The lonely fight for press freedom of Greece’s small independent media

A brand new ecosystem of small, impartial organisations is bringing a breath of clear, in-depth reporting into the Greek media panorama however their work is being hindered by expensive court docket instances and the specter of state surveillance. 

This comes as media freedom is continuous 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: “We’ve a vibrant press, you may learn the whole lot you need in Greece.”

Nikolas Leontopoulos, an editor at Reporters United, sees it in a different way: “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 referred to 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 the start of 2022, Reporters United revealed {that a} controversial change within the legislation 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 below state surveillance for nationwide safety causes. On the time, the wiretapping scandal that later turned often known as “Greek Watergate” was but to emerge.

“Many jurists and well-networked journalists had identified concerning the modification for months, and we came upon some had even informally protested with the federal government. However nobody broke the story to the general public”, Leontopoulos instructed Euronews. 

Giorgos Karaivaz, a senior reporter investigating police corruption, was additionally shot useless in entrance of his home in Athens in April 2020. Virtually two years later, investigations into the homicide have made little progress.

State surveillance

These new retailers, which embrace Reporters United but in addition Solomon and The Manifold, half-jokingly name themselves “marides”, Greek for “whitebait”, but are catching large tales. However at a value.

Editors at Reporters United have been sued for lots of of hundreds of euros for a narrative they bumped into the ties of the nephew and then-Secretary Basic of the Prime Minister Grigoris Dimitriadis with the adware trade.

“Even in case you are not going to lose the case, these lawsuits value quite a bit, and take up your time and power,” Stavros Malichudis, who’s used to going through authorized threats as an investigative reporter at non-profit outfit Solomon, instructed Euronews.

However lawsuits are simply the tip of the iceberg.

Malichudis was the primary journalist discovered to have been positioned below 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 crew,” Solomon’s managing editor Iliana Papangeli stated. 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 aren’t significantly better on social media, the place journalists engaged on migration points are sometimes accused of being international brokers.

Self-censorship

Troubles for press freedom in Greece began effectively earlier than the conservative authorities got here to energy in 2019. 

In a rustic with a practice of political and enterprise meddling in editorial choices, 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 when it comes to the share of residents considering that the press is free from undue political or enterprise affect.

“From transport to power and the banking sector, self-censorship within the mainstream media has turn into systematic since 2010,” Yannis-Orestis Papadimitriou, a journalist at investigative outfit The Manifold, instructed Euronews.

With members in Athens, Nicosia and London, The Manifold has printed extensively on police violence and little one abuse in Greece, going through reticence and ostracism. “We are sometimes fully lower 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 big part of the general public, but it surely nonetheless units the controversy. 

For months, InsideStory and Reporters United stored the highlight on the surveillance scandal, till the story turned too large for the massive media to disregard. In line with Eliza Triantafillou, a journalist at InsideStory, “the alleged disengagement of the general public with the surveillance situation was a self-fulfilling prophecy”.

‘A protracted method to go’

Nonetheless, the revelations on the adware trade 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 stated.

Based in 2016, InsideStory pioneered a brand new type of ad-free, politically impartial reporting in Greece. Its development represents an encouraging development for different investigative journalists, who nonetheless closely depend on grants, media partnerships and facet jobs to make ends meet.

In line with Triantafillou, there’s a contradiction in a major a part of the Greek viewers: “They need neutral reporting, however they don’t seem to be keen to offer their assist.”

Greek investigative reporting recurrently informs parliamentary debate at nationwide and EU stage, however its general affect continues to be restricted. If they’re to defeat systemic hostility and intimidation, impartial journalists desperately want the individuals to take their facet.

Solomon’s Stavros Malichudis strikes a word of reasonable optimism: “There’s an extended method to go, however we’re a bit after the center of the street.”