Greeks let TV control their lives
Greeks seem to avoid cultural activities, choosing to glue themselves to the television screen instead, a Eurobarometer survey on Europeans’ involvement in cultural activities has found. Greeks avoid books, newspapers, the theater, cinema, opera, the Internet, museums and even sports events, with participation among the lowest – or the lowest – in the EU. Television viewing figures, however, are in line with Greece’s EU partners, with 97.6 percent of Europeans watching TV. The four types of programs that Europeans mostly watch are news and current affairs (88.9 percent), films (84.3 percent), documentaries (61.6 percent) and sport (50.3 percent). Similar percentages were obtained for Greece. However, 34.5 percent of Europeans surf the Internet, but only 15.1 percent of Greeks do so (ahead of only Portugal, with 14.8 percent). Also, 54.3 percent of Greeks have not read a book in the last year (67.3 percent in Portugal). Only 20.3 percent of Greeks read newspapers five to seven times a week, the lowest figure in Europe. Three out of four never visit museums or archaeological sites.
