A brand new ecosystem of small, unbiased organisations is bringing a breath of clear, in-depth reporting into the Greek media panorama however their work is being hindered by expensive courtroom instances and the specter of state surveillance.
This comes as media freedom is constant to say no in Greece. The nation ranked 108th out of 180 nations in Reporters With out Borders’ 2022 Press Freedom Index — the worst-performing European nation, triggering a livid response by the authorities.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis dismissed the rating as "crap", including: “Now we have a vibrant press, you'll be able to learn all the things you need in Greece."
Nikolas Leontopoulos, an editor at Reporters United, sees it otherwise: "We do have freedom of opinion, however there are some very delicate points that don’t even make it to the information”.
Till just lately, at the very least.
Greek 'mafia' and 'Watergate'
Athens-based investigative outlet Reporters United disclosed in January that a high-ranking police officer had been promoted whereas being investigated in a corruption case known as “Greek Mafia” – one thing journalists within the area had identified for a very long time, Leontopoulos claimed
It was not the one time a serious story remained unreported for months.
At first of 2022, Reporters United revealed that a controversial change within the regulation on the privateness of communications had been made 9 months earlier. The modification, launched final minute right into a pandemic containment invoice, prevented residents from being knowledgeable if they'd been positioned beneath state surveillance for nationwide safety causes. On the time, the wiretapping scandal that later turned generally known as “Greek Watergate” was but to emerge.
“Many jurists and well-networked journalists had identified in regards to the modification for months, and we discovered some had even informally protested with the federal government. However nobody broke the story to the general public”, Leontopoulos informed Euronews.
Giorgos Karaivaz, a senior reporter investigating police corruption, was additionally shot lifeless in entrance of his home in Athens in April 2020. Nearly two years later, investigations into the homicide have made little progress.
State surveillance
These new shops, which embody Reporters United but in addition Solomon and The Manifold, half-jokingly name themselves “marides”, Greek for “whitebait”, but are catching massive tales. However at a price.
Editors at Reporters United have been sued for a whole bunch of 1000's of euros for a narrative they bumped into the ties of the nephew and then-Secretary Common of the Prime Minister Grigoris Dimitriadis with the spyware and adware business.
"Even if you're not going to lose the case, these lawsuits price so much, and take up your time and vitality," Stavros Malichudis, who's used to dealing with authorized threats as an investigative reporter at non-profit outfit Solomon, informed Euronews.
However lawsuits are simply the tip of the iceberg.
Malichudis was the primary journalist discovered to have been positioned beneath state surveillance whereas reporting on migration points on the island of Kos.
"Stavros [Malichudis]’s surveillance deeply affected the psychological well being of the entire group," Solomon’s managing editor Iliana Papangeli mentioned. Fearing for his or her private security and that of their sources, she and her colleagues determined to sublet their ground-floor workplace in Athens and swap to totally distant work.
Issues are usually not a lot better on social media, the place journalists engaged on migration points are sometimes accused of being overseas brokers.
Self-censorship
Troubles for press freedom in Greece began nicely earlier than the conservative authorities got here to energy in 2019.
In a rustic with a convention of political and enterprise meddling in editorial selections, the financial disaster made the press all of the extra reliant on political events, tycoons and advertisers. This, in flip, additional eroded journalistic independence and undermined public belief.
In Reuters Institute’s 2022 Digital Information Report, Greece ranked lowest throughout 46 nations by way of the share of residents considering that the press is free from undue political or enterprise affect.
"From transport to vitality and the banking sector, self-censorship within the mainstream media has change into systematic since 2010," Yannis-Orestis Papadimitriou, a journalist at investigative outfit The Manifold, informed Euronews.
With members in Athens, Nicosia and London, The Manifold has revealed extensively on police violence and youngster abuse in Greece, dealing with reticence and ostracism. "We are sometimes utterly minimize off from getting solutions, each from firm and authorities sources," Papadimitriou defined.
The legacy media – and TV particularly – might have misplaced credit score within the eyes of a giant part of the general public, however it nonetheless units the controversy.
For months, InsideStory and Reporters United stored the highlight on the surveillance scandal, till the story turned too massive for the large media to disregard. In keeping with Eliza Triantafillou, a journalist at InsideStory, "the alleged disengagement of the general public with the surveillance difficulty was a self-fulfilling prophecy".
'A protracted method to go'
Nonetheless, the revelations on the spyware and adware business and its ties to the Greek state introduced InsideStory a rise in visibility and income – its paying subscribers now exceed 3,000.
"Nevertheless it’s simply sufficient cash to remain afloat," Triantafillou mentioned.
Based in 2016, InsideStory pioneered a brand new sort of ad-free, politically unbiased reporting in Greece. Its progress represents an encouraging pattern for different investigative journalists, who nonetheless closely depend on grants, media partnerships and aspect jobs to make ends meet.
In keeping with Triantafillou, there's a contradiction in a big a part of the Greek viewers: "They need neutral reporting, however they aren't keen to offer their help."
Greek investigative reporting often informs parliamentary debate at nationwide and EU degree, however its general affect remains to be restricted. If they're to defeat systemic hostility and intimidation, unbiased journalists desperately want the folks to take their aspect.
Solomon’s Stavros Malichudis strikes a notice of reasonable optimism: "There’s a protracted method to go, however we're a bit after the center of the street."
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