Brussels, 11/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 11 June, two years to the day after it went off air, the Greek ERT channel began broadcasting again.
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomed this reopening and its president, Mogens Bjerregard, said: “It has been a long and tough battle for our affiliates and journalists in Greece. Their courage and resilience should be commended (…) However, the management should be reminded that they have the obligation to ensure decent working conditions for journalists and editorial independence in its programming”.
At 6 o'clock on Thursday morning, ERT opened its news broadcasting antenna. The presenters expressed their “emotion” at being back at the station and promised that the ERT would be “a television channel for Greeks… that will not be controlled by any government”.
It should be pointed out that the Conservative government of Antonis Samaras ordered broadcasting at the ERT to be closed down in 2013 and on 11 June that year it was summarily shut. The reason used was because of the waste and corruption at this public service body at a time when Greece was being ordered to apply austerity measures. This gesture provoked a heated response that even went as far as the European Parliament (see EUROPE 10880) and led Samaras to open a new channel NERIT, with a reduced programme that was supposed to replace the ERT until it reopened (see EUROPE 11072). Two years later, the government of Alexis Tsipras has decided to reopen the ERT and the Greek Parliament has appointed a new executive board made up of representatives from the media and a temporary manager. All the employees made redundant are now expected to begin work there again. (Isabelle Lamberty)