Fired Greek journalists turn to internet

Journalists fired from Greece’s state TV and radio have refused to leave the broadcaster’s headquarters, continuing internet programming as the country’s conservative-led government faced political crisis a year after taking office.

State TV and radio signals were cut early today after the government closed the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp, ERT, and fired its 2,500 workers, citing the need to cut “incredible waste” as the bailed out country endures a sixth year of recession.

But thousands of protesters remained outside ERT’s giant headquarters in Aghia Paraskevi, north of Athens, through the night as journalists continued a live broadcast which was streamed online.

Journalist unions called a 24-hour strike, halting private television news programmes, while the government’s centre-left coalition partners demanded that ERT’s closure be reversed

A government spokesman had described ERT as a “haven of waste” and said its 2,500 employees would be compensated and the company would reopen “as soon as possible” with a smaller workforce.

“ERT is a typical example of unique lack of transparency and incredible waste. And that ends today,” he said. “It costs three to seven times as much as other TV stations and four to six times the personnel – for a very small viewership, about half that of an average private station.”

It is the first case of mass public sector layoffs in the recession-mired country, which has pledged to cut 15,000 state jobs by 2015 as part of its bailout commitments.

Greece has depended on rescue loans from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund since May 2010. In exchange, it imposed deeply resented income cuts and tax hikes, which exacerbated a crippling recession and forced tens of thousands of businesses to close, sending unemployment to a record 27%.

Greece’s POESY media union accused the government of sacrificing the broadcaster to appease its creditors. “Bailout creditors are demanding civil service layoffs and the government, in order to meet its obligations toward foreign monitors, is prepared to sacrifice the public broadcasting corporation,” it said.