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| A crisis in European broadcasting? |
| (2013-06-12) |
| Last updated: 2013-06-12 13:47 EET |
The almost to 2,700 employees of the public ERT radio and television in Greece were in shock on Tuesday night. Without prior notice, they were announced that their institutions would be closed down, because of poor financial management, in the context of the European crisis. The measure was implemented immediately. The main transmitter, located on a mountain close to the capital city Athens, was shut down, suspending all radio and television broadcasts.
“This looks more like Ceausescu’s government than like a democracy,” a representative of the leading trade union in television told France Presse that night, drawing a parallel with the bleak Romanian dictatorship of the 1970s and 80s. Radio Romania’s correspondent in Greece, Monica Chihaia, summarises the current situation:
Monica Chihaia: “When trying to explain their decision, a government representative only defined ERT as the epitome of the lack of transparency, promoted through an outrageous system. The Greek official stressed that the 2,656 employees will receive compensations, and they will be able to apply for jobs with a new, smaller broadcasting network about to be created. The Greek government spokesperson also said that until the public radio and television stations are re-opened, in a slimmed-down form, citizens would not be charged for this service. The Greek Federation of Journalists voiced its solidarity with the people who lost their jobs overnight. In protest against the government’s decision, all private broadcasters stopped airing their news programmes.”
Also in shock, the European Broadcasters Union said the existence of public mass media and their independence from the government are at the heart of democratic societies.
Worth noting in this context is that last winter the regional branches of the Hungarian public radio were taken off the air, as part of a massive radio and television restructuring programme, which also affected the national news agency, the MTI. Several thousand employees were made redundant on this occasion.
The audiovisual sector was also subject to discussion on Tuesday in Strasbourg. The European Commission wants this sector and the cultural field to be included in a free trade agreement to be negotiated with the USA, but the European Parliament as well as the people working in these sectors, film-makers in particular, are opposed to the idea. In their opinion, broadcasters in particular and culture in general cannot be used as a commodity during negotiations.
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2025-04-03
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