On Friday, the new director of the SYRIZA radio station “105.5 Sto Kokkino” Adam Giannikos announced the new program of the season, which starts this Monday.
Every new program, especially when a new director takes over, presents changes. Some come and some go. So here at “105.5 Sto Kokkino”, some new names came such as Kostas Savvopoulos, Dimitris Hatjinikolas, Kostas Argyros, Kostas Tsakiris, Rafik Amptin and others. and some others were left out, such as Nikos Sverkos, Theofilos Sichletidis (will now only be heard from Kokkino Thessaloniki, from where he used to come out now), Spyros Rapanakis and Yiannis Smyrlakis. And some shows were rescheduled or even canceled.
So far nothing great, it happens on all radio stations in the world at the beginning of every season. At “105.5 To Kokkino”, however, things were different, as those “cut” from the program came out on social media leaving spikes. Note: none of them were fired, they’re just not in the new program. So the “cut off” reacted, considering that their cut is political, emanating from the leadership group of Stefanos Kasselakis. “It seems that the plan to “de-parasitize” the radio and the newspaper, for which the close associates of Mr. Kasselakis called, starts with me,” Nikos Sverkos wrote. “I want to believe that the “political decision with an order from above” is not accurate” and Spyros Rapanakis adding that “those who asked for deworming, heads and wished for a “good road” will be satisfied today”.
I personally think that some of these changes are indeed political in nature. Of Sverkos and Rapanakis. But their positions were also political. Like all those in the SYRIZA party media holding managerial positions. After all, Rapanakis himself, in his farewell to the station’s listeners on Friday afternoon, thanked Alexis Tsipras for making him director of “Avgi”. The third member of the group, Yiannis Smyrlakis, was appointed journalistic coordinator of the Group’s media (“Avgi”, “105.5 Sto Kokkino”, avgi.gr). Finally, Theofilos will only be heard in Thessaloniki, which is indeed a loss for us, the listeners of Athens.
Changes would happen at the station and if Efi Ahtsioglou had been elected, have no doubt about it.
The bad thing about the decisions concerning “105.5 Sto Kokkino” is that they are mostly made in political rather than journalistic terms. Or, even worse, radio. They have always cared more about keeping (in)party balances than seeing their radio as radio. Even though there are many good journalists and radio producers in “105.5 Sto Kokkino”. Who are fighting to raise the station higher in the audience.
Shall I give you an example of bad -radio- management so you understand? While the big issue this weekend is the Central Committee of SYRIZA, “105.5 Sto Kokkino” did not change its program and did not put on special broadcasts! We tuned in to the station to hear what was going on in the Central Committee and listened to music and songs like every weekend. Possible; But it is. Instead of setting up the studio inside the hotel where the Central Committee was taking place they played reggae and rebetika. Journalistically this is 100% wrong.
It should be noted that “105.5 Sto Kokkino” was always owned by SYRIZA, but it was a radio of the entire Left. And of extra-parliamentary and movements. As it should be. And it will be, it has no reason to change.
