Greek media hit by financial crisis

Greece’s once-proliferating media sector has been hobbled by the ongoing financial crisis. Where once new publications would often debut, today the industry is grappling with layoffs, dwindling circulation and viewership, and sharp pay cuts. In a country of just 11 million people, Greeks until recently enjoyed a plethora of outlets, with about 10 news channels, more than 15 newspapers and even more monthly magazines.
 In 2011, losses at major media groups reached EUR 108m, while newspaper sales drooped between nine and 20 percent, following a drop of 25 to 30 percent in 2010. Media watchers point to the drying up of state and private advertising revenue, as well as of previously easily-obtained bank loans. Things are no better in the publicly-funded media, with workers from three channels at Net Television, as well as the semi-official Ana news agency, hit with 25-percent salary cuts and layoffs, in line with those in other public jobs. At Athens’s Alter TV, journalists haven’t been paid for 10 months. Beyond the immediate effects of dried-up credit, observers also point to a more underhand form of funding until recently enjoyed by the Greek media.
It’s an open secret in Greece that the government sometimes provided kick-backs to media outlets in return for the soft-pedalling of contentious issues. “For years, we’ve been propping up this bubble,” government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis recently said in a radio interview. “Journalists aren’t responsible, but rather the whole political and media system,” he said.