The Muslim minority of Western Thrace is the only minority officially recognised by the Greek state. The community has been characterised as a religious minority, but it is also an ethnic one; Turks, Pomaks, Pontians of the former USSR, and Roma are cohabiting alongside Greeks in the area. Based on the Greek state’s perception that these people are a single minority, they have been actively encouraged by local community leaders, and, to some extent, by the Turkish government, to use Turkish as their primary language since the mid-1990s. To that effect, six newspapers are issued in Turkish in the area (Birlik Gazetesi, Cumhuriyet, Gündem Gazetesi, Bati Trakya Olay, Millet, and Trakyanın Sesi), along with online news portals (azinlikca.net, Trakyadan Haber, iskecemuftulugu.org, and abttf.org).
In addition, there are other minorities such as Arvanites, Sarakatsanoi, Vlachoi, and so on, whose languages have either not been protected by the government or even actively suppressed, and therefore, have survived through oral tradition. News topics for these minorities exist only in the Greek language.
Regarding migrants, in 2007, there were more than a dozen newspapers issued in Athens in foreign languages (Arabic, Albanian, Bulgarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Philippino, and Urdu). Today, very few of them are left (Mir and Omonoia). They are mostly online, like albanians.gr news portal, Radio Bulgaria (bnr.bg), Azat Or (Armenian), Aldafatan (Arabic), and TV Tribuna (Albanian).
Apodimitika Poulia is a newspaper issued by young refugees assisted by journalists, coordinators, and translators. The initiative was started by a group of Afghani girls and the Greek Network for Children’s Rights, and now features articles in five languages (Farsi, Urdu, Arabic, English, and Greek). There is also a radio station, Pikralida Internet Radio, which young journalists, migrants, and refugees operate with the support of Unicef.
Among the traditional newspapers, only Kathimerini has an English edition, both in print and online. Furthermore, there are some online magazines in English (greeknewsagenda.gr), German (graktuell.gr), French (grecehebdo.gr), Italian (puntogrecia.gr), and Spanish (panoramagriego.gr), featuring news topics on economy, culture, tourism, and so on. Few online news portals feature LGBT news as a special category. News regarding these communities can be found mainly on blogs and social media.
Meanwhile, for people with disabilities, news bulletins at 18:00 are accompanied by a presentation in sign language. Only a few television channels, such as Alpha TV, includes in their programme flow broadcasts like Greek series suitable for people with hearing loss.
In the alternative media field (such as the YouTube environment), all minority groups have easy access to produce content so as to make their voices heard.
