Greek media crisis

Bloomberg's Nicole Itano reports from Piraeus Port, near Athens, on Greece's fifth general strike of the year today, halting ferries, public transport and other state services, 29 June 2010. (Source: Bloomberg)

So, while the International news media are reporting on today's general strike in Greece, once again, the Greek media are absent. The reasons? Well I bet something to do about the new pension scheme and the social security bill about to go through parliament.

But that's fine... What the Greek mass media is reporting is not news. It's a presentation of the news.

Is funny watching some Greek reporters yesterday, explaining why the measures need to be implemented, and then going on strike today in opposition to the measures!

Most popular Greek media, and Greek reporters, are very poor in reporting the news, most of them just copy-paste press releases and announcements, while mixing them with populist arguments. The Greek media reporting on the news is something of a B-movie equivalent to European and Global news organizations.

It reminds me the disclaimer of the daily show:

"The show you are about to watch is a news parody. Its stories are not fact checked. Its reporters are not journalists. And its opinions are not fully thought through."

Just like the Greek news media!

Somewhere along the line Greek mass media has lost it. People in the Greek media can not understand the differences between Journalists, Reporters, News Anchors, News Readers, Presenters, Correspondents, Analysts, Commentators, Press spokespersons, Media representatives, Communications professionals and other Media Management people.

Greek TV news is like a tabloid reality talk-show with amateur reporters and poor acting.

I am a firm believer that news reporting should be sterilized, and investigative journalism should be pursued in good faith and sound professionalism. (This of course in Greek mass media terms translates into: "Who's what now?!")