Journalism Innovation Under Autocratization: Comparing Journalistic Resistance in Poland and Slovakia

   

Abstract

Scholars have long recognized that silencing independent media and capturing the public sphere are top priorities for autocratizers. Independent media, however, have reacted. As autocratizing governments increase attacks on media freedom, innovation becomes crucial for devising practices of resistance. This study analyzes innovative journalism practices in two European Union countries with contrasting political trajectories: Poland, where the liberal opposition ousted the autocratizing government led by Prawo i Sprawiedliwość in 2023, and Slovakia, where autocratizing leader Robert Fico won parliamentary elections in the same year. To address the research question “How have independent media and critical journalists reacted to the actions autocratizing governments in Poland and Slovakia have taken to limit media freedom?” the contribution relies on 30 semistructured interviews with local journalists and experts, mapping the coping mechanisms these actors have implemented to respond to the challenge of autocratization. Findings show that the main innovations concern institutionalizing and routinizing structural cooperation, unionizing and establishing journalism associations, and launching financially independent media and journalistic projects. There are also signs of a trend of Europeanization of both autocratization and journalistic resistance.