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Greek broadcaster ERT reopens after court victory http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/18/greek-broadcaster-ert-court-reopen?
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State-owned radio and TV network will keep broadcasting during restructure after
shutdown by prime minister sparked crisis
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Reuters in Athens
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 18 June 2013 04.56 BST
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A musician with the ERT symphony orchestra reacts to court order
A musician with the ERT symphony orchestra reacts to a court order for the Greek
state broadcaster to stay open during a restructure. Photograph: Simela
Pantzartzi/EPA
A Greek court has ordered the state broadcaster ERT back on air while it is
restructured, allowing squabbling leaders of the governing coalition to move towards
a compromise that avoids early elections.
The ruling came six days after the prime minister, Antonis Samaras, suddenly switched
ERT off to save money and please foreign lenders, sparking an outcry from unions,
journalists and exposing a rift with his allies. The top administrative court appeared to vindicate Samaras's stance that a leaner,
cheaper public broadcaster must be set up but also allowed for ERT's immediate
reopening as his two coalition partners had demanded, offering all three a way out of
an impasse that had raised the spectre of a snap election. All parties claimed victory from the ruling, which failed to specify whether ERT must
restart with programming as before or only partially resume operations until its
relaunch. "The court decision is essentially in line with what we've said: no one has the right
to shut down national radio and television and turn screens black," said Fotis
Kouvelis, head of the small Democratic Left party in the coalition. Evangelos Venizelos, head of the Socialist Pasok party, said the ruling vindicated
his party's line and reiterated that he was against going to early elections. An official from Samaras's New Democracy party ? which has already scored a minor
victory by securing the latest tranche of bailout funds partly due to ERT's shutdown
? said the ruling affirmed the government's position that ERT had to be scrapped.
"ERT is shut, ERT is finished," said the official. A live feed of ERT ? whose journalists have continued broadcasting over the internet
in defiance of orders ? showed workers breaking into applause after the court ruling.
ERT's symphony orchestra began a concert outside its headquarters, playing an old
news jingle to cheering supporters. "I've been here seven nights and this is the
first time I've seen people smile," said Eleni Hrona, an ERT reporter. During talks with his allies Samaras offered to reopen a pared-down version of ERT
under temporary management, reshuffle the cabinet and update the coalition's
agreement to improve co-operation among parties, a government official said. Pasok's Venizelos said Samaras had appeared to accept the option of a cabinet
reshuffle and better co-ordination. The three political leaders would meet again on
Wednesday to agree on how to implement the court ruling. "ERT is not the only or the main issue," he said. "The main issue is that this
government must operate as a government of real co-operation and not as a one-party
government." The threat of early elections that had shaken financial markets appeared to recede as
talk shifted to the reshuffle. "No political leader said we must go to elections,"
another official said. "Elections weren't even discussed." The coalition parties over the past week had fed fears of a hugely disruptive snap
poll by refusing to compromise over an entity widely unloved until its shock
overnight closure. Aware his allies stand to lose heavily in any election, the conservative Samaras had
refused to turn the "sinful" ERT back on, vowing to fight to modernise a country he
says had become a "Jurassic Park" of inefficiency and corruption. His coalition partners had previously rejected Samaras's offer of a limited restart
of broadcasts.
Ratings agency Moody's said the fraying political consensus on ERT's closure and
slippage on a troubled privatisation programme after Athens failed to sell off state
natural gas firm DEPA were negative for Greece's lowly C credit rating. "Without a
compromise among coalition partners, the risk of new elections will increase," the
agency said. A senior eurozone official voiced concern that Greece was hurtling back to its days
of crisis and drama, given the slow pace of public sector reforms and privatisations.
