Polish Senate rejects media bill affecting US-owned company

By VANESSA GERA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Senate voted has rejected a media bill seen as targeting a U.S.-owned television network’s ability to keep broadcasting independent news. However, the Senate has no power to stop it altogether. The bill is to return to parliament’s lower house and if it passes there, it would then go to the president — who has said he would not sign it into law in its current form. The bill, which passed parliament’s lower house last month, would prevent any non-European entity from owning more than a 49% stake in television or radio broadcasters in Poland. It is widely seen as an attack on media freedom.