|
|
|
Forum Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 25/11/2008 14:55:57
Posts: 3,
Visits: 5
|
|
Thanks to each and every one of you/us - including Malcolm - we've managed to save the English-speaking voice of the international community in Greece.
Here is the editor's editorial from today's paper:
We're just getting started
Editorial by John Psaropoulos
johnp@dolnet.gr
As this edition went to press, the Athens News stood on the meridian of its fortunes. For the past 15 years it has belonged to the Lambrakis Foundation, a stalwart supporter and financial backer of its editorial independence. Recent turmoil in the world markets, and long-term difficulties within the Lambrakis Press to manage it more effectively, have led its publishers to make a historic decision to divest themselves of what many readers consider to be the Lambrakis flagship in terms of journalistic integrity and international reach (see letters from our readers on pages 15-18).
A premature announcement of closure was short-lived, crucially thanks to the quick and decisive support of our readership. We shall now continue publication, seamlessly going over to a new owner without missing a beat. Hundreds of emails, faxes and letters have arrived in under a week from all over the world advocating in favour of our extension, and at last count over 1,700 people had signed our online petition. Our publisher's phone has been ringing with investor interest.
All this betokens two things - the groundswell of support that exists within the thinking commuity for this newspaper, and the intrinsic value that the market sees in it. It is a heartening response in an age of declining newspaper sales and the rise of infotainment at the expense of real journalism. It is also a major, and perhaps unique, example of how a newspaper that truly represents its readership can bind and empower it, but also of how that readship can do the same in return.
The community we have helped build over the years has come to our rescue for two main reasons. One is the means of communication we provide between expatriates, repatriates and bilingual Greek society in a world marked by increasing migration and multiculturalism; the other is the independent reporting and analysis we provide to a readership that is growing increasingly tired of partisan politics accompanied by partisan news coverage.
As our letters show, this is appreciated by foreign correspondents who are often informed by our coverage, which thus acquires an influence beyond the borders of our distribution. It is appreciated by diaspora Greeks, academics, diplomats, professionals and community builders, and our website, www.athensnews.gr, has doubled our readership by creating a separate following overseas.
The building of this reputation goes back a long way, to the stalwart belief in free speech expressed by founder Yannis Horn; but newspapers reputations ebb and flow, and the Horn legacy might easily have been squandered had the paper not come into the possession of Christos Lambrakis.
Under the Lambrakis Foundation the Athens News truly flourished. Not only did it grow in size; its layout and printing quality improved immeasurably, and enormous amounts were invested in exploring the possibilities of the English language market.
We believe that by taking the Athens News from a daily to a weekly publication in the past seven years, we have carried forward the boundaries of that market to include Greek speakers as well. Never before in this newspapers history did it enter as many bilingual households; never before did the Athens News engage in as much original investigative journalism or break as many stories.
It is during this time that we have beaten out a solid identity for ourselves as a thinking persons newspaper, free of political bias, focusing on the substance of the issues that matter rather than attempting to participate in the politics emanating from them the economy, social security, immigration, education and the environment.
None of this would have been possible had it not been for the character of our publisher. Christos Lambrakis never once dictated our front page or attempted to steer our editorial content. We have never been asked to carry stories from our sister newspapers or act as an English-language forum for the Company. On the contrary, we have enjoyed the voluntary assistance of our talented colleagues in the Lambrakis Press while being treated as an independent newsgathering division and carrying out our work as conscience dictated.
That is the exception rather than the rule in Greek newspaper publishing and it is increasingly a rarity worldwide, but it is the trait that has created the greatest long-term value for this newspaper. On this firm foundation we hope to continue to build.
ATHENS NEWS 3 October 2008
www.athensnews.gr
John Psaropoulos
Editor
Athens News
3 Christou Lada Street, Athens 102 37
Tel. +30 210 33.33.705
Fax +30 210 33.33.706
www.athensnews.gr
|
|
|
|