"It's kind of deja vu with Greece," the official said. Opinion polls over the weekend showed a majority of Greeks opposed the shutdown, due
rather to its abruptness ? screens went black a few hours after the announcement,
cutting off newscasters mid-sentence ? than to the decision itself. In Syntagma Square outside parliament thousands gathered to listen to radical left
opposition leader Alexis Tsipras protest against the ERT shutdown and attack Samaras
as a "great Napoleon of bailouts". "But he didn't see, nor did he predict, the Waterloo that ERT workers and the great
majority of people prepared for him," Tsipras told crowds of flag-waving supporters.
------------
2 Greece court orders state broadcaster ERT back on air
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-22945155
Protester outside ERT offices at Aghia Paraskevi suburb in Athens. 17 June 2013
The government order to close ERT triggered widespread protests
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories Fightback as Greek broadcaster shut
Silencing of broadcaster ERT shocks Greece
Greece suspends state broadcaster
A Greek court has ordered that state broadcaster ERT, which was shut down by the
government last week, can resume transmissions. However, the court also upheld a plan by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to replace
ERT with a smaller broadcaster. The ruling came as Mr Samaras and his coalition partners - furious that they had not
been consulted about ERT's closure - held crisis talks. The prime minister's decision triggered mass protests across the country. Continue reading the main story
Analysis image of Mark Lowen
Mark Lowen
BBC News, Athens
Greece's government has emerged from this battle intact but badly bruised. The prime minister's plan to replace ERT with a smaller, cheaper broadcaster can now
go ahead. But his move to pull the signal in the interim has been reversed by
Greece's supreme administrative court, a victory for the other coalition leaders who
were furious at the sudden closure. There were jubilant scenes among staff at ERT headquarters that programming can
continue, although many will lose their jobs as a leaner structure is formed. Greece's government seems to have survived its worst political crisis in its year in
office - but the coalition leaders will meet again to discuss the cracks that have
widened over this issue and to present a show of unity. The leading party in the governing coalition, the conservative New Democracy, said
last Tuesday that ERT suffered from chronic mismanagement, lack of transparency and
waste. It shut the broadcaster down with the loss of nearly 2,700 jobs. Viewers saw TV
screens go black as the signal was switched off. Greece's top administrative court - the Council of State - upheld Mr Samaras's plan
to replace ERT with a new broadcaster later this year but backed the position of the
other coalition partners that the signal must be restored in the interim. Some ERT journalists have continued live broadcasts unauthorised over the internet,
and when the ruling came through, a strapline across the screen said: "In a few hours
ERT will be broadcasting everywhere." 'Seven nights'
The case was brought by ERT's union in an attempt to overturn Mr Samaras's surprise
move. The BBC's Mark Lowen in Athens says each side will claim victory, but in the end the
unity of the government has been badly weakened. During talks, Mr Samaras had suggested a new, leaner, cheaper broadcaster would be
established within weeks and he proposed hiring a small team to produce news
programmes in the interim. But this idea was rejected by his two coalition partners - Evangelos Venizelos of
Pasok and Fotis Kouvelis of the Democratic Left. "The court decision is essentially in line with what we've said: no one has the right
to shut down national radio and television and turn screens black," said Mr Kouvelis
after the emergency talks ended. Protest in Athens. 17 June 2013
Opposition party Syriza staged a protest in Syntagma Square on Monday evening
Mr Venizelos said they would meet again on Wednesday to discuss a cabinet reshuffle. An official from New Democracy said the ruling affirmed the government's position
that ERT had been scrapped. The row has threatened to topple the government and force Greece into snap elections,
triggering political turmoil with implications for the whole eurozone. ERT workers celebrated outside the broadcaster's headquarters after hearing the court
ruling. "I've been here seven nights and this is the first time I've seen people smile," said
reporter Eleni Hrona. However, our correspondent says there is also the recognition that later this year
many will lose their jobs as a smaller broadcaster is formed. Meanwhile, as coalition leaders went into talks, the main opposition party Syriza
held a rally in Athens' Syntagma Square to demand early elections.
http://delicious.com/gr_greek1/zak (all my pages )
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