State surveillance and court cases: The lonely fight for press freedom of Greece’s independent media

by Alessio Giussani

 

Part 1 

A new ecosystem of small, independent organisations is bringing a breath of transparent, in-depth reporting into the Greek media landscape but their work is being hindered by costly court cases and the threat of state surveillance.

This comes as media freedom is continuing to decline in Greece. The country ranked 108th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2022 Press Freedom Index — the worst-performing European country, triggering a furious response by the authorities.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis dismissed the ranking as "crap", adding: “We have a vibrant press, you can read everything you want in Greece."

Nikolas Leontopoulos, an editor at Reporters United, sees it differently: "We do have freedom of opinion, but there are some very sensitive issues that don’t even make it to the news”.

Until recently, at least.

Source, links:

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/02/20/state-surveillance-and-court-cases-the-lonely-fight-for-press-freedom-of-greeces-independe

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