The 20 million “silver” of media submission

her Matinas Papachristoudis
Source: BEFORE

Last week, the news made waves that the Mitsotakis government signed the payment to 7 nationwide television stations of money they owed in 2022 for the 2% contribution to the insurance organization of media workers (EDOEAP). The payment of 6.8 million to the channels in question, under the guise of the war in Ukraine and supporting jobs, was received in April 2023. It is implemented six months later, during which time the channels in question and the majority of the media also stated they proved their complete submission to the government, by concealing all important events (fires, floods, disasters) before the pre-election period of the self-governing elections in October.

This payment correctly looks like a “reward” for the provided media support and certifies the indirect nationalization of the media. Much more since, at the same time, a decision was signed to distribute an amount of 3,470,500 euros to 31 newspapers, with a maximum of 200 thousand euros per newspaper, while a corresponding decision is expected for regional newspapers and channels.

Few will remember that the Mitsotakis government received the green light from the Commission in the summer of 2021 to “support” the operation of the media with an additional 20 million euros – money that was intended specifically for print media – due to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis ! The pretext changed along the way, it became a “crisis due to the war in Ukraine” and Maximou has millions of euros in his hands to “play” with the media, promising hot money from the state budget.

In this context, decisions were signed in April 2023 to distribute up to 9 million euros to national channels, 5 million euros to newspapers, 1 million to regional newspapers, plus another 1 million euros to regional channels — a total of 16 million . Of these, about 10 million are now given, while with the rest Maximos will continue donating to the media, depending on their degree of submission. These amounts are a continuation of the support from 2020 with the well-known “Petsa lists”, amounting to 44 million euros, as well as the donation of 21.5 million to the channels, with a reduction in the installment for television licenses and by 50% of the rent in Digea.