Greek newspapers have been in a state of chronic crisis since the mid–1990s. Greece has one of the lowest newspaper readerships in the developed world; for example, on the eve of the economic crisis in 2010, newspaper readership was at a meagre 53 readers per 1,000 people (WAN, 2010). Over the recent past, the market has been experiencing a continuous fall in rates of average circulation, with even fewer Greeks reading newspapers on a daily basis (Papathanassopoulos, 2017b).
According to the Hellenic Statistical Authority (2020), in 2019, compared with 2018, a decrease of 13.7 per cent was recorded in the total sales of newspapers and in the individual types of newspapers. A significant decrease, in absolute values, was observed in the sales of political newspapers (11.3%) and in the sales of sports newspapers (18.2%). In 2018, compared with 2017, there had been a decrease of 5.9 per cent in overall newspaper sales. Regarding the magazine sector, in 2019, compared with 2018, a decrease of 3.2 per cent was recorded in its total sale, with the exception of children-comics and sports magazines, which increased by 56.9 per cent and 4.6 per cent, respectively (Hellenic Statistical Authority, 2020).
On the other hand, broadcasting remains one of the most important sources of information for the Greek audience. More specifically, Greeks listen to the radio approximately 3.5 hours per day (Focus Bari/Aemar, 2013), and, according to Nielsen’s (2020) data, they watch television for 270 minutes per day.
The daily consumption of television media by the population over four years old, over the last decade (2010–2019), ranged from 251 to 274 minutes, on the whole. However, within the younger audience, 18–24 years old, much less time was spent watching television. More specifically, it is noteworthy that in the period 2010–2019, the daily consumption of television by young viewers showed a steady decline from 162 (in 2010) to 94 minutes (in 2019) (Nielsen, 2019).
According to data from Nielsen (2019), from the period of September to 8 December 2019 the most loyal viewers in Greece were women over 55 years old, devoting 434 minutes per day to television. This was followed by men over 55, who spent 368 minutes per day on what they considered a still-dynamic medium. In contrast, men aged 18–34 were proved to be the least loyal television viewers, spending 117 minutes per day on television. Female viewers of the same age category daily consumed television for 165 minutes.
Online and digital media have rapidly taken their place in the Greek media system, and Internet penetration in the country has been increasing over the last years. A recent study by the Hellenic National Centre for Social Research, in the context of the international World Internet Project, revealed that 71 per cent of the Greek audience sample, from the age of 15 or more, described themselves as users of the Internet (Demertzis & Tsekeris, 2020: 23). Furthermore, over three quarters of the total participants who did not report themselves as Internet users justified it by highlighting that they were either deprived of technical knowledge or they simply were not interested in using the Internet (Papathanassopoulos, 2017b). Meanwhile, 84.6 per cent of Greek Internet users saw it as an important or very important source of information, and 68.7 per cent consumed news online on a daily basis (Papathanassopoulos, 2017b). Kalogeropoulos (2019) reported that on an average, Greeks use more than five online news sources per week, an outcome placing them second among 38 countries.
According to the report from the Hellenic National Centre for Social Research, seven out of ten Greeks had access to the Internet (Demertzis & Tsekeris, 2020: 24). This represented a portion of the population, which was quite small compared to the relevant data in other developed countries. However, it reflected a rapid increase in Internet use, given that in 2015, Internet access was ten percentage points lower. Among Internet users, three out of four had access to the web on a daily basis using either personal computers or mobile phones (Demertzis & Tsekeris, 2020: 32).
The same research also showed that men, in terms of years, had a greater track record in Internet use (51.7% are long-term users of 11+ years) than women. The latter bear the highest percentage in the category of new users (12.3% are new users, 0–5 years) (Demertzis & Tsekeris, 2020: 28–29). However, over the period 2015–2019, the gender gap in Internet use was narrowed by 17.7 per cent, given the upward trend in female population. As a result, in 2019, according to the aforementioned research, only a small difference of 5.7 per cent was recorded between men and women.
A significant intergenerational digital gap exists in the use of the Internet in Greece. While there has been a steady increase in web access among all age groups since 2015, older people appear to have the most limited presence on the Internet. This contradiction is exemplified in how, in 2019, although almost 100 per cent of those below about 35 years of age used the Internet, it declined to as little as 22.8 per cent among those over 65 (Demertzis & Tsekeris, 2020: 37–38). Between 2017 and 2019, people 35–44 years old showed the most considerable increase when it came to Internet use (which amounted to a rise of 10% in a two-year period). However, a smaller, but noteworthy increase of 7.6 per cent in use also occurred among those above 65 (Demertzis & Tsekeris, 2020: 37).
Despite some media outlets being more successful in reaching the public than others, Greece suffers from deep inequalities of representation and access to media by minorities. The European University Institute’s report on media pluralism in Europe attributed a higher risk to Greece regarding social inclusivity. Psychogiopoulou and Kandyla (2018) mentioned that Greece has a very high-risk score regarding “access to media for minorities”, as legislation does not guarantee any airtime access to them. There is no legal obligation for public service media or for privately owned broadcasters to include minority content or minority-created content in their programmes. Furthermore, the obligation of Greek broadcasters to broadcast mainly in the Greek language further hindered programming dedicated to them.
However, there are some exceptions. In the Thrace region, some radio stations broadcast in Turkish for the Turkish-speaking minority. An equally high-risk element is noted with regard to the population’s access to local, regional, and community media, as media legislation does not impose obligations on network providers to carry local television channels or radio stations. There are no subsidy schemes for regional or local print media, nor is there a legal recognition of community media (Papathanassopoulos, 2013; Psychogiopoulou & Kandyla, 2018). However, it should be mentioned that this research does not take into account the 19 regional radio stations operated by the national public service broadcaster ERT.
Another thorny issue regarding the social inclusivity of the media in Greece is access to the media by people with disabilities. There is no coherent policy in Greece, as the measures addressing accessibility issues are limited to imposing on television content providers with the requirement to provide daily sign language bulletins and subtitles in television shows for people with hearing disabilities (Psychogiopoulou & Kandyla, 2018).
