“For the second consecutive year, the government chose to deny ERT3 the opportunity to ask the prime minister a question, effectively marginalising the station during a key institutional information event held in its own city of Thessaloniki,” the statement read.

ESIEM-TH has repeatedly raised concerns over the downgrading of ERT3’s role in providing public information. The union called on ERT SA, the national broadcaster, and the General Directorate of ERT3 to take steps to defend the station’s role in journalism and ensure it regains its rightful place in covering critical political events. “ERT3’s employees are committed to fighting for the restoration of its role in the field of public information,” the statement concluded.

This criticism echoes a broader condemnation from the Panhellenic Federation of Editors’ Unions (POESY), which earlier denounced the exclusion of several media outlets, including Rizospastis, AVGI, Sto Kokkino, Documento, and Demokratia, from the prime minister’s press conference at TIF.

Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis responded to the backlash, insisting that no media outlet was deliberately excluded from the event. He attributed the lack of participation by some outlets, including ERT3, to time constraints and the need to prioritise representation from regional media. However, the omission of Thessaloniki’s own public broadcaster, ERT3, raised further questions about the transparency of media access at such high-profile events.

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