Greece brings up the rear in the EU when it comes to press freedom. Journalists' safety is not guaranteed. At the centre of the criticism regarding these problems is the country's conservative government.
Greece: media freedom and independent journalism in a desolate state
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government distributed funding to the tune of almost 20 million euros to media companies to support the dissemination of information about health measures. However, the public was left in the dark as to who received the funding and based on what criteria. The recipients and sums were only published as a result of major pressure from the opposition. The "Petsas list", named after the government spokesman at the time, Stelios Petsas, showed that pro-government media outlets had received far more money than popular independent publications. Only around one percent of the funding went to outlets deemed to be critical of the government, and the investigative journalism website Documento received nothing at all. By contrast, more than 200 online outlets that were not even listed in the national Online Media Registry had received funds, including unknown blogs and outlets whose websites were inactive or inaccessible.
In November 2021, the government amended the criminal law provisions in a bid to combat fake news. The new version makes the dissemination of fake news a punishable offence. Media law experts and the journalists' association ESIEA criticise that the wording of the new provision is so vague that it paves the way for the arbitrary suppression of unwanted reporting.
Journalists have also complained about being targeted by state surveillance. In autumn 2022, it became known that three journalists who had been researching the Greek wiretapping scandal had themselves been spied on. The government admitted to this particular case of surveillance but it continues to refute allegations that the illegal spyware Predator was used to spy on politicians, media representatives and other individuals. However, media reports provided clear evidence of business ties between Grigoris Dimitriadis, former general secretary and nephew of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the distributor of the spy software, whereupon Dimitriadis resigned. One business journalist was even found to have been subject to surveillance by both the Predator software and by the Greek intelligence service.
The murder of crime reporter Giorgos Karaivaz in April 2021 was also symptomatic of the decline of press freedom in Greece. As an investigative journalist, Karaivaz had specialised in organised crime and its links to politics and had also reported on corruption within the police force. The European Federation of Journalists noted that, contrary to the authorities' promises, the investigation into his killing was progressing very slowly and that there was a fundamental lack of transparency. It was only in May 2023 that two suspects were finally arrested in connection with the murder.
Greece is also seeing a growing number of SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) against investigative journalists who criticise companies or politicians. Media outlets and their employees are also physically attacked or prevented from carrying out their work by extremists and also by the police, for example when they cover demonstrations, corruption cases or topics related to migration movements at the Greek EU external border. The Secretariat General for Communication and Information of the Presidency of the Government responded in 2022 by setting up a special task force to protect, secure and strengthen the position of journalists and other media professionals.
The Greek newspaper market has been hit particularly hard by the prolonged financial crisis: The newspapers' already low sales figures dropped even further as a result of the Covid crisis, leaving many daily newspapers facing closure. Only the Sunday newspapers are in a slightly better position. In this respect, the government's "support measures" came just in time for many publishers.
Alternative, independent and critical media outlets continue to play a vital role in Greece: trust in traditional publications is steadily eroding since many of them are subject to the political and corporate interests of their owners and sponsors. The state broadcaster (ERT) is under the government's influence and many private media outlets make no secret of which party they support. The majority are owned by a handful of rich entrepreneurs with close ties to Prime Minister Mitsotakis. This explains why, in a survey conducted by the Reuters Institute in 2022, only seven percent of respondents agreed with the statement that the Greek media is free from undue political influence, and only eight percent said they did not see any evidence of the business community exercising undue influence on the media.
In 2022, Greece was ranked 108th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index – the lowest ranking in the European Union. Athens responded by sharply criticising Reporters Without Borders and describing the organisation as "unreliable". Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reacted by saying that it was "nonsense".
World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders):
Rank 108 (2022) / 107 (2023)
Last updated: September 2023
