Media Without Choice

Media Without Choice (Polish: Media bez wyboru)[1][2] was a one-day protest occurring against the government of Poland due to a proposed tax on advertising. The protests began on 10 February 2021 and participants included paper journals, press-related internet portals, television stations, radio stations, and information portals. They protested by ceasing their usual activities, such as the publishing of news or advertisements, and turning off their transmissions.[3]

Media Without Choice
Display in Warsaw Metro car with Media Without Choice communicate.
Date10 February 2021
LocationPoland (mostly mass media)

The action begun on 4:00 AM UTC+01:00 (3:00 UTC) and continued for the next 24 hours during which media replaced information and advertisements with black backgrounds with messages such as "MEDIA WITHOUT CHOICE" and "THIS IS WHERE YOUR FAVORITE PROGRAM WOULD BE” spelled with capitalized white letters, sometimes with additional information about the action.[4][3]

Protest included participation of Agora, the owner of Gazeta Wyborcza, TOK FM, Radio ZET and Gazeta.pl, TVN Discovery Group, the owner of TVN, TVN24, TTV, Cyfrowy Polsat, the owner of Polsat and Polsat News, Ringier Axel Springer, the owner of Onet.pl and Newsweek Polska, Bauer Media Group, the owner of RMF FM and nearly 60 others small, medium and large media companies. Some media, such as Radio Eska and Radio Nowy Świat, did not cease their transmissions but announced their participation in the protest.[1][5] Television stations TVN and Polsat, for the first time, did not air news on their main information channels.[6][4]

Additionally, on 10 February some people organized protests on the streets of cities of Łódź, Warsaw and Gdańsk, Poland.[7][8][9]

Background

Because of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the Polish press' income that came from renting advertisement space fell by around 50%, and sales of most of the magazines fell significantly. In addition to the pandemic, the restrictions put on organization of the contests and conferences, as well as cultural and sporting events, has contributed to further decreases in the Polish media's income.[10]

Internet and conventional advertising tax, which was newly proposed by the Mateusz Morawiecki cabinet, is an amendment designed to tax advertisement providers in Poland, which would apply to both conventional and internet advertisement; media such as radio and television, cinemas, press and out-of-home advertising. It is predicted that the tax will add around 800 million Polish złoty (around 215.5 million United States dollars) to government revenue. It is expected to be introduced in November 2021.[11] It was suggested that the tax could bankrupt a great portion of smaller media-related companies in Poland.[10]

In contrast, during the pandemic many European countries such as Germany, France, or the United Kingdom had initiatives designed to subsidize local media companies.[10]

Reactions

Ombudsman

The Ombudsman, professor Adam Bodnar, supported the protest and wrote: "If the boundary of what is acceptable keeps shifting, we will not have fair elections in 2023. Perhaps only enclaves of freedom will remain, in the form of some press titles or Internet radio stations."[12]

Politicians

Madeleine Albright described the advertisement tax as "an attack on democracy and the rule of Law".[13] [14] Bix Aliu, chargé d'affaires at the embassy of United States in Warsaw, Poland, called free media "a cornerstone of democracy" and said that "the United States will always defend media independence".[15] The European Commission had expressed alarm about the situation in Poland.[15][16] The Polish Government spokesman, Piotr Müller, said that the tax is meant for "digital giants" and commented on the protest that "everybody wants to avoid the taxes".[17][18] Various opposition politicians in Poland expressed their support for the protest, including Rafał Trzaskowski, Szymon Hołownia, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, Anna Maria Żukowska, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Jerzy Buzek, and Donald Tusk. Confederation Liberty and Independence, a far-right political party, also expressed their support.[19][20] [3]

Press

Various foreign media companies reported on the protest, including Politico,[21] ABC News,[22] U.S. News,[23] BBC,[24] The Washington Post,[25] The Guardian,[26] Reuters,[27] Associated Press,[15] Agence France-Presse,[28] France 24,[28] Deutsche Welle,[29] Bloomberg L.P.,[30] Euronews,[31] The Daily Telegraph,[32] Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,[14] Wiener Zeitung[33] and tagesschau.de.[34]

Journals Le Figaro, Le Monde and Agence France-Presse described the protest as unprecedented.[35][36][37][28]

Street protests

On 10 February 2021, protests were organized by inhabitants of some cities in Poland. In Łódź, several dozen people protested in front of the headquarters of Law and Justice party at the 143 Piotrkowska Street.[7] In Warsaw, around 150 people protested on the Warsaw Uprising Square. The protest started on 19:30 UTC+01:00 (18:30 UTC) in front of headquarters of state-controlled television Telewizja Polska (TVP) while their news program Wiadomości started.[8][9][38] Activists of the All-Poland Women's Strike joined the protest.[39][38] Protests were also held in front of the headquarters of TVP in Gdańsk.[40][41]

Reach

By 14:55 UTC 10 February 2021, the protests had reached 115 million internet users.[42] During the first day of the protest, there were almost 2,500 publications about it.[43] By 11 February, hashtags of the action, #mediabezwyboru (Media Without a Choice) and #protestmediów (protest of the media), had been used over 96,000 times and reached 37 million users,[19] while hashtag #wolnemedia (free media) had reached 1.9 million.[43]

