GREECE: Greek journalists who have lost their jobs due to austerity use their own savings to launch a new, employee-owned newspaper to fight the crisis

Record ID: 602933

  • Title: GREECE: Greek journalists who have lost their jobs due to austerity use their own savings to launch a new, employee-owned newspaper to fight the crisis
  • Date: 5th November 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS EDITOR, NIKOLAS ZIRGANOS, SAYING: "The most important thing is that we are independent which is a major issue in the Greek press and media business. Second, it's co-operative which means something in the days of crisis and third, it's experimental. It's the first time something like that is done in Greece and we think that we try. We can't predict the outcome but we will try it." ATHENS, GREECE (NOVEMBER 5, 2012) (REUTERS) COPY EDITOR CHECKING NEWSPAPER IN PRINTING ROOM
  • Embargoed: 20th November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Economic News,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6I2TFNAUJ5ARU42RP98H1Q9LS
  • Story Text: With unemployment in Greece at a record 25 percent, more than double the euro zone average, a group of journalists decided to take matters into their own hands and create for themselves the jobs they lost, by becoming the publishers of a new newspaper that made its debut in Athens on Monday (November 5).
    The new newspaper, 'Efimerida Ton Sintakton' - 'The Editors Newspaper' - is owned and managed by journalists, mostly those who used to be employed by one of Greece's best selling newspapers, 'Eleftherotypia', until the economic crisis that crippled Greece and forced it to close down, leaving some 850 workers unemployed, a third of which were journalists.
    More than 130 journalists now work at the new newspaper where they contributed one thousand euros each to get it started.

    "The project was initiated by employees of 'Eleftherotypia' daily and 'Eleftherotypia' Sunday edition, a newspaper that went through a terrible crisis and then closed. Several of them (employees) decided at some point to take matters into their own hands. They created this co-operative, put in a thousand euros each from their savings and started this initiative to build another kind of newspaper. You might say it's a continuity of 'Eleftherotypia' daily. I would say it's much better. It is the newspaper of journalists," newspaper director, Nikolas Voulelis, told Reuters.
    'Eleftherotypia,' or 'Freedom of Press' in Greek, was first published in 1975 after the dictatorship. Despite its leading role for the last 36 years in Greece's history of publishing, the newspaper did not manage to secure bank loans to keep it afloat and in August 2011, it stopped paying its staff.
    On December 22, it circulated its last edition as the staff went on repetitive strikes demanding their wages.

    "We have things to say, that is, (we want) to show what others do not show, to reveal some aspects of the new intrigues on a political, economic and a media level, that is not apparent and is largely concealed by the dominant, the so called mainstream media," said Voulelis. Voulelis and the other journalists at the paper accuse the mainstream media of being influenced by political and business interests.
    The journalists said they were willing to take the risk at a time of crisis and despite the fact that they must sell 15,000 copies a day to survive. And they must attract more advertising at a time when consumption has plummeted.

    "The newspaper I worked for for the past 15 years seized payments last August and I stayed unemployed for a year. I have a little girl who is turning five on Christmas and I am a single mother. But even though I had a great need to find work anywhere, I waited for this to start because as I said before, it's really important working as a journalist to be free and not be guided or restricted by interests of any kind," said Danny Vergou, editor of the health section.

    "The most important thing is that we are independent which is a major issue in the Greek press and media business. Second, it's co-operative which means something in the days of crisis and third it's experimental. It's the first time something like that is done in Greece and we think that we try. We can't predict the outcome but we will try it," said Nikolas Zirganos, editor for the international section.
    Last week, a journalist stood trial for publishing a list of Greeks who allegedly had Swiss bank accounts, accused of violating the privacy data act. His arrest and trial caused a huge furore in a country where people are brimming with anger over austerity measures they feel they are unfairly paying for while others evade taxes. He was acquitted on Thursday.
    Hundreds of journalists have lost their jobs during the debt crisis, as the media sector has been suffering shrinking revenues as Greece struggles with a deep recession caused by the austerity measures which were introduced in 2010. Private media organisations have cut staff, pay, or reduced work hours on a wide scale.
    Besides Eleftherotypia, another daily newspaper also closed while radio and television stations have drastically cut their programming and one TV channel closed down altogether.
    Many journalists who still have a job have not been paid for months.

    "I would definitely buy it so as to see the difference in the coverage between this group and those that are already familiar to me," said Athens resident Gerasimos Moskopoulos.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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