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The Regional Press in Greece

Regional media outlets worldwide effectively capture and depict the daily life within their specific regions in a more substantial and direct manner compared to national media counterparts. They fulfill a crucial role by addressing issues of national significance through the lens of local communities, thus serving as a local public sphere and facilitating the exchange of views. This pivotal function significantly contributes to the democratic development of each distinct area.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the local media ecosystem in our country and to identify regions where primary news content is lacking or where local media are dwindling and disappearing, we are undertaking the task of cataloguing Greece’s local and regional media. Our ultimate goal is to create an index-map that highlights these media outlets and their locations.

Tv Station

Radio Station

Newspaper

Website

The data posted on the map are based exclusively on publicly available data. More information can be found in the Methodology section.

61 Tv Stations

152 Radio Stations

203 Newspapers

452 Websites

Introduction

This inventory of local and regional media in Greece is the first attempt at mapping and analysing our country’s local-media ecosystem.

The initial question that triggered this mapping was the number of individual media outlets in the region. How many local daily and weekly newspapers are there in Greece? How many radio and TV stations and news websites are there in the provinces?

At the same time, the Organisation’s primary goal was to understand the environment in which journalists work in Greece and to identify ‘news deserts’ – areas, in other words, where primary news content is not created or where local media are declining and disappearing.

The inventory of local and regional news media outlets began in September 2021 and took place in three phases. Initially, the Organisation compiled the existing public lists of local news media and launched a survey to confirm whether the media in these locales are operating. After establishing an updated list of the already recorded local media, the Organisation went into greater depth in the list of operating media outlets. During the autumn of 2021, in collaboration with the regional Journalists’ Unions, we conducted interviews with journalists who live and work in given prefectures to cross-check whether the local media said to be operating are producing original content and are a reliable source of information for the local community. In the third and final phase, in the first months of 2022, the Organisation’s list was enriched with media that emerged from an extensive online survey and were confirmed during interviews with regional journalists. You can search here for more information on the survey methodology, data collection, and the criteria for including regional media in the Organisation’s database.

The result of the Organisation’s survey is an interactive map of news media. The next step is to enrich it with news media it could not find. If you work at or own a local media outlet that is not on the map, you can enter it here

Findings

In Greece, there are 634 local and regional media outlets, which cover a population of approximately 6 million.

We recorded 203 newspapers, 144 radio stations, 62 television stations and 447 websites, of which 225 do not belong to other media (e.g. radio or TV stations and newspapers) and are digital native media. Media with an exclusively online presence include two websites of newspapers that have shut down.

More specifically, in the Greek provinces there are 100 weekly newspapers, 97 daily newspapers and 8 newspapers with weekly and daily editions.

Of all the news websites, 135 are websites linked to a weekly or daily newspaper, and two belong to newspapers that are no longer published. There are also 48 news websites that belong to news radio stations and 41 news websites affiliated with television stations. In recent years, more and more digital native media have been created, employing journalists and produce primary content. We listed 225 local websites that are not linked with any other media outlet and fall into both the digital native media category and the category of websites maintained by amateur journalists. In both cases, the sites create content and have a local audience.

The highest concentration of local media is found in the prefecture of Achaia. The prefecture has 6 news radio stations, 8 newspapers, 5 news websites and 4 TV stations. The fewest media outlets are found in Evritania prefecture, where only 2 weekly newspapers are based and operate.

Evros Regional Unit has the largest number of news radio stations (8), Thessaloniki the largest number of television stations (8), and Serres, Kavala and Aitoloakarnania the largest number of newspapers (10). Most websites not related to any other media outlets are located in the Pella Prefecture (10), in the Kefallonia Prefecture (9), in the Dodecanese (9) and in Halkidiki (6). In the prefectures of Chios, Halkidiki, Lefkada, Kilkis, Arkadia, Samos and Evrytania, there are no daily newspapers. In Achaia, Ilia, Ioannina, Karditsa and Larisa, there are the newspapers that circulate seven days a week, maintaining both daily and weekly editions.

Local media formats (TV, radio, and the press), like national media, exceed fully digital media by 64%. The usual business model is based exclusively on private and state advertising, but it is no longer sustainable.

For some years now, however, alternative forms of media-enterprise business models have emerged, such as media-based Social Cooperative Enterprises (SCEs), which operate in the context of the Social Solidarity Economy. The typos-i SCE media company was founded in Ioannina in 2016. The inventory identified 6 such SCEs in the prefectures of Larissa, Ioannina, Thessaloniki, Lesvos, Ilia and Fokida.

The prefectures of Thessaloniki, Kilkis, Evia, Imathia and Karditsa have the largest concentration of media outlets per resident, while Grevena, Kefallonia, Zakynthos, Samos and Chios have the smallest number of media outlets per resident.

