After his victory in the 2019 elections, the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, by way of a General Presidential Decree (Issue A ‘119 / 08.07.2019 of the government gazette) placed the General Secretariat of Information and Communication, which is the supervising body of ERT and the Athens News Agency – Macedonian Press Agency under the supervision of the Maximos Mansion, the Greek Prime Minister’s Office.
Article 5 of the decree specifically states that “[…] to the Prime Minister are transferred, as a set of responsibilities, positions, staff and supervised bodies, the General Secretariat of Information and Communication, as it was organized under the provisions of Chapter E of the Presidential Decree 82/2017 as well as the Special Secretariat for Crisis Management Communication as organized under the provisions of Chapter F of the same decree.”
During SYRIZA rule, New Democracy, as the official opposition party, had criticized their management of ERT, which it accused of biased coverage in favor of the governing party. In a tweet in February 2017, the New Democracy MP, Makarios Lazaridis, had wondered if the management and journalists of ERT were proud of their news reporting, while in April 2019, shortly before the national elections, New Democracy published a press release accusing ERT of “overt propaganda” and claimed that “Maximos has turned ERT into a channel for distorting the positions of the New Democracy”, promising that from the very next day after the national elections, ERT will become the public, independent and polyphonic television broadcaster that the Greek people deserve. On the same day, New Democracy MP Charalambos Athanassiou accused ERT of falsifying statements he had made to a journalist in a machination “that would make even Goebbels blush”.
However, Mitsotakis’ decision to put ERT under his own office’s supervision received similar criticism, as it was seen as a sign of centralization of power and increasing control of public service broadcasting by the government.
In fact, in October 2020, the Council of State’s Section 5, in Opinion No. 174/2020, judged that “radio and television are under the direct control of the state, a concept which goes beyond the scope, content and the meaning of state supervision. It is the National Broadcasting Council and not the central public administration that is charged with control of and imposition of sanctions on the radio and television media “.
In a state that adheres to the rule of law, where individual rights and in particular freedom of the press are protected, journalists have the right to practice their profession freely and independently, without censorship or influence. Furthermore, the public broadcasting services and news agencies should operate without influence from the state and the government, and be able to pursue stories that are critical of the government as a check on the abuse of power.
Only independent authorities, such as the National Broadcasting Council, at least in theory, should oversee public broadcasting and information services and not a government office such as the Prime Minister.
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