ABSTRACT

The development of the mass media in Greek society has followed the course of the development of the media in most Western societies. This is particularly true with regard to the preponderance of television as a consequence of economic growth and the introduction of the consumerism model. The effects of the dominant role of television in the media landscape are similar to those in other developed countries in Europe and in the US. Entertainment is gaining more and more ground and is influencing not only the proportion but also the content of information. Specialists call this phenomenon 'infotainment'. It should be noted however that the private electronic media are still immature in Greece, since they were permitted to operate only in the late 1980s. A long tradition of state control ended, giving birth to a great number of private radio and television stations, disproportionate to the audiences existing in Greece. The deregulation of the media landscape, following the 'Italian model', resulted in an explosion of radio and television stations functioning largely without rules. As a consequence a more complicated relationship has developed between the state, which still has the absolute right to allocate frequencies and operate licences for private radio, television stations and private media. These private entrepreneurs, through the coalitions they have developed amongst themselves, have gained a dominant position and great influence in public life. The evolution of this relationship and the changes which took place in the balance of power between the different components in the power game is perhaps the most interesting political development to have taken place in Greece during the last decade.