Mapping of local and regional News Media in Greece

Methodology Public data included in the map Stages of collecting and confirming data Media Outlet Filters

Methodology

The interactive map of local and regional news media in Greece was created and is maintained by the iMEdD team for the purpose of informing all interested parties regarding the country’s local and regional news media. The map shows their distribution by region and format, as well as the name of each media outlet, address and web address – for those media outlets that have websites – and the language in which they create content. Following similar models of local and regional media outlet mapping, we understand the term “local and regional news media” in a more general and inclusive sense. Local and regional media outlets are defined as those that are local or regional in scope, publishing and broadcasting news and opinion articles or commentary on topics of local interest. Local media include daily and weekly newspapers, local/regional radio and television stations, and local websites. These websites are either affiliated with some other outlet (e.g., newspaper, radio or television station) or are digital native media.

Public data included in the map

The data posted on the map are based exclusively on publicly available data. More specifically, based on the type of media outlet, the following apply:

I. With regard to the press, the list is based on the Registry of the Secretariat General for Media and Communication (SGMC), applying this registry’s criteria as to what constitutes a ‘local, regional, prefectural media outlet’ (Law 3548, Government Gazette Series I, No 68/20.3.2007). Also taken into consideration was the updated list of daily and weekly newspapers of the Association of Provincial Print Media Proprietors.
Newspapers that continue to be published but are not on the SGMC registry were also added to the SGMC list. These newspapers were identified during the process of confirming the data. In line with the SGMC registry, we did not include print media published fortnightly, monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, annually, etc., or sports newspapers and local or regional magazines.

II. The list of local and regional news radio and television stations was based on the lists of the National Council for Radio and Television (NCRTV) and the criteria set by the applicable legislation regarding licensing of the media outlets in question, including for stations that broadcast regionally. In tandem, journalists were surveyed regarding the content and operation or cessation of broadcasting of each station the NCRTV had listed as ‘News Outlet’ or ‘In operation’. The list of radio and television stations does not include stations whose content focuses on sports, music, entertainment or religious content. Stations were categorised as local or regional following a survey of journalists carried out on stations’ social network pages and websites, with the stations/journalists themselves reporting the areas where they broadcast.

III. With regard to local and regional news websites, the list was based on the Registry of Digital News Media Enterprises (Articles 52, 53 and 54 of Law 4339/2015, Government Gazette Series I, No 133) and also included websites not in this registry. These were identified through interviews with members of the local journalism community during the process of confirming the data. We have taken into account that inclusion of the websites in the Registry of Digital News Media Enterprises is optional. So, we understand local news websites as those whose posted content includes press releases, local news, opinion articles, etc. – whether or not they are on the Registry – and which have not ceased to post this ‘news content’ on a regular basis. As in the case of print media and television and radio stations, we have not included purely sports- and entertainment-focused websites, websites of cultural associations or church/religious websites among news websites.

Stages of collecting and confirming data

Data collection began in September 2021 with the drawing up of a list of daily and weekly regional newspapers from the above sources. To this list were added operational news radio and television stations and the news websites affiliated with the above media. iMEdD then carried out an extensive internet and social media survey aimed at (1) identifying additional news media per region and (2) ascertaining whether these media operate and create content.

The Organization then contacted journalist unions (Journalists’ Union of Daily Newspapers in Macedonia-Thrace; Journalists’ Union of Daily Newspapers of Thessaly, Central Greece and Evia; Journalists’ Union of Daily Newspapers of the Peloponnese, Epirus and the Islands) and received contact information for members in each region, following consultations among the presidents/directors of the unions. This resulted in the creation of a list of journalists to be interviewed, covering each region of the Greek provinces, and interviews were carried out via telephone. During these telephone interviews, the journalists were asked whether they could confirm that the media on the iMEdD list were operational. They were also asked whether they could suggest other outlets that might not have been listed. Any media outlets that had ceased to create content were removed from the iMEdD list.

A unified list was created, containing and counting all of the confirmed media outlets per prefecture. These outlets were then categorised as to format of media outlet (newspaper, radio station, television station, website) and frequency of publication (weekly, daily) and range (regional, local), and they were checked again.

In the final stage of confirming the data of each news outlet, online searches were conducted to collect additional public data concerning these news outlets, and a number of telephone call were made regarding information that was not clear or up to date.
Finally, bearing in mind that the Organization’s ultimate goal is for this map to provide as accurate a picture as possible of the news voices operating throughout Greece, iMEdD allows operating news outlets to submit applications for inclusion in the Map if they are not on the above lists and/or there is inadequate data on them from the relevant agencies. iMEdD hereby invites the representatives of any news media with the above data to submit a relevant application to the Organization’s team.

Media Outlet Filters

The regional media outlets on the map have been divided into four main categories: (1) print media, (2) news radio stations, (3) televisions stations and (4) websites.

Print media are divided into (a) daily newspapers and (b) weekly newspapers. The map does not include sport newspapers (daily or weekly), monthly publications or magazines.

News radio stations are divided into (a) local and (b) regional. This division arose from confirmation of data and visits to the websites and social media pages of the radio stations, which state their range and broadcast frequency.

Television stations are divided into (a) local and (b) regional. This division was carried out in the same way as for radio stations.

Websites are divided into (a) news websites, (b) websites of newspapers that have closed down, (c) digital native media, (d) radio station websites and (e) television station websites.

The Regional Press in Greece

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