In 2009 Greece had a score of 29 (out of a scale of 0-100, with 100 being a complete lack of press freedom) and was considered as having a press that was ‘free’. Today it has a score of 46, hereby putting in the category of countries in which the press is only ‘partly free’.
Full pdf of the report available here
The 17 point shift is the largest decline seen in any country worldwide. Close behind were Bahrain and the Central African Republic both with 15 point declines although it should be noted that both those countries have atrocious press freedom ratings (ranked 188th and 170th respectively).
In 2012 Greece had a score of 41 but lost 5 points over the course of 2013. According to statements made to the Greek branch of Voice of America (link in Greek) by Jennifer Dunham, head analyst of Freedom House, the main reason for that drop was the government’s sudden closure of the public broadcaster ERT in 2013.
“ERT was the biggest news network, broadcasting to parts of the country which do not have private outlets and its closure was a serious blow to the right of citizens to information. At the same time the mass layoff in one day of thousands of journalists and technical crew greatly exacerbated the job insecurity felt by workers in the media. The transitionary broadcaster which was created is clearly inferior to ERT and is subject to greater control by the country’s government,” Ms Dunham said.
Freedom House’s head analyst also noted that due to the economic crisis journalists are more dependent on their employers, who in turn are more dependent on the government. As a result issues which may be damaging to government policy are not covered, or covered in a way that is favourable to the administration. An increase in libel cases against journalists, the use of surveillance against them and the non-transparent awarding of broadcast licenses also contributed to Greece’s decline, according to the report.
In more general terms the report stresses the threat to worldwide press freedom posed by private media owners, “especially those with close connections to governments or ruling parties – who altered editorial lines or dismissed key staff after acquiring previously independent outlines.” In Greece a handful of influential business leaders control the majority of the major private news broadcasters and newspapers.
Overall the report found that global press freedom has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade as gains in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa more than offset by declines in Middle Eastern States such as Egypt, Libya and Jordan, and other regions such as Turkey, Ukraine, East Africa and even the United States.
While Greece was the lowest performing member of the EU, other European countries were also deemed as having a press that is only ‘partly free’ including Italy (64th), Bulgaria (78th) and Romania (84th).
The results of the Freedom House rankings for Greece largely agree with those found by a similar ranking released in February by Reporters Without Borders.
This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso and its partners and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. The project's page: Safety Net for European Journalists. A Transnational Support Network for Media Freedom in Italy and South-east Europe.
