Independent Media in Greece: Broke and Broken – Medium
"In early September, the Syriza-led government held a politically
controversial TV licence auction, aiming to cut the number of national
TV channels from eight to four. The auction, which raised €246 million,
awarded licences to stations Skai and Antenna; also to Alter Ego TV, a
new channel owned by shipping magnate and Olympiacos FC owner Evangelos
Marinakis. The fourth licence was awarded to construction mogul Yiannis
Kalogritsas — who later decided to pull out of the process altogether."
"However, Nikos Pappas seems to be missing the point. The damage
inflicted on independent Greek journalism over the past decades might be
irreparable. A recent Reuters Institute report shows that trust in news
is lowest in Greece among the 26 researched countries, chiming with the
findings of the latest Eurobarometer survey, that only 20 percent of
Greeks trust TV as an institution."
"The media environment in
Greece is becoming increasingly hostile, especially for those not
employed by big outlets. “Independent journalists have to prove they
don’t belong to the toxic ecosystem of legacy media,” says Tassos Morfis
of AthensLive, a recently-launched crowdfunded website."
"It is
not surprising that Greece has seen one of the biggest-ever falls in the
World Press Freedom Index, dropping 50 places in 2015, only to regain
two spots in 2016. As the inadequate legal framework has failed to
protect journalists from external pressures, investigative reporting is
under threat.
Take the example of The Press Project, an
independently-financed investigative outlet. “Since 2010, there have
been 11 defamation-related lawsuits brought against us, all of which
have been won in court,” says Kostas Efimeros, the website’s founder."
