Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation

Greek national broadcaster ERT goes off the air due to austerity cuts, staff reaction

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• published: 31 Jul 2015
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SHOTLIST 1. Close of screen showing no signal 2. Close of frozen picture on screen 3. Wide of ERT master control room (MCR) 4. Digital clock showing 00.04 or 4 minutes past midnight 5. Mid shot of MCR 6. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Dimitris Giolos, Electronics Technician at ERT, worked for 28 years: "From more or less 11.15 -11.30pm, gradually emitters started going down in the mountains around Athens and Thessaloniki, and I think that slowly Greece will go silent from the television and radio signal of ERT." 7. Wide of MCR 8. Top shot of protest in front of ERT building 9. Various of protesters singing 10. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Giannis Mamouzelos, Retired ERT Journalist, worked for 36 years: "I feel that a public service is being cut and sold out. And this is because no one can really believe that there is an ounce of truth in what they say that a new public TV station or a carrier under public or state supervision will reopen based on the model that ERT was initially conceived." 11. Close of Greek flags 12. Wide of protest STORYLINE: Greek state TV and radio were gradually pulled off the air late on Tuesday, hours after the government said it would temporarily close all state-run broadcasts and lay off about 2,500 workers as part of a cost-cutting drive demanded by the bailed-out country's international creditors. The conservative-led government said the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp., or ERT, will reopen "as soon as possible" with a new, smaller workforce. It wasn't immediately clear how long that would take, and whether all stations would reopen. Thousands of media workers and supporters protested the closure outside the company's headquarters in the Athens suburb of Aghia Paraskevi. The surprise move heralds the first direct public sector layoffs in more than three years of painful austerity, which have already cost nearly 1 million private sector jobs. The announcement widened cracks in the year-old governing coalition, with both minority partners condemning the corporation's suspension, while international journalists' associations expressed dismay. ERT TV and radio started to be yanked off the air in several parts of the country around 11 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Tuesday, about an hour before the government said all signals would go dead, although satellite broadcasts continued. A Finance Ministry statement said ERT has been formally disbanded, and authorities would "secure" the corporation's facilities. Protesters sang songs and waved flags outside the corporation's Athens headquarters. "I feel that a public service is being cut and sold out," said Giannis Mamouzelos, a retired ERT Journalist, who worked at the station for some 36 years. "This is because no one can really believe that there is an ounce of truth in what they say that a new public TV station or a carrier under public or state supervision will reopen based on the model that ERT was initially conceived." Riot police deployed outside ERT buildings in several parts of Greece, but no clashes were reported. Debt-stifled 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 of 27 percent. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/1680b6ab72f2b51344a68851a30d8205 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork