "thing, matter" and "common", a calque of Latin ''rés pública'' ( "thing" + "public, common"), i.e. ''republic'', in Engli ...

's column trademark. In July 2019 the city of

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

issued

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

court proceedings against the magazine for numerous highly provocative and slanderous claims of

Germanophilia A Germanophile, Teutonophile, or Teutophile is a person who is fond of German culture, German people and Germany in general, or who exhibits German patriotism in spite of not being either an ethnic German or a German citizen. The love of the ''Ge ...

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

and Polonophobia including: ''"the leaders of Gdańsk do not cherish Polishness"'', ''"they want to join

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

"'', ''"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 Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gda ...

"'' , ''"the city restored the sign "Postamt" on the council postal office"'', ''"they have led the area of

Westerplatte Westerplatte is a peninsula in Gdańsk, Poland, located on the Baltic Sea coast mouth of the Dead Vistula (one of the Vistula delta estuaries), in the Gdańsk harbour channel. From 1926 to 1939, it was the location of a Polish Military Transi ...

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

"'', ''"they did not send a representative to the funeral celebrations of the one of the last veterans of the

Battle of Westerplatte The Battle of Westerplatte was the first battle of the German invasion of Poland, marking the start of World War II in Europe. It occurred on the Westerplatte peninsula in the harbour of the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). In the mi ...

, mjr. Ignacy Skowroń"''. A front cover questioning whether the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

is real (cover title ''" Is this a false pandemic?"'') was heavily criticised in August 2020 as promoting

anti-science Antiscience is a set of attitudes that involve a rejection of science and the scientific method. People holding antiscientific views do not accept science as an objective method that can generate universal knowledge. Antiscience commonly manifes ...

. In September 2020, the magazine ran a cover with

Jarosław Kaczyński Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician who is currently serving as leader of the Law and Justice party (known by its Polish acronym PiS), which he co-founded in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, w ...

's homophobic statement that ''"LGBT ideology threatens our civilisation"''. In November 2020 the city of

Sopot Sopot is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, and has the status of the county, being the smallest city ...

won a

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

case against the magazine for spreading

fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...

claiming in 2019 that ''"In Sopot you will not see the

Polish flag The national flag of Poland ( pl, flaga Polski) consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colours are defined in the Polish constitution as the national colours. A variant of the 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."''

References

External links

{{Official website, https://www.wsieciprawdy.pl/ 2012 establishments in Poland Conservatism in Poland Conservative magazines Magazines established in 2012 Magazines published in Warsaw Polish-language magazines Political magazines published in Poland