One effect of the austerity measures imposed on Greece by the International Monetary Fund in May 2010 is that the Greek advertising market has declined considerably. Since the overwhelming majority of media outlets depend on advertising revenue, the downturn appears to be accelerating existing trends in the media industry. On the other hand, since the foundation of the modern Greek state, the Greek media system has been driven more by supply than consumer demand, a situation that is coloured by politics. There are more newspapers, more television channels, more magazines and more radio stations than Greece's small market can sustain. By the end of the 2010, there were about 280 local, regional and national daily newspapers, as well as 800 popular and special interest magazine titles, 150 national and local television channels and 1200 radio stations for a market of 11 million.

All media outlets are facing their most difficult period ever, but it is the newspapers that seem to be worst affected. Although the decline in terms of sales, readership and advertising revenue is a worldwide phenomenon, since the mid-1990s the Greek press has entered a state of permanent crisis: fewer and fewer Greeks read a newspaper on a daily basis. Nevertheless, a number of other factors are associated with this decline.

First among them is the entry of private broadcasting channels into the market. Up to the 1990s, the state channels were regarded as "arms of the state": in effect, the "mouthpiece" of the government of the day. This tight government control on both radio and television curtailed the credibility of the electronic media and Greeks paid little attention to news broadcast by the state. This gave newspapers a comparative advantage. It would not be an exaggeration to argue that back in the 1970s and 1980s the Athens daily press was regarded as the key mass medium in the dissemination of political information of pan-Hellenic interest. Research has revealed that during this period, the overwhelming majority of Greeks kept informed about events of national significance by reading the Athens dailies, rather than by using any other mass medium or interpersonal channel.

Once the private channels entered the field, this comparative advantage was lost. Television news on the private channels started to dwell more on domestic issues. In sharp contrast to the state monopoly, foreign news constitutes about 25 per cent of private news coverage, with domestic news dominating. Moreover, contemporary television news is faster and less tedious. At least the new newscasters are what they appear to be and not, as in the past, readers of government announcements.

The onslaught of private radio and television has exacerbated the crisis in the press, drastically changing the ways in which the public acquires information. On the other hand, newspapers were not able to defend their "comparative advantage" in providing comment and in-depth analysis of events. In most cases, newspapers have mimicked the model of television journalism. If television has snatched the initiative in instant reporting of news, both radio and television literally "pillage" the newspapers with their daily press review programmes.

A second factor is the diminishing interest in politics among many Greeks. In the past, Greek newspapers used to be characterized by a blend of politics, culture and general news presentation. A newspaper's party political association used to be a fairly accurate indicator of its attitude toward political issues. But since the mid-1980s, accusations concerning scandals and corruption have become a frequent issue on the public agenda. Newspapers have played a part in this. Parties and politicians have generally condemned clientelism and institutional corruption, however have avoided taking appropriate action, obviously for fear of the political fallout. In a very short time – as indicated by the polls as well as a growing abstention rate in elections and a considerable increase of blank and spoiled votes – political parties in Greece have lost touch with the voters.

This indifference to, or abstention from politics seems to have had a parallel effect on newspapers sales; the Greek press is still regarded as highly political. It is no coincidence that the public has started to regard both party politics and the media as dysfunctional institutions. In a recent survey, the majority of respondents replied that they trusted neither politicians nor journalists. Public disillusion and indifference towards politics is reflected negatively in the circulation of political dailies. This is admitted publicly by most Greek newspaper editors. But while political newspapers were declining, sporting and financial papers were booming, whether because of athletic achievements or the rise and fall of the Greek stock exchange between 1995-2000.

However questions remain unanswered: Is the decline of the press due solely to the fact that the newspapers are highly political? Can we argue that reading newspapers is an elite practice? Does the elite buy and read newspapers simply to have their political convictions confirmed? If so, why does the majority of the public not continue to buy downmarket newspapers? The answer, it seems, is simple: the "bombardment" of the average citizen with a continuous flow of information removes them from the printed page; everything is now presented for instant consumption by radio and television. If people cannot find in depth analysis on the TV news, they can find it on the radio.

