ATHENS: The freedom of the Greek press has been deteriorating since the conservative New Democracy party came to power in 2019, according to a new media watchdogs’ report published Monday.
The study by the Media Freedom Rapid Response and Reporters Without Borders acknowledges that “the current situation has been shaped by more than a decade of severe financial and political crisis”.
However, it adds that “at the same time, there has been a deterioration of press freedom since Nea Dimokratia’s electoral victory in 2019.”
The report’s authors said the ruling party is “obsessed with controlling the message” and minimising critical and dissenting voices.
The southern European country fell five spots in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and now ranks 70th out of 180 countries, behind Poland and Mongolia.
The study, carried out last December, found that “challenges to the independence of the media and the safety of journalists are systemic in the country”.
While the problems are not unique to Greece “their intensity is highly problematic and sets it apart from most other EU Member States,” the media watchdogs said in their report entitled “Controlling the Message: Challenges for independent reporting in Greece”.
The report recalls that in April 2021 52-year-old Giorgos Karaivaz,, a prominent crime reporter, was gunned down outside his home in Athens. The government ordered an investigation, but no arrests have been made.
The “assassination” of Karaivas “a low point” for press freedom and attracted international attention.
However, “investigation progress appears slow and lacks basic transparency,” the watchdogs said.
Following the reporter’s death, newspaper and website owner Kostas Vaxevanis reported receiving death threats.
The two events have “created a chilling effect and led to mistrust of the government’s ability or willingness to protect the journalistic community,” according to the report.
It also noted the difficulties and intimidation journalists encountered while reporting on the government’s restrictive migration policy and the alleged illegal refoulement of asylum seekers at the country’s borders.
The report also highlights the “unequal treatment” meted out on newspapers and individual journalists that are ideologically pro-opposition or neutral.
Dozens of outlets closed during the 2010-2018 Greek debt crisis, leaving the survivors desperate for any form of backing.
In the early days of the pandemic in 2020, the government introduced a scheme to support media with funds as part of a stay-at-home campaign.
But according to opposition parties, the money disproportionately benefited government-friendly media.
In response to AFP letters, Minister of State George Gerapetritis insisted late last year that “there is no surveillance of journalists in Greece.
“Greece fully adheres to the values of democratic society and rule of law, especially pluralism and freedom of the press,” he said.
He later added that media independence was “sacrosanct”.