Media protest action as a crisis management tool using the exemple of the "Media without Choice" Protest

The aim of this paper is to study is to explore the utilization of protest as a crisis management strategy, using the “Media without choice” protest action of February 10, 2021, as a case study. As part of the protest, media and advertising organizations in Poland suspended their activities for one day in response to the announcement of a draft law imposing a new fee on entities broadcasting advertisements. The research aimed to provide a detailed analysis of the actions of media organizations during the protest. Open-ended interviews and analysis of existing data (including press information and the draft law) were used to collect data. The research results indicate that the chosen form of protest proved to be an effective crisis management tool due to the utilization of the characteristics of the media market and the unprecedented nature of the event. The case study also allowed for the observation that achieving the intended goal was possible thanks to the cooperation and solidarity of media organizations that compete with each other on a daily basis.