(en) Greece: Thousands gather in an anti-government protest at suspension of state broadcaster ERT

Anarchists and workers show solidarity with the fired 2,656 employees of state TV and 
radio of Greece. ---- Thousands in Athens, Greece gathered in the evening of June 11, 2013 
outside the national TV headquarters, in solidarity with 2,656 employees that were left
jobless in just one day. ---- 
http://libcom.org/files/imagecache/article/images/news/img_8842.jpg ---- The protest 
continued all throughout the night and into the next day to protect the building from the 
riot police who were supposed to violently evacuate it early in the morning. ---- In a 
move that reminded many of the darkest moments in Greece?s political history, the 
neoliberal right-wing coalition government of Antonis Samaras decided ? without any 
warning whatsoever ? to close down ERT, the Greek Public Radio and Television Network, and 
lay off its 2,700 workers.

ERT is an umbrella organization paid for by the Greek public, which encompasses three TV 
channels and four radio stations that broadcast country- and worldwide, sustained by the 
contributions of Greek citizens themselves, just as any other public media network. The
case is the equivalent of the UK government shutting down the BBC, or the Italians 
shutting down RAI overnight.

And so, in the morning of June 12, 2013 Greece woke up without a public TV channel or 
public radio, while 2,700 ERT workers woke up unemployed. Ever since, the fired workers of 
ERT have occupied the station?s headquarters in Athens and have kept broadcasting through 
live-streaming. That makes ERT the first public television network under workers? control 
in Europe, and maybe the first in the world. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of citizens have 
been gathering inside and outside the headquarters in solidarity with the workers as well 
as in their defense: the government may send in the police to break the occupation any 
time, just like it did in the case of the Steelworkers? strike of Aspropyrgos last year.

The government, through its spokesman Simos Kedikoglou, argued that the Greek state ?in
these times of crisis? cannot afford to maintain public television and that, loyal to the 
Troika?s dictates, it would shut down ERT that same night and create a new public 
information network, with fewer workers, within the next three months. So, to get this 
right, the Greek government is claiming that it has to obey the Troika?s orders ? order
that the Troika itself (the IMF at least) admits have been a disastrous failure ? and 
dismiss 2,700 workers in a country in which already 27% of the overall population and 62% 
of the youth are out of work.

At the same time, by closing down the public television and radio networks, the state 
leaves the information of its citizens in the hands of the private TV channels and radio 
stations. And of course, the private TV channel owners ? most of which belong to the class 
of the Greek oligarchs who also compete for the state assets under privatization ? will
have to pay back the favor to the government in any way they can. That was not said by 
Simos Kedikoglou, but any rational person can read this between the lines.

Meanwhile, however, the Greek citizens seem to be waking up from their lethargy once 
again: on Thursday, a general strike was held against the government and in solidarity 
with ERT, while the people are once again taking to the squares all over the country to
protest ERT?s closure. Meanwhile, the other two coalition member-parties, PASOK and DIMAR, 
have announced their disagreement with the government?s decision; a development that may 
even lead to a break-up of the coalition and a dissolution of the government.

This latest development cannot be disconnected from the Greek government?s neoliberal 
drive we?ve been witnessing during the past years. After selling out the profitable OPAP 
(Greek Organisation of Football Prognostics, the country?s public gambling company) to 
Dimitris Melissanidis, a ship-owner and very close friend to Antonis Samaras? advisor 
Failos Kranidiotis; and after the announcement of the privatization of the state water 
companies in Athens and Thessaloniki, now it?s the turn of the public television ? not to 
be privatized, but to be erased from the map, in favor of its private media competitors
that belong ? guess to whom? ? to other Greek oligarchs.

The strategy is clear and very well know: ?first we degrade public services, and then we 
privatize them.? And don?t be fooled: this is not only about Greece; it is a global trend. 
What?s next? Public health? Education? Stay tuned. The revolution will not be televised, 
but it may be live-streamed.

Watch a panoramic video of the protest below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MfJsIWb2NVE

http://roarmag.org/2013/06/occupy-ert-the-revolution-will-be-live-streamed/