Deutsche Welle keeps Greek service after all

After Wave of Protests, Deutsche Welle Keeps Greek Service After All

It is only a small editorial team, but the decision to shut down Deutsche Welle's Greek service became a political issue. The broad criticism from Greece apparently took the Broadcasting Council by surprise. Now comes the about-face.

For her, it marks the end of a long, exhausting struggle: Dimitra Kyranoudi heads the Greek editorial team at Deutsche Welle in Berlin and Bonn. "After almost nine months of uncertainty, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and continue our work. Despite all the difficulties, our colleagues at DW Greek never gave up," she says.

It was only in February that Deutsche Welle announced the closure of its Greek service, citing budget cuts. Every day, the journalists report for a Greek audience on TV, radio, the website and on social media. Greek was the only one of the 32 languages in which broadcasts are made that was set to be dropped entirely.

"Voice of Freedom" During the Dictatorship

Now comes the reversal: As Deutsche Welle confirmed, the Broadcasting Council decided to continue the Greek-language offering after all, albeit in a reduced form starting next year.

"This may not be a major issue for a German audience, but here in Greece it is a very big deal, because Deutsche Welle is associated here with a great deal of historical memory and strong emotions," explains Reinold Meinardus, a research associate at the Athens think tank Eliamep. From 1993 to 1996, he headed the Greek editorial team at Deutsche Welle – back then still based in Cologne.

It holds historical significance because during the years of the dictatorship – which was now many years ago, between 1967 and 1974, when the colonels were in power – it became the voice of freedom, and listening to Deutsche Welle on shortwave became a kind of act of personal resistance for many Greeks.

Even today, Deutsche Welle is something of a myth, a legend in Greece, he says. And to this day the service remains an important pillar of German-Greek relations, comparable to the Goethe-Institut or the German schools, Meinardus argues.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had also advocated for the preservation of Deutsche Welle's Greek-language programming.

Campaign for the Greek DW Programme

Like many others – Germans, but above all Greeks – he too campaigned to save the editorial team. He speaks of a German-Greek civil society campaign that publicly applied pressure on the federal government.

"And in the end, even the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis – just imagine, we are talking about savings of 600,000 euros per year – reportedly called the Federal Chancellor twice and made representations to him personally, according to Greek media reports," said Meinardus.

Karl Jüsten, chairman of Deutsche Welle's Broadcasting Council, told ARD of feedback received from broad sections of the Greek population, from the worlds of culture, politics and media. That too had made an impression on the Broadcasting Council.

"What clearly moved the people in Greece was that an important voice for democracy and human rights exists coming from Germany, that it is a voice that explains European politics, and above all also explains why we in Germany make this or that decision — politically, culturally, economically," says Jüsten.

Financial cuts nonetheless

At the same time, he emphasizes that Deutsche Welle must continue to make savings. As the broadcaster announces, approximately 400,000 euros per year are planned for the Greece editorial team going forward. This year, the figure was 700,000 euros. Unlike ARD or ZDF, for example, Deutsche Welle is not funded through the broadcasting licence fee, but rather by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

For editorial director Dimitra Kyranoudi, however, even a partial success is a success. She speaks of a historic day after many sleepless nights. And of how politicians from Greece, Cyprus and Germany, journalists' associations, the Church and other organizations stood up for them.

"This support shows that free journalism in smaller languages such as Greek has an indispensable value," says Kyranoudi. It creates understanding, builds bridges — "and ultimately strengthens our democracy."