[ICTs-and-Society] Fwd: Fwd: Please sign the petition and disseminate!

[Katharine Sarikakis]

Dear All

Public media belong to the public, are part of the country's public assets and historically constitute a symbol for Greece's struggles to democracy and independence.

It is a matter of principle to defend public media, knowing fully well their ills but also their function and contribution to sober debate as much as possible. No one and nothing else care place them in fulfilling their universal access and coverage mission.

The media workers, although not all of the same status, privileges and so on, represent whether we like it or not again the rich human resource that is being de-skilled and undermined. Its structural state-of-the -art technologies and other resources were obtained with public funds. It's intellectual capital one of the few elements that can truly be common property.

The decision was arbitrary and based on a series of attempts to control free speech and critique which was maintained also specifically because of the power vacuum in government.

Two more points.
While we are all rightly outraged with this development, it is ONLY ONE out of 29 to 25 other public organizations that follow the same fate and receiving almost NO coverage by the private media. the specific decree creates a legal environment that allows such decisions to be made not through parliament but by ministries. 

The reopening of ERT as announced by the government by the end of August is not an exercise in creating 'leaner' organizations for the benefit of the public, but arguably attempt for full control, as under the current climate there is no provision about the process of hiring or re-hiring staff. The regulatory authority, parliament, civil society and journalists unions are here bypassed. International instruments sidelined.

Despite our fierce critical spirit concerning the ills of ERT , what we are to defend here is an institution, public property and due process.
Regards

Katharine Sarikakis



Sent from my iPad

On 13.06.2013, at 15:27, Pinelopi Troullinou <p.troullinou at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear all, 
> 
> I guess you will hear/already heard many things regarding ERT from different sources and perspectives. However this is an issue with two levels of analysis in my opinion. One is that of corruption and problematic organizations and yes indeed it was a problematic organization. Too many people were working in the organization, many of them were not hired following transparent procedures etc. So yes the reconstruction of such public organizations is necessary. 
> However the second level of analysis is of most importance for me. And this has to do with the methods used in supposed Democratic times. The way that the prime minister decided to shut down the public video and radio broadcaster, they shut it down without following the democratic procedures and the police was all around for protesters not to intervene, is a problem as such. These strategies bring to mind memories from past times. What can follow next in the name of transparency? This is the discourse that is used by the government. We need to reconstruct the public sector. Yes we all agree on that.. but using what means? 
> Sorry for the long email.. they are just some thoughts coming to my mind watching the news (via the internet) and not living there any more so I might not have the whole picture. 
> 
> Best, 
> 
> Pinelopi 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Jun 13, 2013 at 10:07 AM, Christian Fuchs <christian.fuchs at uti.at> wrote:
>> Dear friends,
>> 
>> The Greek Government has suddenly closed the public radio and television broadcaster ERT using a decree not voted by the Parliament.
>> Freedom of the Press is essential for democracy.
>> 
>> Please sign the petition to re-open the public television broadcaster
>> 
>> avaaz: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_the_shutdown_of_Public_Television_in_Greece/ 
>> or
>> antiCor: http://www.anticor.gr/
>> 
>> Please disseminate
>> Kind regards
>> Roy Panagiotopoulou
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> Discussion mailing list
>> Discussion at lists.icts-and-society.net
>> http://lists.icts-and-society.net/listinfo.cgi/discussion-icts-and-society.net
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Pinelopi Troullinou
> 
> PhD Researcher 
> The Open University Business School, MYB D
> Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
> E:pinelopi.troullinou at open.ac.uk 
> 
> Member of the Centre for Research into Information Surveillance and Privacy (CRISP)www.open.ac.uk/CRISP
> 
> Group Coordinator of IC ICTs: PhD Research Group on ICTs, Surveillance & Society
> http://icicts.wordpress.com/
> _______________________________________________
> Discussion mailing list
> Discussion at lists.icts-and-society.net
> http://lists.icts-and-society.net/listinfo.cgi/discussion-icts-and-society.net
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