See also

References
  1. "Media bez Wyboru. List otwarty do władz Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej i liderów ugrupowań politycznych". eska.pl. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  2. "Media bez Wyboru. Dlaczego nie działają TVN24, Onet, Gazeta, Radio ZET?" (in Polish). Jastrząb Post. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  3. "Czarne tło, brak sygnału telewizyjnego. Trwa protest "Media bez wyboru"". Washington Post (in Polish). 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  4. "Protest kosztował media ponad 5 mln zł. TVN i Polsat pierwszy raz w historii nie nadały programów informacyjnych" (in Polish). www.wirtualnemedia.pl. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  5. "Radio Nowy Świat popiera protest mediów" (in Polish). Radio Nowy Świat. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. "TVN i Polsat pierwszy raz w historii nie nadały programów informacyjnych" (in Polish). Press.pl. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  7. "Media bez wyboru. Łodzianie przed siedzibą PiS w obronie wolnych mediów. Z symboliczną trumną". lodz.wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  8. "Protest na placu Powstańców Warszawy. "Łapy precz od wolnych mediów"" (in Polish). TVN Warszawa. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  9. "Wyborcza.pl". warszawa.wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  10. Jerzy Baczyński [in Polish] (9 February 2021). "Protest mediów". polityka.pl. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  11. "Składkę od reklamy zapłacą cyfrowi giganci". ksiegowosc.infor.pl. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  12. https://www.onet.pl/?srcc=ucs&pid=e465a445-239f-4f07-812b-772e8e7be930&sid=b177a2c9-166f-4113-9b28-185bbe554807 Adam Bodnar: media umierają po cichu (media are dying quietly)
  13. "Madeleine Albright o proteście polskich mediów: Próba zdławienia mediów w Polsce" (in Polish). rp.pl. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  14. Reinhard Veser. "Medien in Polen: Aufstand gegen die PiS-Regierung". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). FAZ.NET. ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  15. Vanessa Gera (10 February 2021). "Independent Polish media suspend coverage to protest ad tax". Associated Press. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  16. Wojciech Szczęsny (10 February 2021). "Media bez wyboru. Świat reaguje na protest polskich dziennikarzy". Portal I.pl (in Polish). Polska Times. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  17. "Piotr Müller o protestach mediów: dziwi mnie forma na tym etapie. Zachęcamy do dialogu" (in Polish). Polska Agencja Prasowa. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  18. "Media blackout in Poland to protest new ad tax". France 24. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021. Muller said the tax would also affect public television and dismissed the protest saying that "everyone would like not to pay taxes".
  19. "Protest mediów w sieci: milionowe zasięgi, tysiące wzmianek". oko.press. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  20. "Politycy i eksperci wsparli akcję "Media bez wyboru". "Bez wolnych mediów nie ma demokracji", "Zamach"" (in Polish). gazetapl. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  21. "Polish media suspend reporting to protest a planned tax on advertising". POLITICO. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  22. A. B. C. News. "Independent Polish media black out coverage to protest tax". ABC News. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  23. Vanessa Gera (10 February 2021). "Independent Polish Media Suspend Coverage to Protest Ad Tax". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  24. "Polish blackout protest in private media over tax plan". BBC News. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  25. Vanessa Gera. "Independent Polish media suspend coverage to protest ad tax". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  26. "'This used to be your favourite show': Polish media stage blackout protest". The Guardian. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  27. Reuters Staff (10 February 2021). "'This was your favourite programme': private Polish media go off air to protest tax". Reuters. Retrieved 10 February 2021. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  28. "Media blackout in Poland to protest new ad tax". France 24. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021. Dozens of news outlets took part in the unprecedented 24-hour blackout, accusing the government of designing a tax that would limit freedom of expression and media pluralism.
  29. Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com). "Poland: Media goes offline for 24 hours to protest ad tax | DW | 10.02.2021". dw.com. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  30. "Polish Media-Tax Plan Sparks Protest and U.S., EU Criticism". Bloomberg.com. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  31. "News blackout amid Polish protest over 'blow to free media' tax". euronews. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  32. Matthew Day (10 February 2021). "Independent Polish media goes black in protest against 'politically motivated' tax". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  33. Martyna Czarnowska. "Medien – Medienprotest: "Hier sollten unsere Inhalte aufscheinen"" (in German). Europäische Politik aktuell – Wiener Zeitung Online. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  34. "Polnische Medien protestieren gegen neue Reklamesteuer" (in German). tagesschau.de. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  35. "En Pologne, une grève de l'information sans précédent dans les médias indépendants" (in French). Le Monde.fr. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  36. "Les médias indépendants polonais en grève contre le gouvernement" (in French). lefigaro.fr. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  37. ""Bezprecedensowe posunięcie". Zagraniczne media komentują akcję "Media bez wyboru"" (in Polish). www.rmf24.pl. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  38. "Media bez wyboru. Policja otoczyła TVP. Sceny z ulicy pod stacją jeżą włos na głowie" (in Polish). Jastrząb Post. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  39. "Zdjęcia z protestów "Media bez wyboru": Nie uciszycie nas!" (in Polish). Vogue Polska. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  40. "Manifestacje w całej Polsce, w obronie wolności mediów i przeciwko "propagandzie TVP"" (in Polish). gazetapl. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  41. "Manifestacje w całej Polsce, w obronie wolności mediów i przeciwko "propagandzie TVP"" (in Polish). gazetapl. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  42. ""Media bez wyboru". Zobacz, co o akcji sądzą internauci" (in Polish). www.tvp.info. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  43. "Akcja "Media bez wyboru" z wielomilionowym dotarciem w mediach społecznościowych" (in Polish). Press.pl. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
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