Investigative journalism happens, but it is the exception rather than the rule. In leading news media organisations in Greece, although investigative journalism is recognised as a task of great importance, lack of the financial resources since the period of recession has minimised the potential of the newsroom to perform their watchdog functions systematically.
Training opportunities are not regularly provided. However, those who wish to participate find ways and means to do so. In Greece, the need for continuous and systematic professional training on watchdog and investigative journalism or on Big Data analysis is not embedded within leading news media organisations’ culture. Therefore, there is a lack of internally institutionalised means permitting training courses or training networks. Although there are some exceptions to this prevalent trend, the issue of training is a matter of personal decision on the part of journalists disconnected from the media outlet’s policy.
Media market investigative and watchdog journalism is part of the self-conception of leading news media, but journalists rarely have resources to exercise it. The mission statements of the leading news media organisations in Greece contain no particular or separate references to investigative journalism or watchdog performance of journalists against the abuse of power and corruption. They just incorporate the conventional rules of journalistic ethics, as defined by the JUADN, a professional association of daily newspapers and broadcasting journalists based in Athens.
Public information is accessible by law, but not in reality. Journalists must spend time and effort to gain access. Although in theory, public information is accessible by law, in actual practice this is not the case, given that the accessing public documents presents considerable problems or difficulties. These restrictions affect the quality of investigative journalism, which at times is not truly revealing, or is ad hoc or only partially revealing.
Leading news media change their journalistic staff frequently; employment for a longer period of time is not the rule. In contradiction to the past, due to sharp decline in media revenues, the journalism profession is characterised by non-permanent or occasional contact positions, which is a shared working regime between genders. At the same time, on the juridical level, there are no special legal measures or tools protecting journalists against dismissal.
Limited journalistic resources do not allow for high professional ethos. The profession of journalism in Greece has been distorted by the financial crisis and the subsequent and larger crisis distressing the media industry. Interventions in editorial decisions on the part of politics and media owners are a long-lasting malpractice hindering the development of journalism in the country.
Information regarding ownership of leading news media is published once every year, but is available online. Leading news media’s transparency of data, in terms of operational status and ownership identity, is undermined by a type of regulation that favours concealment of their funding flow and their ownership status. Therefore, citizens retain a blurred image of the media field. The release of relevant reports, available to the general public, is not compulsory, and therefore, transparency of information depends on the discretion of the media outlet.
Strong formal or ownership-related influence of powerholders is exerted on leading news media. Leading news media houses in Greece are owned by powerful entrepreneurs, coming from other sectors of the economy, who use media companies as an effective instrument of serving their business interests.
Media performance is often publicly discussed in the media or online forums – some forms of journalistic coverage of the media. In Greece, the most prevalent institutionalised mechanism to control the performance and role of the news media is the NCRTV, which occasionally has been regarded as ineffective. Although media performance is often discussed in the media or in online forums, this discussion is often merely descriptive or based on the subjective perception of the criticiser, leading to unfocused or unsystematic critique lacking in depth. The most usual context where media performance is investigated and discussed comprehensively and systematically is the academic one.
It is the personal responsibility of the editor-in-chief or chief producer to check for internal pluralism. Plurality is the default practice for the public service broadcaster ERT. On the other hand, commercial broadcasters are mostly tied to a specific political orientation, presenting a mono-dimensional policy in terms of internal pluralism. Thus, plurality in media is achieved through quantity of partisan perspectives, rather than through diversity of opinions inside a single medium.
The Media for Democracy Monitor (MDM) is a research project from The Euromedia Research Group. This is a network of researchers that collects and exchanges information that help to describe and analyse developments in media structure and policy in Europe.
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