World media keeping their eye on Greece
International media interest and coverage of Greek current affairs have shown no sign of abating since the country entered an extended period of economic crisis in 2010.
According to figures released by the General Secretariat of Information and Communication, requests by foreign media were up 32 percent in 2012 compared to the previous year. In 2011, queries had already observed an increase of 22 percent compared to 2010.
In 2012 the government agency received 393 applications from international media. According to the bureau’s data, 455 journalists visited Greece and made 987 requests. These resulted in 7,000 actions, including interviews, news coverage and collecting data. The majority of queries related to the police, followed by political parties and chambers of commerce.
Most media requests came from Germany, France, the UK, US, Spain, Switzerland, China, the Netherlands and Sweden, among other countries.
According to the agency, a large number of foreign journalists visited Greece without submitting an official request for any kind of support.
