Kasia Kieli
 Kasia Kieli    (media executive) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Alma mater | Harvard Business School, University of Calgary, University of Notre Dame |
| Member of | Trilateral Commission |
| Interests | Law and Justice (PiS) |
Media executive for the American corporation Warner Bros. Discovery. Runs it Polish operation, including news channel TVN24, which the Polish government attempted to take the license from, citing foreign influence and national sovereignty issues. She attended Bilderberg/2023 | |
Kasia Kieli is "one of the most experienced and recognized leaders in the media industry", working for the American corporation Warner Bros. Discovery, where "she heads up the company’s business in 140 markets, including UK, Poland, France, Germany, Benelux, Italy, Spain and Nordics."[1] [2] She also has responsibility for the news channel TVN24, which the Polish government attempted to remove the license from, citing foreign influence and national sovereignty issues.
She attended the 2023 Bilderberg meeting. She is a member of the Trilateral Commission.
Contents
Education
Kieli is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. She also has an MBA and degree from the University of Calgary and an American History degree from the University of Notre Dame, where she lectured for some time.[3]
Career
Kieli joined Discovery and founded the Polish office in 2000. Her team, composed of two members at the time, today consists of over 4,200 people and Warsaw has grown into one of the most important Warner Bros. Discovery locations in Europe and in the world. From 2017 to 2022, as President and Managing Director of Discovery EMEA, Kasia Kieli headed up the company’s business in 140 markets.[3]
Foreign influence law and TVN24
From 2019, Poland’s state broadcasting authority had refused to renew the license for the "independent" news channel VN24′s, owned by the US company Discovery. The television channel is watched by millions of people daily in Poland and had for decades been strongly critical of the Polish government under the country’s right-wing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party.[4][5]
The government of PiS Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said it no longer wanted companies from outside of Europe to have controlling stakes in Polish media companies, citing national security and sovereignty issues.[6]
In 2021, Discovery found a way to circumvent the decision, and was granted a Dutch license that would allow it to keep broadcasting its TVN24 into Poland. At the same time, the lower house of Poland’s parliament gave initial approval to a bill which that would force Discovery to sell its controlling share in its Polish network.[6]
Events Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/2023 | 18 May 2023 | 21 May 2023 | Portugal Lisbon Pestana Palace Hotel | The 69th Bilderberg Meeting, held in Lisbon, with 128 guests on the official list. The earliest in the year since 2009. |
| Bilderberg/2024 | 30 May 2024 | 2 June 2024 | Spain Madrid | The 70th Bilderberg Meeting |
References
- ↑ https://corporate.discovery.com/leadership/katarzyna-kieli/
- ↑ https://pl.linkedin.com/in/kasia-kieli-0b99a38
- ↑ a b https://warsawsecurityforum.org/speaker/kieli-kasia/
- ↑ https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/central-europe/2016-09-21/poland-not-hungary
- ↑ https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/14/perspectives/poland-media-law-free-press-discovery/index.html
- ↑ a b https://nypost.com/2021/08/16/discovery-finds-new-option-to-continue-embattled-polish-news-station-tvn24/
