greek austerity cuts cuts public tv

[dez]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22861577

The Greek government has announced that it will shut down the radio and TV services of the state broadcaster ERT.

A government spokesman said transmissions would cease early on Wednesday.

All employees, numbering at least 2,500, will be suspended until the company reopens "as soon as possible".

It is the latest move in successive rafts of spending cuts and tax rises that the government hope will lead the country out of recession.

"ERT is a case of an exceptional lack of transparency and incredible extravagance. This ends now," government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said, according to the AFP news agency.

http://rt.com/news/austerity-greece-state-media-542/

Employees seize Greek State TV and radio HQ after govt-announced suspension
Employees of Greece’s state TV and Radio Corporation have seized the headquarters in Athens following government plans to suspend it under pressure from austerity cuts.

Soon to be laid-off ERT (Hellenic Radio and Television) employees took over the state network’s headquarters on Tuesday night. Witnesses said dozens of journalists and employees were flown to protests at the building in Athens, according to Der Spiegel.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

As I understand Samaras did this unilaterally without consulting with the 2 other parties in his coalition, PASOK and Democratic Left.Apparently these parties oppose this (not that they aren't shit themselves). Is there a possibility that this could bring down the gov't and force a new election?

Also to what extent are the Greek protests influenced by those in Turkey?

[piet11111]

I hope this will make the whole of the media more hostile to its government.

[The Intransigent Faction]

I hope this will make the whole of the media more hostile to its government.

I dunno...Is this likely to upset its private competitors?

[RebelDog]

I dunno...Is this likely to upset its private competitors?

I would imagine the private companies would be very happy the public company is being destroyed.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

I hope this will make the whole of the media more hostile to its government.

Some government-supporting papers have taken against it..

Pro-government newspaper To Vima website:
"Like it has done in the past, the government is calling this an 'emergency' so that it can get on with shutting down public institutions, in this case ERT."

Editorial in right-of-centre, pro-government newspaper To Ethnos:
"The taking of state TV channels off the air last night has caused a shock and, emotions apart, it has revealed in the most cruel way that black screens are not the solution... There is no doubt that ERT needs a radical and bold makeover, and savings in people and assets. But this is totally different from a sudden shutting down of a public entity with so much history."

But I'm sure, on the whole, the private sector is moist and giggling with delight (the way News International would if the plug was pulled on the BBC)

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

Many of Greece's public services are in disarray because of a general strike in protest at the government's surprise move to shut down state broadcaster ERT with the loss of nearly 2,700 jobs.
The 24-hour strike, which includes Greek media, began at midnight (21:00 GMT).
Marches under way in Athens are due to converge outside ERT's offices.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras insists ERT was a "symbol of waste and lack of transparency".
The measure is designed to help Greece meet its debt bailout obligations.
The resulting general strike, which is the third this year, is affecting government offices, schools and hospitals.
Public transport hit
It also means buses, trams, ferries and trains are not running, with no metro service to Athens' main airport.
Air traffic controllers are due to stage a two-hour walk-out starting at 1200 GMT.
ERT journalists are staging defiant sit-ins in the capital and in Greece's second city, Thessaloniki.
The government says riot police are stationed outside ERT offices to prevent "any destruction".
Most of the broadcaster's output has been taken off air since Tuesday, although shortwave radio and internet broadcasts continue.
Journalists across all media are also calling for an indefinite protest - excluding those ERT stations airing rogue broadcasts maintained by workers who have refused to leave their posts.

(BBC News)

[Le Socialiste]

Greece: State broadcaster run under workers' control as its closure sparks calls for gov't sacking

Thursday, June 13, 2013

The Radical Coalition of the Left -- Syriza -- had planned a huge protest at Athens Syntagma Square to mark one year since it came close to winning elections on a radical program of rejecting the savage austerity imposed on Greee's people by the "troika" of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission.

Now, the rally will be to call for the restoration of democracy in Greece, the removal of the "troika" government, and immediate elections.

The trigger was the huge public reaction to the closure of Hellenic Radio Television (ERT) at six hours notice by the Greek government on Tuesday night in Greece. The decision destroys more than 2600 jobs in a country where unemplyment has skyrocketed due to austerity measures.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has described the ERT as anexample of the bloated, overpaid and inefficient public sector Greece can no longer support.

To prevent ERT workers from continuing to broadcast, the government disconnected the station from its broadcast tower. ERT workers are occupying ERT headquarters and are continuing to broadcast. This has been made possible by the use of other radio frequencies belonging to Syriza, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), and other independent groups that are relaying the ERT broadcasts nationwide.

ERT workers have declared the station is now under workers’ control, a moved welcomed by Syriza. To prevent any police intrusion into the station, there is now a 24-hour "People’s Cordon" to protect it.

Below is a sttement by the European Left Party, which united left-wing parties across Europe inclunding Syriza. It is reprinted from Left.gr. You can watch ERT broadcast live.

* * *

The unprecedented authoritarian decision by the Greek government coalition to shut down the Hellenic Public Radiotelevision ERT, its three TV channels (ET1, NET and ET3) and tens of national and regional state radio stations, resembles situations only seen in the darkest periods of dictatorial regimes.

After the announcement of this decision, the government immediately blocked both digital and analog transmission of ERT and disconnected all telephone lines and internet connections of ERT headquarters in Athens. The government ordered the Police to evacuate two buildings of ERT in the centre of Athens and threatens to evacuate the occupied headquarters within the next hours.

With the decision for the closure of ERT, all its 2656 employees all over the country are immediately fired. This brutal destruction of 2656 households is in full accordance with the expectations of the troika, which has demanded 2000 immediate lay-offs in the public sector.

Thousands of citizens, members of left parties, trade-unionists and activists already gathered yesterday evening outside the headquarters of ERT in Athens, to join forces with the employees who have taken over the building. Similar occupations and solidarity gatherings are taking place all over Greece, in all regional ERT offices.

Journalists remain in the studios and continuously broadcast all the latest information through web tv and radio. Demonstrations of solidarity are also organized since yesterday outside the Greek Embassies and Consulates in Europe and all over the world.

The Party of the European Left denounces the unprecedented authoritarianism of the Greek government and its attempt to censor freedom of speech and information. This government has lost any kind of legitimacy and must leave.

What is happening since yesterday in Greece, reaffirms the analysis of the European Left that the imposition of the Memoranda and the austerity programs goes hand in hand with the escalation of authoritarianism and the suppression of fundamental social and political rights.

The Party of the European Left supports the immediate and massive mobilization of the Greek people, Left parties, trade unions and social movements. The EL demands from all European governments to denounce the actions of the Greek government and it will undertake activist and institutional initiatives on European scale, in order not to allow the censorship of Greek public media.

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/54264#