When the Athens News was founded sixty years ago, the deputy prime minister at the time, Sofoklis Venizelos, said it “met a real need” and that it would “help towards a better understanding with the Anglo-Saxon world with which Greece is bound by old and true friendship”. What he forgot to mention was that it also built bridges with the French and Germans as well, on account of sections the paper carried in those languages.
Since then, the paper has witnessed and reported on the major events that have shaped modern Greece. And it did this in its own unique manner; namely, making sense of Greek affairs through the perspective of English speakers living in Greece and by serving as a forum for bi-cultural issues. Thus the Athens News has been a bridge linking Greece to the outside world or, to quote a reader, “It gives a perspective of Greece which one only gets when he or she leaves the country.”
But it hasn’t been just one-way traffic. The paper has also served to open up a window through which Greeks themselves can see how local affairs impacting their lives are viewed from a foreign perspective.
It is this dual purpose that has allowed the paper to stand the test of time and create a community of sorts. And it continues, to this day, to serve as a reliable point of reference for Greeks and foreigners alike.
Furthermore, standing apart from the vested interests that, at times, have compromised the objectivity of large swathes of the Greek press, it has built an enviable reputation as a source of solid information. A case in point was the paper’s firm stance against the military junta that ruled from 1967 to ‘74. The paper’s uncompromising position landed its founder in jail but also reaffirmed its commitment to objectivity.
This uncompromising legacy remains the guiding principle of the paper as it looks to future, committed to making sense of Greece for the benefit of all its readers.
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As a Hellene of the Diaspora, living in Australia but missing the most beautiful nation ever created by God, Athens News is a critical tool with which I can keep in touch with what is happening over there and how it all impacts on my cousins who live in different regions.
The media here always produce a very sanitised version of what is taking place in Ellada with their own interpretations and biases. But Athens News reports the news and keeps a window open whereby we can look in and see for ourselves.
Thank you.