VZCZCXRO2306
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTH #1116/01 2170549
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040549Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2297
INFO RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI PRIORITY 1923
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 001116 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
STATE FOR R CRIEHL; EUR CGRAFFEY, MBRYZA; EUR/PPD 
MOKEEFE, GCOUCH, BARMSTRONG; EUR/SE KFITZGERALD, 
BHUNT, GCOWAN, SALTMAN-WINANS; IIP/SEG RHOBYN 
COSTEN; FSI FOR BLEVIN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SOCI KPAO OIIP GR
SUBJECT:  THE FREE PRESS PHENOMENON: THE VILLAGE 
VOICE AND AM NEW YORK SPEAK IN GREECE 
 
ATHENS 00001116  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
------------------- 
SUMMARY AND COMMENT 
------------------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  On July 25-26, Mosaiko.gr, Embassy 
Athens' youth-oriented website, sponsored a 
conference entitled "The Free Press Phenomenon" for 
publishers, editors, and journalists of the Greek 
free and alternati6e press at a beach-side hotel, 
featur)ng speaker3 frgm the Village Voice and AM New 
York.  The right kind of event for a Greek summer, 
the cgnferefce allowed us to connect in a caqUal, 
fun way with this growing segment kf the media, 
including some papers that are exclusi6ely 
distributed on college campuses.  Having two 
speakers who disagreed on key points coming from 
such high-profile U.S. outlets made for a lively 
discussion, and increased our credibility.  You have 
to know your readers and write the kind of stories 
they want to read, but you also have to know your 
advertisers and pay close attention to their bottom 
line, the two American journalists stressed, 
especially if you want to survive in the Internet 
age.  Given the great feedback we have gotten to 
date, we plan to leverage this exposure to U.S. 
models for the next generation of Greek journalists 
further by distributing the conference proceedings 
electronically, including for use in university 
classrooms in the fall. 
 
------------------------------ 
GROWING FREE, AND GOING STRONG 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  In line with global trends, a growing 
number of newspapers are being published and 
distributed free of charge in Greece, even as the 
traditional print press declines.  The local 
franchise of METRO, launched here in 2000 as a 
general interest daily aimed at commuters, currently 
estimates a daily circulation of 135,000 copies, as 
compared to the highest circulation traditional 
newspaper, Ta Nea, which sells around 60,000 copies. 
There are also several weekly alterative style 
papers in Greece, for example the Athens Voice 
(based quite heavily on the Village Voice), some of 
which were founded in the run-up to the 2004 Olympic 
Games.  Most such publications target a youth 
audience, and several are distributed exclusively on 
college campuses.  Both types of free print media 
are doing well here, due in part to the fact that 
Greece has one of the lowest Internet penetration 
rates in Europe (about 30%), although they still do 
not enjoy the respect or staffing quality of 
traditional publications. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Given the importance of this segment of 
the media and our own MSP focus on the audience they 
serve, we thought carefully about keynote speakers 
for our conference.  We chose former Village Voice 
editor Don Forst, now a professor at SUNY Albany, 
because of the strong local brand recognition of 
this American classic and the fact that it won a 
Pulitzer under his leadership.  We invited AM New 
York's current publisher, Terry Jimenez, because he 
represents the largest daily circulation newspaper 
in New York, and to add balance to our event.  The 
IIP Speakers Bureau was able to convince both 
speakers to come and arrange all the logistics for 
their visit.  We then invited 30 publishers, 
editors, and reporters representing the 15 top Greek 
weekly alternative and daily free press outlets to a 
beach-front hotel about an hour from Athens for the 
two-day event.  The budget for the conference was 
about $25,000, of which $15,000 came from EUR/PPD's 
"unfunded priorities" allocation, and $10,000 from 
post's general operating expense account. 
 
-------------------------- 
KEEPING IT FREE...AND REAL 
-------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U)  The conference was divided into three 
sessions over the course of a Friday and Saturday, 
 
ATHENS 00001116  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
each of which featured a presentation by the keynote 
speakers, discussion, then answers to questions 
submitted by participants in advance.  The sessions 
were entitled: "The Free Press Phenomenon and Its 
Impact on Urban Culture;" "Keeping the Free Press 
Alive: Advertising and Budget Issues;" "The Free 
Press and the Internet." 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Greek participants were interested mainly 
in how to maintain their journalistic freedom and 
independence, given the total reliance on 
advertisers that goes along with the free press 
model.  The speakers gave a great picture of how 
their papers do this: they not only know their 
audiences very well, but pay very close attention to 
the business side of their operations.  Forst 
commented, "We [were] not afraid of anybody...not 
our readers...not our advertisers.  That comes from 
being successful."  Some participants noted that 
this is not as easy as it sounds in Greece, in part 
because the state controls such a large share of the 
advertising pie.  An experienced Greek journalist 
who writes for both mainstream and alternative 
papers told us, off-line, that this share is perhaps 
30-40%, and moreover, that Greek government 
allocations are often politically rather than 
economically motivated. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  On another issue of great interest, the 
impact of the Internet, the two speakers gave 
opposing views.  Forst doubted that alternative 
print publications would survive the impact of this 
new technology, saying that the young Americans he 
teaches rarely read any newspaper of any kind. 
Jimenez, however, pointed out that tailoring a print 
product for New York City subway commuters has been 
a very successful business model.  He added that his 
organization is exploring value-added on-line 
services along the lines of e-Bay and Craigslist, 
rather than being content just to post its current 
content. 
 
----------------- 
LET'S DO IT AGAIN 
----------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) Prior to the conference, we set up an 
interview with Don Forst in a top alternative Greek 
weekly, LiFO.  The article was positive and included 
great pictures:  http://www.lifo.gr/content/x8/783. 
We also hosted a pre-conference press roundtable 
that was well-attended by mainstream Greek media 
outlets, including several traditional daily 
newspapers and independent SKAI TV, which broadcast 
a feature about the event on its weekend ecology- 
themed, youth-oriented news program. 
 
¶8.  (U) At the end of the conference, participants 
were asked to fill in an on-line survey, with a link 
provided on a Mosaiko.gr branded flash disk, with 
their thoughts on both the conference and the 
website.  Because of technical difficulties, 
including a poorly timed attack on the site, we have 
been unable to collect and process this data.  But 
all of the invitees expressed interest in learning 
about other programs offered by the Embassy and in 
working together on news and feature stories going 
forward.  The speakers also responded very 
positively to the experience, and registered their 
interest in participating in other State Department 
programs. 
 
¶9.  (U) We have posted a feature story about the 
conference on our main website, 
http://athens.usembassy.gov/mosaiko_conferenc e.html, 
and will soon be posting transcripts of the 
speakers' presentations on this website as well as 
Mosaiko.gr.  We also plan to offer taped versions on 
DVD to local journalism professors in the fall. 
 
SPECKHARD