�@Radiobubble �

a case of an alternative media in austerity-ridden Greece�

Nikos Smyrnaios Université de Toulouse

22nd International Conference of Europeanists

  ICTs, (digital) media, and anti-austerity protests panel

The context

Greece’s private media landscape is problematic: - Strong ties to big business & political parties - Poor in original & quality content - Populist in news

Since the outburst of the crisis in 2010: - severe cut-offs & wave of lay-offs of journalists -  vigorous defence of extreme austerity

Very fertile ground for developing alternative media

The research question

What are the social, political and technological logics that underpin alternative online media in

Austerity-ridden Greece ?

Case study

The method

Interviews with founders and members

Participant observation

Study of content, website and internal documents

Study of Twitter hashtags

Period: 2008-2015

The beginnings (2007-9)

Creation of one of the first webradios in Greece by a team of media veterans fed up with MSM & friends

Combination of:

Live broadcast/podcast/written content Pro journalists/pro radio producers/amateur

grassroots journalists/bloggers/geeks

Remarkable events: 1st participatory interview of a political leader

(Tsipras) in January 2008 Live coverage of December 2008 riots in Athens

Books publishing, 3 500 radio shows

Creation of a physical space (a café bar) alongside to the digital space of Radiobubble

A place where “avatars” meet & socialize

Hundreds of different people “drop by” to make

radio shows, organize, debate, drink

Open 15h/day in the heart of flaming Athens for intellectuals, journalists, activists, geeks & other

Indignados movement starts/ thousands take the

squares / police repression is violent, political context instable=> extreme austerity

The “phygital” (2010-13)

Advertising/sponsoring don’t work while costs rise

Revenue comes from drinks, crowdfunding &…

Hackademy (social enterprise): community members teach social media & grassroots

journalism techniques & theory

Twitter is the “nervous system” of the community

Rise of #rbnews, the most popular news hashgtag in Greece with a self regulated code of deontology

Big impact outside Greece: NYT piece, collaboration with The Guardian, multilingual content production

In the end of 2012 financial problems aggravate,

“no one has any money in Greece”

The Indignados movement is violently supressed

Political & personal tensions accumulate especially between activist veterans & newbies

Money that was invested & lost causes litigations

The community splits in 2013, those who stay

organize in an association and pay a fee

“project fork: happens when developers take a copy of source code and starts developing a distinct software”

Maturity (2014-5) The community is smaller but more coherent

The studio moves in a theatre (free of charge)

Phygital is dead & golden age behind but…

Creation of rbdata.gr that collaborates to The

Migrant Files project that won European Press Prize

In 2014 & 2015 some members join Syriza’s campaigns, later even the government, others don’t

Social trajectories diverge: immigration,

unemployment, retreat etc.

Conclusions

The political & social context turned a “new media venture” into an activist hub

Life, joy, tragedy & journalism interweaved. Difficult

to say where the frontiers were

Austerity drama generated a wave of new, independent, non-hierarchical politicised media

Radiobubble, Unfollow, The Press Project, Ert Open

They played a central role in the emancipatory

process that takes place in Greece