Severe cuts for the Greek Radio are included in the new business plan of the Greek public broadcaster ERT, according to reports last week. The cuts are expected to lead radio stations to ceasing operation, selling land, but also drastically reducing the number of employees.
Specifically, the business plan of ERT suggests merging 19 regional radio stations into 13, which is estimated to save about 1.5 million euros. Though, this suggestion, according to Eleftherotypia "has caused strong opposition by regional members of the Parliament who do not accept this. This is why this move has stalled for now, as it requires a political decision and such period ... the government would avoid any inner conflict. " At the same time there are scenarios of giving the regional radio stations to the municipalities, a solution that had also been proposed in the past but didn't take place.
Apart from the merger of regional radio stations, the ERA appears to be moving towards reducing the cost of emissions, leaving bands that are proved to be unpopular, according to the same reports. It has been proposed to abolish a range of frequencies in the mediumwave (MW), which consume large amounts of energy. However, abolishing the "Voice of Greece" (ERA5) has been ruled out, given the great response from the Greek communities living abroad and the ocean-going shipping.
Finally "there is a plan to sell property, particularly expensive land near broadcast centers in the possession of ERT SA. Leakages and reports estimate that this piece of ERT property amounts to 300 billion euros", announced the Panhellenic Federation of Journalists (POESY)
These cuts are expected to accompany measures also taken on greek public TV, such as closing a digital channel
The reforms being planned have already caused the reaction of employees who are going on strike and say they will appeal to international organizations and any remedy in order to prevent the violation of their labor rights. "The government, instead of promoting by every means to convert the ERT stations into public bodies, eliminating their dependency on the government, prefers to continue with the downgrading of information for the benefit of private broadcasters who (except in promotion of business activities of their owners) tend to play official government propagandists." The Board of POESY requires the abandonment of any plan of shutting down stations or reducing redundancies of ERT in the center and the periphery and requires signing a new Collective Labor Agreement.
Source: Eleftherotypia, To Vima, Poesy
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