VOA标准英语2013--Greek Protests Grow Over Closure of State Broadcaster

（单词翻译）

Greek Protests Grow Over Closure of State Broadcaster

An emotional farewell to colleagues in the newsroom of Greek state broadcaster ERT Tuesday night.

Then, as the newsreader began a live interview, the channel was pulled from the airwaves.

Some 2,700 ERT workers have seen their jobs suspended. Many refused police orders to leave the building and remained at their desks. Outside, the demonstrations¹ have swelled².

“For us, there is only one way forward -- resistance and the overturning of this situation, the rape³ of state television and news gathering," said Panagiotis Kalfayiannis, president of the ERT Workers’ Union. "We hope this will be a catalyst⁴.”

The government said the closure is temporary - aimed at stanching⁵ what it called an "incredible waste" of taxpayers⁶' money and satisfying international lenders. A smaller state broadcaster will be set up, and workers will be compensated⁷.

But the backlash appears to have caught the government by surprise, said political analyst⁸ Dionyssis Dimitrakopoulos of Birkbeck College in London.

“There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that that particular company needs to be reformed dramatically. But there is reform and there is reform. And shutting it down is not the kind of welcome reform that many Greeks want. This particular company is a symbol of freedom,” Dimitrakopoulos noted⁹.

The shutdown was not debated in parliament but forced through by ministerial decree.

It has sparked an internal revolt in Greece’s fragile governing coalition¹⁰, with the two smaller parties voicing strong opposition¹¹.

Dionyssis Dimitrakopoulos warns Greece’s political crisis could be rekindled¹². “The worst case scenario¹³ is for the government to collapse¹⁴ and a new electoral contest to take place. This is the last thing that the country needs,” he said.

ERT had been on air since 1938 - but its audience share had dwindled¹⁵ to 13 percent.

In the Greek islands and regions, the state broadcaster played an important role, says Panayiotis Demopoulos, an activist¹⁶ in the northern region of Kozani.

"For people in the provinces, the ERT has always been a service that safeguarded the Greek people’s participation¹⁷ in democratic decision making," Demopoulous said. He added the broadcaster’s closure is indicative of a wider democratic shortfall. "Everything happened in an extremely rapid and autocratic way, which suggests - without exaggerating or being metaphorical¹⁸ - that those in power are now practicing a dictatorial¹⁹ form of government," he stated.

The protests compound a volatile²⁰ week, after the government failed to sell the state-owned gas utility - part of a huge sell-off of state assets demanded by the EU and IMF bailout terms.

The EU has called on Greece to stick to its timetable.