| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Ch. K. Tegopoulos Ekdoseis A. E. |
| Editor | Vangelis Panagopoulos, Giannis Vlastaris |
| Founded | 1975 |
| Political alignment | Social democratic |
| Language | Greek |
| Headquarters | Minoos 10-16, 11743 Neos Kosmos/Athens, Greece |
| Official website | www.enet.gr |
Eleftherotypia (Greek: Ελευθεροτυπία meaning "freedom of the press") is a daily newspaper published in Athens (Greece). It is one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the country. Eleftherotypia also publishes a Sunday edition Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia (Greek: Κυριακάτικη Ελευθεροτυπία). It was first published in 1975. Breaking the trend of Greek press, it was originally owned by its journalists. It was eventually taken over by the Tegopoulos brothers, and is now published by businessman Thanasis Tegopoulos, retaining its traditional socialist domestic and international stance.
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Eleftherotypia editors often adopt a social-democratic stance on a number of issues, but more radical viewpoints are also frequently represented in the paper, to a notably greater extent than in centre-left daily To Vima. The newspaper is often supportive of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party, however it has also criticized the party during its time in office. The Saturday and Sunday editions of Eleftherotypia, usually feature articles by a group of journalists, who collectively use the name the "Ios" (Greek "Ιος" meaning "virus"). The Ios are known for targeting and heavily criticizing the Greek far right, the church, the army, the police and United States foreign policy.
In April 1977, Revolutionary Organization 17 November (17N) sent a manifesto to Eleftherotypia, titled "Reply to the parties and groups" ("Απάντηση στα κόμματα και τις οργανώσεις"). The preface of the manifesto stated that Eleftherotypia was chosen because" a) it reported with respect to the facts of the attacks and b) gave voice to the full spectrum of the Left, even when not accepting its causes" . This was the beginning of a trend that continued for almost every such action 17 November undertook, up until the organization's capture in 2002. Other Greek left wing radical and terrorist organizations, such as ELA, as well as small militant anarchist groups, also send their communiques exclusively to Eleftherotypia, under the assumption that the newspaper, while unlikely to be directly supportive, would be more likely to publicise their views.
The newspaper became known for its policy of publishing the proclamations of such groups without criticism. Until 2002 it abstained from condemning terrorist attacks, including assassinations. In the past, some Eleftherotypia editors have also criticised counter terrorism laws, with some perceiving this as evidence that the publication was supportive of terrorism.[1]
In November 2005, the Court of Appeals in Athens found the company owning the newspaper (Tegopoulos Publishing), the editor-in-chief Serafeim Fyntanides and another 2 persons guilty of slandering the Public Prosecutor of the trial of the 17N terrorist group, District Attorney Christos Lambrou. They were fined Euro 60,000 each to be paid to Mr. Lambrou.
Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia, the paper's separate Sunday edition, hosts advocacy journalism articles from Le Monde Diplomatique that examine major international issues.
The paper has published The New York Times International Weekly on Sundays since 2009. This 8-page supplement features a selection of articles from The New York Times translated into Greek.
Eleftherotypia filed for bankruptcy in December 2011. [2]
Every Wednesday, the newspaper features the "9" ("ennea") comics magazine, named after the classification of comics as the "ninth art".[3] 9 enjoys high readership of approximately 200,000 readers weekly. The magazine regularly organizes comics exhibitions and every year holds a competition for new talents and new creators, through which many young Greek comic artists have emerged, such as Helias Kyriazes, Tasos Papaioannou, Argyris Mavreas, Katerina Vamvasaki and Vasilis Lolos.[3]
Each issue usually features an ongoing "central story" which usually takes up 4 or 5 consecutive issues, a science fiction short story and various comics, strips and caricatures. Since the beginning of the magazine's publication, in June 2000, no issue has been published without a woman on its front page.