Political crises in Poland have frequently been accompanied by criticisms of the system of mass communication; no more so than during the birth of `Solidarity'. These criticisms may be regarded as attempts to modify perceptions of the political role of the media, and thus the philosophy underlying the system itself. Employing an analytical framework which regards the structure of broadcast media in any period as the result of a compromise between the conflicting pressures created by specifically social determinants and more general processes of societal change, this article considers how recent social and political events in Poland might affect the present and future development of Polish broadcasting.