[ICTs-and-Society] Public Service Broadcasters and Press Freedom

[Katharine Sarikakis]

Dear Colleagues,

A brief update on the state of public service media in Greece: the Hellenic Public Service Broadcaster ERT continues to broadcast under a self-governing system, run by around 700 former employees, after its forced shut down on June 11, 2013. It provides programmes around the clock accessible mainly through http://www.ertopen.com  but also short waves, satellite, and in Western Greece through the analogue signal. It continues to attract significant numbers of viewers and listeners, exceeding any expectation in terms of internet access and usage to access ERT programmes and in terms of longevity. Please note, the former ERT employees are unpaid.

The interim 'Public Television' run by the Ministry of Finance operates two channels.

The media landscape in Greece is at this moment one of near-complete privatisation, since the public service broadcasting system has been hit.

Last Thursday, January 30,  the ORF, the Austrian Public Service Broadcaster together with the University of Vienna and the representation of the European Parliament in Austria hosted a public screening of the Documentary The Lost Signal of Democracy, which records the politics and interests around the ERT shut down.  
(More information on the documentary and how to order it here: http://www.smallplanet.gr/en/documentaries/chronologically/2013-2014/337-the-lost-signal-of-democracy).

The panel discussion that followed featured the Regisseur, Yiorgos Avgeropoulos, MEP Dimitrios Droutsas, Christa Hofman ORF and myself. The discussion took place in German and English (but not translated), and you can watch it here:http://stream.univie.ac.at/media/lvs/2014S/220023.8/33768_09bf976a660b3a7a2679c24e1c2308f3/angle0

ERT prepared a 5 minutes reportage for those of you with Greek language skills, and you can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mupdj3u4A0&app=desktop 

If you are interested in this case and even for teaching purposes I include several analytical pieces in my blog: www.katharinesarikakis.wordpress.com

Any questions, I am more than happy to try and answer. It is important to keep the debate about the fate and future of public media alive and although this is a European case, it is an unprecedented one in the modern history of the continent, with the exceptions of dictatorial times. 

With best wishes
Katharine 






Univ.-Prof. Dr. Katharine Sarikakis
Institut für Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft der Universität Wien 
Waehringerstr. 29
1090 Wien
Tel.: +43 1 4277 49394
Dienstmobil: - +43 664 60277 49394
Fax: +43 1 4277 49316
katharine.sarikakis at univie.ac.at
http://www.sarikakis.info
http://Publizistik.univie.ac.at


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