Greece's Issues

Introduction
Greece's freedom of the press issue may not appear to weigh as heavy as comparable countries, but problems do exist and deserve recognition and a move to action.

Thesis Statement
Greece compared to other countries does not rank very low on press freedom and improved its rank in recent years, however the country does need to advance more in regards to allowing the press to write without receiving unfair reprimandations.

Problem/issue

• Case of a minister suing a magazine for 250,000 euros(300,000 USD)
• Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias froze the publisher of the Athens Review of Books magazine, Maria Vasilaki’s, bank account because of an article that the magazine published in 2010, insulting the minister’s character. Greek courts condoned Kotzias’ authority.

History

• 1821: Modern Greece emerged when the wars of Greek independence were waged against the Turkish rulers of the Ottoman Empire.
• 1832: King Otto, a Bavarian prince, selected for the Greek people by European powers, witnessed considerable centralization of authority in the capital of Athens.

History

• 1844: King Otto's first period of governance ended with a military coup, an internal Greek interventionist theme that would regularly be a part of Greek politics until 1975.
• 1864: A new monarchy was created, once again by Europe's major powers, who extended an invitation to Danish prince William to come to Athens and become King of the Hellenes

History

• 1913: The reign of King George I ended by assassination by a deranged Greek in the newly freed Greek district of Salonica.
• 1917: The strategic importance of Greece in the Allied fight against the Central Powers nations of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria led to French interventionism in Greek politics and the disposition and exile of the king

History

• 1922: King Constantine was exiled a second time after disastrous defeats by the Greek army at the hands of the Turks that the Venizelos press blamed on the Greek king and princes who commanded the nation's armed forces.
• 1923: King George II lasted less than a year on the throne and was exiled

History

• 1935: Venizelos' failure to revive the Greek economy led to his overthrow by the military
• 1941: Germany and Italy invaded
• 1947-1964: The reign of Paul I witnessed an attempt to bring economic stability to Greece with the imposition of prime ministers and political parties that were pro-Western and more rightist

History

• 1964: Greece's last king, Constantine II, began his reign with the nation expecting Greece to become a true constitutional monarchy, with the king and the military outside of politics.
• 1967: Greece's limited democracy was overthrown in a military coup.
• 1973: The monarchy remained in name until it was abolished by the military Read more: http://www.pressreference.com/Fa-Gu/Greece.html#ixzz4v5mC6lOU

History

• 1974: The military junta's attempt to annex the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus with its large Turkish Muslim population led to a war with Turkey and the collapse of the military regime. The monarchy was rejected by a national referendum, and Greece officially became a republic.

History

• 1975: The creation of the Hellenic Republic and the adoption of a new Constitution, amended in 1986, did not immediately remove antiquated press laws dating back to the Metaxas era of the 1930s.

Present Progression

• Number 88 on the World Press Freedom Index, increased by 1 from 2016. Government reopened ERT(television network). Zero journalists, citizen journalists, and media assistants killed in 2017.
• Greece shows progression from previous year.

Case Study

• Demonstrated in the government`s support and the minister`s outrage, the country does not exhibit full freedom of the press.
• The country needs to tackle issues like these in order to continue their progression.

Conclusion

• Although progressing statistically, Greece faces issues with government and press relations to the point of interfering with their freedom.
• Issues such as freedom of the press take time to improve unless a serious demonstration of their rights occurs.

Sources

• Greece by Bo Patterson of Advameg, Inc
• Greece by RSF of Reporters without borders
• Greece on Freedom House of Freedom House