Greek mass media-1989.doc
Background
Although each media situation is- in reality-much more complicated than it appears at a first sight, in the sense that it encompasses an interplay between all media involved, than is unraveled –if at all-with great difficulty, we could define, for reasons of periodicization, four time-based stages of the evolution of the broadcast media, and especially television :
-until the military coup of April the 21st, 1967.
-during the military rule.
-during the political changeover, from the fall of the military junta (1974) until 1989.
-during the de-regulation stage, from 1989 to our days.
The emphasis is on television, since radio is a rather old story for Greece : radio broadcasting commenced during another dictatorial regime, the junta of August the 4th, 1936.
It seems that the first appearance of the broadcast media in Greece took place in a climate were political liberties were suppressed; this was to have some importance on their future evolution.
The Greek broadcasting system
-Until the military coup of April the 21st, 1967
The first attempts for the installation of TV transmitters, during 1958 and 1959, did not proceed from their initial planning stage. During 1960, the publicly –owned Electricity Company installs and operates an experimental TV station, during the Thessaloniki International Fair ( September 1960).
The programme broadcasted by this TV station had an intensely recreational character, also including the first-ever sponsored programmes in Greek TV.
This experiment was subsequently blocked by the State-owned National Foundation for Radio Broadcasting ( E.I.P) , concerned not to lose this promising initiative.
Once again ( December the 14th, 1962), the Electricity Company inaugurated another experimental station, operating from its Athens headquarters, and places a few TV sets in a number of locations at the center of Athens, in order to advertise a bond issues by the same company.
At this instance, the reaction of the National Institution for Radio Broadcasting ( NIRB- in English, or E.I.P in Greek ) was accompanied by the enforcement of a Constitutional decree, according to which NIRB was the sole bearer of the right to broadcast TV programmes.
The government published an announcement ( March 1963), according to which it would proceed with the installation of a complete network of 17 television stations throughout the country.
However this development was postponed, as a result of political pressures emanating from various sources and/or dysfunctions that accompanied this new venture right from its inception.
The postponement lasted until the 21st of September 1965, during which day the experimental TV station of E.I.P broadcasted a 90 minute programme, composed of Greek news and selections from Greek cinema films.
The official launch of the televised broadcasts of E.I.P took place on the 23rd of February 1966, with a two-hour programme. Still, this attempt of operating a TV station through E.I.P was seen-by a part of the political establishment ( including the Palace) , and mainly from the militaryestablishment-as a “weapon” in the hands of the politicians.
The military already controlled the radio station of the Armed Forces; pressures were exercised towards the politicians in power so as to expand the activities of this specific radio station in the domain of television.
After a considerable amount of pressures and retractions, the military realized this objective, within an atmosphere of political upheaval. The first broadcast of the Armed Forces Television Station took place on Sunday, February the 27th, 1966.
-During the military rule, 1967-1974.
Right from the very first day of the coup d’ état, both the existing television stations fell under the direct control and supervision of the military junta. In a symbolic manner, that directly referred to the everyday reality as it was being fashioned under the prevalent “philosophy” of the coup d’ état, the logotypes of the TV stations were instantly replaced with the standard “sign” of the military junta, a soldier standing upright, side-face, on the foreground combined with a phoenix ( the legendary bird) on the background.
The military saw the possibility of using TV as an aid in the establishment and the consolidation of its rule , and included the planning of a complete network of television stations, covering at least 80% of the country ( in terms of geography) in its rather highly optimistic blueprint of the 1968-1972 Five-Year Development Plan.
The military proceeded with the staffing of the electronic media, the procurement of the technological infrastructure and the creation of the headquarters for all radio and television stations under its control ; i.e. the Radiomegaron ( i.e. the Radio- large building) situated at Agia ( i.e. Saint) Paraskevi, close to Athens.
A complete, full-scale evening programme was launched on November 1968 for the Armed Forces Television Station, and on April 1969, for E.I.P. At the same time, the military proceeded with the creation of the Information Services of the Armed Forces, designed so as to control the total involvement of the military in the domain of electronic media, providing –at the same time- the Ministry of Defense with additional and almost undiscriminatory power in the broadcasting media field.
Thus, a two-tier broadcasting system came into effect, separating the Greek citizens into two broad categories : the civilians and the members of the Armed Forces. The TV station of E.I.P was aimed towards the civilians, while the Armed Forces TV station was founded with the objective to cater for the needs of the Armed Forces.
During 1970, E.I.P -the National Foundation for Radio Broadcasting was renamed ( legislative decree 745/1970) as the National Foundation for Radio and Television Broadcasting-E.I.P.T ( in Greek), also incorporating the ( then) new activities in the field of TV. E.I.P.T was a legal entity of public law, the sole owner of the license to broadcast.
This broadcasting monopoly was directly disputed by the parallel operation of the Armed Forces TV station, that was being controlled by the Information Service of the Armed Services, a State-owned autonomous broadcasting entity.
Thus, from its outset, E.I.P.T had to cope with a contradictory situation regarding its position as a monopoly.
The military channel applied the philosophy and tactics of a purely commercial channel , with an entertainment-oriented programme mostly being composed of B-rate movies and US-imported very cheap serials, and also, since 1973- obtained the lead in advertising activities, versus the civilian channel of E.I.P.T.
Television, a recent entrant in the Greek media scene of the time, did influence a generally extrovert people, by gradually transforming them into an introvert population.
This transformation was even more acute by the increasing acceptance of consumerism as a regular practice in general, and as a way of life for various expanding population groups. The traits of consumerism were an inherent and prominent factor of the imported TV programmes ( and their local replicas) and the increasing volume of advertising in TV.
The inheritance of the military dictatorship to the subsequent democratic governments was a substantial –if not total-erosion of media credibility, in conjunction with inefficient management, disorder and debt concerning the broadcast media,
-During the political changeover, from the fall of the military junta (1974) until 1989.
The fall of the dictatorship (1974) , accelerated by the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, helped the abolition of an intense climate of polarization that was a characteristic of postwar Greek society.
Of course, some transformations took place gradually ; e.g. the Information Service of the Armed Forces remained under the control of the Ministry of Defense until August 1982.
A lot remained to be done ; in some cases, the way of “seeing” things and “reading” situations proved resistant to change. E.g. while efforts were taken so as to transform the structure and the contents of the main news bulletin towards a more balanced attitude, there were obstacles that hindered such an attempt.
The government of that period tried to proceed with the necessary changes by selecting a technocratic route ; during 1975, it sought the recommendations of a team of foreign experts so as to reorganize public broadcasting. One of the proposed measures of this team was transformed into a law (law 230/1975), according to which E.I.P.T was reshaped into E.P.T ( Hellenic Radio and Television) , in compliance to the new Constitution of 1975.
One majoe change, addressed to TV viewers, took place in 1981, during which the black and white TV screen was succeeded by a full colour screen; colour TV had arrived –already.
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