Politics, the media and NGOs: The Greek Experience

Instances of NGO corruption during the past few years, coupled with the severe and harsh fiscal consolidation that has hit the country, have generated public suspicion and mistrust of their activities. In particular, the Greek media have played a significant role in constructing the entire NGO sector as ethically corrupt, arguing that behind their do-gooder façade lie ulterior motives (Valvis 2014). To criticize, however, the whole NGO sector for lack of accountability, transparency and of non-democratic behavior not only fails to understand the political environment within which Greek NGOs have to operate, but also produces serious ambiguities regarding their presence and contribution. Bearing that in mind, in this commentary we briefly analyze the reasons behind the problematic image of the NGO sector in Greece. In so doing, we also discuss why and how the economic crisis since 2010 has provided NGOs with new opportunities to increase their inter-organization communication, and cooperate on the basis of a wider political and social agenda. We conclude by suggesting particular recommendations on the organization, administration, identity and communication of NGOs in Greece.

This research is an attempt to discover diachronic trends in the presentation of Greek non-governmental organizations in two of the most influential contemporary hardnews newspapers in Greece, Kathimerini and To Vima. Drawing heavily on theories of media coverage and their relation to the non-governmental organizations, this article combines quantitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis so as to designate the crucial role of the media to the presentation of the non-governmental organizations in Greece. The research covers a wide period of 10 years (2004-2014), including several years before and during the financial crisis. Which are the main characteristics of the non-governmental organizations' representations by the Press? Which alterations has the crisis context brought to these representations? What new forms of voluntarism has the crisis created? How does the Press 'react' toward the 'insurgents' of the nongovernmental organizations field? These are some of the questions seeking answers in an under constant transformation media field.

The economic crisis that the Greek society has been embroiled in requests answers regarding its roots. Sources of wasteful money spending have been examined during these five last years attempting to provide the public with an answer. One group that attracted particular focus is the organized civil society. The Greek media have devoted significant time in bringing to the limelight possible corruption scandals with the involvement of state officials and favorable NGOs. Indeed, from the exposures so far it has become clear that to some extent there have been suspicious transactions between the state and some NGOs. However, while many cases are under investigation from the state authorities and the justice, many NGOs’ representatives have expressed their concerns that the entire sector is becoming a scapegoat for all the cases of political corruption that have damaged the country since the mid-90s.

The ongoing financial crisis has globally impacted nearly every national economy in the world. Although its initial effects were concentrated purely in the financial sector, increased economic turbulence has gradually diffused into most sectors of society—including civil society and NGOs. One basic consequence has been the transformation of development assistance due to a decrease in available funding from the usual “suspects”, known as “old donors,” and a subsequent increase from so called “new donors” such as China and Brazil. Moreover, many of these “new donors” are negatively predisposed to working with NGOs and thus available funding to NGOs in the international level seems to be decreasing. A focus on the national level also reveals a similar case: countries that were greatly impacted by the aftermath of the crisis, such as Greece, have sharply decreased available public funding to NGOs. This paper explores the effects of these developments. Its initial findings suggest that the “western model” of NGOs expansion is less viable than before. NGOs are being accused of losing their fundamental values and working mostly as ‘walking sticks’—covering states’ inefficiencies in specific sectors—thus their function as an unofficial public sector is being challenged. In practice, NGOs are transforming into dedicated contractors of national and international public agencies with limited to no real interconnection with society. This transformation is being rendered incompatible with the new environment, as available contracts are becoming less lucrative. As a result, many NGOs are rediscovering their idealistic past while new, less formal civil society actors are arising to cover the multiple needs created by the crisis. Focusing mainly on the Greek case study, this paper presents a seldom-studied effect of the financial crisis—the transformation of the NGO sector, culminating in informal networks overlapping with “old school” NGOs which find it difficult to adjust to the NEW economic situation. Evidence suggests that a dual trend currently exists where a small segment of existing “professionalized” NGOs are able to gain PUBLIC funding through the usual public procurement procedures. Thus, they are able to survive and further expand in conjunction with the rise of small, grassroots organizations whose main strengths derive from their devotion to the practice of philanthropy, altruism, and voluntarism, in addition to their widespread acceptance from the general public.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2005

Ellīnikī Epitheōrīsī Politikīs Epistīmīs, 2017

Democracy at Large NGOs,IIn: Political Foundations, Think Tanks and International Organizations Editors: Petric, B. (Ed.), 2012

The aim of this research work is to evaluate the penetration of Web 2.0 technologies into Non Governmental Organizations in Greece. For this, we have chosen 56 NGOs and evaluated them using a set of 81 criteria divided into subsets. Each subset of criteria evaluates a different aspect of NGO, i.e. dissemination of ideas, interconnection with other NGOs, members' interaction etc. but is always under the prism of the effective use of Web technologies. The selected sample comprises mainly Civil Society Organizations (CSO's) and Environmental NGOs that act in a national level and have a web presence. The details of the sample are also discussed in this work. The aim of this work is bi-fold: first, to present the current state of NGOs in Greece as far as it concerns the exploitation of Web and Web 2.0 technologies and second, to provide an extended set of criteria that can be used for evaluating the effective use of Web technologies and can be utilized by NGOs to ameliorate their Web presence and support their aims.

Global Media and Communication 5:1 (April 2009)