Gov't Gets Set To Shut Down ERT Tonight!

ERT logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It came as a shock to some, but was expected by anyone and everyone in the private sector, Greek government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou announced that Greece's national broadcaster, ERT, would be shut down on Tuesday night, noting that it was source of "waste" and suffered from a lack of transparency.

Ahead of the announcement the government passed a legislative decree allowing ministers to shut down public enterprises.

The spokesman said that citizens are paying good honest money for ERT which has three and even eight times, as much staff as it needs. Indeed it does, ERT has close to 3,000 employees (according to employees' union POSPERT) and around 2,600 people are set to lose their jobs.

    "It has ample assets, which have remained unused."

He argued that ERT suffered as a result of "management that lacked transparency, benefits for its workers and spending huge amounts on external productions". At the same time he said that a more contemporary broadcasting service would be erected in its place that would have a smaller staff.

Finally, the Greek government spokesman also said that while ERT is off air, Greek households will not be obligated to pay for the broadcaster's license fee through their electricity bills.

To find out more about some of the reasons behind this government decision please read the following article that was published on HellasFrappe around 1 year ago.

OPINION FORUM - Will ERT Finally Get A July Management Clean Up?

July 2012 - Anyone who takes over political responsibility for ERT will need a large broom for an immediate clean up in July.  Much needs to be done to end months of ineffectiveness, paralysis and large questions over corruption. ERT needs a new board, a new CEO and President, and also new mid-level management in addition to about dozen senior position vacancies from those who submitted their resignations in disgust at top management dubious interference and insidious plans.

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http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2012/07/will-ert-finally-get-july-management.html