Hard to be journalist today. It always has been, but now the situation has gotten worse. Now, «bosses» are not traditional «newspapermen», as in the past the Vlachou, the Lambrakis and others. Now the majority of media controlled by the Marinakis, the Vardinoyannis, the Alafuso, the Kyriakou etc. Businessmen who treat the media they control as one of their ships or a «galley»... It's hard to be a journalist when you see how easily her article is «cut» Elena Akrita and the Dimitra Krustalli…

Should you write according to the owner's moods or according to your journalistic approach (when the two are not the same, of course)?; It's hard to be a journalist, to have written articles against the Prespa agreement («treasonous», «national minority», «ceding our history and language» etc.) and now to have to defend the exploratory talks with Turkey... It is difficult to be a journalist when you are called upon to treat as a «pink keyhole case», allegations of rape, abuse, violence, humiliation. Some of it may even remind you of your work environment...

Journalism also requires compromises, this is only ignored by anyone who has never worked in the media. The issue is the resistance and the «red lines» that each of us sets, how much compromise we can «bear»... And these «red lines» are not easy because they can lead to unemployment, to leaving the profession or even to disemployment. But journalists (like all of us) are characterized by the «no's» we say in our lives! These are the things that make us great or degrade us.

There is another issue: Individuals who carry no moral baggage, who are uneducated, or who simply found themselves in a profession without understanding what they are called upon to do. Willing to serve exactly the «direction» given to them by the editor-in-chief, manager or owner. There are, of course, those who make you proud, those who finally stand the test of time, those who convince you that they are worth trusting with your information. They are not a «product» of a particular ideology, they are not the result of a political position, but are diffused horizontally within the journalistic body. Some, having a high position in the hierarchy of a media and a corresponding salary and visibility, risk much more by saying their own «no». The journalistic «street» knows who is fighting for the dignity of journalism, who has reached the point of resignation.

Can a journalist do his or her job unaffected by external factors without fear of lawsuits and lawsuits? Normally he should, although there are laws that do not cover him. Of course, the issue of protecting the free press is about journalists, not about those who behave and write «at the behest» without respect for the truth, much less when they knowingly lie, slander and intend to diminish the personality of «the enemy»...

There is also the «consumer» of news. All of us citizens who complain about the quality of the news and end up choosing the worst media, the worst broadcasts, the most «graphic» journalists. We are the same people who watch a newscast cursing and the next day watch the same newscast again... At some point we stop cursing and start accepting that «they have a point»...

The case of journalism, the case of information, cannot be a «game» in the hands of businessmen and interlocking interests. Journalism is a matter of democracy. The job of «journalist» cannot be treated by the same standards as another job. It cannot simply accept orders like «today we bake cheese pies and tomorrow we make bread». The business of «reporting», if not done responsibly, can produce phenomena like the invasion of supporters of Trump in Capitol, to produce its deniers pandemic, to produce fascism.

Unfortunately, the case of information has always been an «apple of discord» between those active in society, the economy and politics. Today it is in the worst situation, controlled to a huge extent by the government and certain economic interests, not always the most honest, nor the most capable, but certainly the most ruthless!

It is not easy to be a journalist, just as it is not easy to be an informed citizen, to be a responsible citizen, to be an active citizen. But all these things go together. If the journalist is alone, then it is easier to say «yes» to every prompting (or mandate) to move beyond the moral and the real, «his own truth»... Our institutional representatives must understand that they are feeding a monster that will eventually devour them if we all do not act in time. And the «in time» is now.