Discovery official vows fight to keep Polish media company

By VANESSA GERA
Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — An executive with Discovery Inc. says the U.S.-owned company will fight hard to keep control of a television network it owns in Poland, a $3 billion investment that is threatened by a new media bill that passed in parliament this week. The bill would ban any entity from outside Europe from owing from more than 49% of a media company in Poland. The right-wing government says it’s a way to defend national sovereignty. Critics see an authoritarian attempt to silence the most important source of independent TV news in the European Union member. Jean-Briac Perrette, president and CEO of Discovery International, said the company has a fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders to defend its interests.