Third, as in other countries, the biggest challenge for Greek newspapers is to promote reading habits among the young. The problem, however, is how to attract young people, especially when the newspaper is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity in the average Greek household. While it is true that newspapers were never especially attractive to Greek youth, if they do not succeed in attracting young people now, they may well not be attracted as adults either. It is difficult to estimate the effect of television viewing on young people's newspaper reading habits and there may well be other factors; yet plans to introduce them into schools seem a priority. Such issues – plus those of an aging population and economic recession – are clearly germane to an industry concerned about its future and the sort of role it is traditionally meant to play in society.

Fourth, in the past five years two major developments have added to the newspapers' problems. The first was the advent of the free daily press; the second, particularly in the past three years, has been the development of the Internet. Newspapers face a double challenge: readers prefer to get their information free, from a daily handout or, most important, directly online. Almost all the Athenian newspapers have their online editions on the Web and the number of online readers is at least five times more than the paper edition. Some papers have started to experiment with charging for their online content, but it remains to be seen whether readers will continue to pay to read online.

As noted, the Greek media market is characterized more by supply than consumer demand. To this general paradox, Greek newspapers have added some paradoxes of their own. The first of these is that while the average circulation of newspapers in Greece is falling, the same cannot be said for the number of daily titles. Though a number of established newspapers have suspended or ceased publication over the past 10 years, new titles, or old ones under new ownership, spring up all the time. The annual data of the Association of Athens Daily Newspaper Owners reveals that in 1979 there were 12 morning and afternoon dailies published in Athens with an average daily combined circulation of 713,000 copies. In 1989, the best year for dailies in the last 20 years, there were 22 titles with an average daily combined circulation of 1,128,589 copies. By 2009, the combined average circulation of all 22 titles was 326,000 copies. How does such a tiny market support the number of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations currently in existence?

It is equally curious that while most people in the press regard the launch of a new daily as an investment of doubtful viability, new papers appear all the time, only too frequently closing after a short period, thereby boosting the lines of the "reserve army of unemployed". This continual increase in daily newspaper titles has to do with the traditional role of newspapers in Greek society: as a means of pressure on the political power. As in the past, commercial motives are not the sole motivation for those entering media markets as small as Greece's. The entry of businessmen, shipping owners and others into the media scene is an important way to influence public opinion and to exert pressure in the political arena. The problem is that newspapers do not have the same impact as before.

The second paradox is that newspapers tried to stop the decline in sales by increasing the free gifts and giveaways associated with their titles. In 1993, when publishers saw that sales were declining rapidly, they began to tempt readers with "special offers" or gifts that ranged from books to cars and houses. But, as the data reveals, the continuous "priming" of papers with such offers or gifts only temporarily halts the decline of circulation. Yet these inducements have become a constituent part of newspapers with significant falls in sales if the practice is abandoned.

Apart from vast increases in pages, supplements and offers, Greek newspapers have been changing significantly. Today's newspapers have little in common with those of the past decade in terms of content or form. Nowadays, in an effort to halt the decline, newspapers have pulled out all the stops: they present their content in a much more fashionable way – more features, more news, more photos and more sections – and in a more convenient format. A new editorial sensitivity to readers' interests and the opportunities opened up by computerized production has meant that many Greek newspapers have introduced new graphics, new typefaces and new layouts. Nowadays, for instance, they all have colour on most pages.

But the decline continues: the public buys ever fewer newspapers. As we have seen, there is a combination of factors at work. As many observers have noted, the crisis of the press is part of the structural crisis that Greece faces. And newspapers seem to be the first casualty.

Published 2010-12-31

Original in English
First published in Eurozine

© Stylianos Papathanassopoulos
© Eurozine