The ERT Factor and what it symbolizes

The closure of the public broadcaster, ERT, in Greece and the ensuing debate reflects the reality of the country today where the public space has been so totally politicized by all the political parties, including those in the opposition, and their powerful unions to the point that their collective vested interests have converted the public good that ERT is supposed to represent into one more public enterprise that existed to propagandize in favour of the powers that be and as another vehicle of the patronage system that so effectively was put in place by the political parties representing Greece's representative democracy since the return to democracy in 1974....where patronage equates with providing jobs and political favors to relatives, party diehards and others that needed to be included in order to keep the system and the ensuing vested interests in place....the financial and economic crisis has brought about the biggest challenge to this self perpetuating system as it being challenged by the demands of structural reform, equity, and justice as the private sector has borne the cost of this violent and harsh structural and societal transformation as reflected,among other things, by the 27+% unemployment rate....the closure of ERT touches upon of the sacred cows or taboos that the political class has built its legitimacy upon, i.e., that public sector jobs are not sacrosanct anymore....the government, which itself is made up of political parties that dominated and made the aforementioned patronage system into an art form, decided to start its dismantling by announcing the closure of ERT as opposed to another public enterprise and hence the ensuing and evolving crisis....hence the suspicions about its real intentions and doubts about its ability to successfully reform the country as its political personnel only know to govern on the principle of jobs in the public sector in exchange for votes....the reaction of the other political parties and especially the all powerful unions is representative of the consequences that the dismantling of the political edifice in place implies for them as they know of no other way of life.

Finally, the issue regarding the independence of the press and the need of a public good such as a public broadcaster representing the public interest becomes secondary in the aforementioned context....it is a means to raise awareness of the effects of the closure....especially the loss of work by 3000+ professionals and their families instead of a debate about the need for the broadcaster to function and operate as it should operate....independently and freely...Many of its employees, journalists and technicians, are top class professionals that love and respect the nature of their work and the letter of their obligations and mission as the fourth estate...but the system has never allowed them to perform their duty as it should have been...unless the political, social and economic landscape is transformed from business as usual into a truly functional one that is representative of the public interest with an operating beyond reproach system of checks and balances...the debate in Greece over the closure of ERT will remain one about maintaining vested interests and keeping the social, political, and economic kleptocracy that governs the land in place rather than one reflecting the values of a truly representative liberal democracy that an EU member state like Greece should aspire to, preserve, and enhance....including a free, independent press which is a pillar of the liberal democratic order defending the public interest....As long as change does not occur and it is not forward looking and fundamental, the poor journalists on the street will never find a real voice in their defense unless they along with the rest of society, including the professional class of university professors that I belong to, understand and accept that enough is enough and fight for real value-based transformation which makes the powers to be as well as ourselves accountable, transparent and well governed...

Right now, this debate is not taking place never mind the genuine, well placed concern of the international media and foreign governments...all we have in Greece is the public bluster of vested interests panicking that their way of life is under attack...with the ERT journalists without jobs as victims of a system that never worked for them but used them much as the rest of society that bought into it, myself included, to perpetuate itself and maintain its power...

There is need to look ahead and rebuild the edifice in place otherwise this will all be for naught...