BBC News Polska to be launched by BBC World Service

BBC World Service is expanding its news offer with the launch of a pilot Polish-language news website, BBC News Polska…

Going live from Tuesday 24 June 2025, the website will deliver independent and impartial news in text and video for Polish-speaking audiences.

Deputy Global Director, BBC News, Fiona Crack:

“Launching BBC News Polska, we are bringing together the most effective practices of working responsibly and innovatively with AI to reach Polish-speakers with the best of the BBC’s global and regional journalism. Following successful trials and advances in translation services, we are able to launch a new offer alongside original stories and fresh angles from our excellent Polish-speaking team. We look forward to building an audience for whom this content will serve as a welcome and required source of trusted news and information.”

The new language offer will help counter a wave of disinformation in the region and provide news and analysis on areas audiences are seeking information on, including the ongoing wars and conflicts, health, climate change, and the cost of living. News Polska content will be available via its social-media channels on Facebook and Instagram.

The pilot language initiative will come from existing budgets and will be reviewed throughout its first year of operation. The BBC World Service’s ability to respond to changing audience demands, launch further pilots and adapt to global challenges relies on the need for a long-term sustainable funding model. BBC News Polska will be the first new language offer from the BBC World Service produced with the help of AI translation technology.

BBC News Polska will work innovatively to harness existing translation and transcription tools to bring the best of the Beeb’s journalism to new audiences. The translation of BBC reporting will always have ‘human editorial oversight and, where used, will be clearly labelled’ the corporation note.

The curated content will complement regional angles and analysis produced by the team of Polish-speaking journalists. The platforms will also host content from BBC presenters Kasia Madera and Tomasz Schafernaker.

The launch of BBC News Polska sees the BBC World Service working in a new way with a small, efficient team delivering both the AI-assisted translation of curated reporting and original journalism.

The service will operate as a pilot. The World Service has ‘bold plans to pilot more non-English-language content where there is a demand for independent, impartial news as press freedom reduces globally and disinformation is rife’ they state.

Global Director and Deputy CEO, BBC News, Jonathan Munro:

“Today, as we face a storm of disinformation and ever-growing attacks on media freedom, democracy and regional security, BBC News Polska is a major step towards serving more audiences around the world with content they can trust.

“This is part of a strategy that would see the BBC’s global reach grow and advance the case for democratic values. But to do this, the BBC World Service would need a long-term sustainable funding arrangement to build on these foundations and to secure our global public service journalism for the future.”

BBC News Polska is the corporation’s first new language offer since BBC News Serbian was announced in March 2017.