Katerina blogs: Goodnight and good luck

While I was contemplating on the transitions in my life, another transition was occurring in my home country. It is a time of change apparently, and not only for Greece.

Being away for a long time, my main source of information, except for friends and family, is social media. And what appeared in my twitter feed yesterday afternoon seemed like an April fool’s joke. The Greek government decided in the blink of an eye to shut down the national state television, against any national or European law and lacking any sort of institutional legitimization. Journalists and technicians were notified that they would be officially laid off by midnight.  And people were in shock. I don’t know where this will lead, but memories of the late ‘60’s coup d’etat came back with terror.

People already are gathering to show their support and solidarity. Not because state TV was the most transparent public service but for what closing down a public information service symbolizes. For the Greek mentality, this is an extremely sensitive subject, as we constantly live with the fear of a dictatorial relapse. Analogies with authoritarian regimes have already begun and as the night falls, Greeks get accustomed to history unfolding on the streets instead of their TV screens.

Katerina Petropoulou (26) studies Business Communication and Digital Media at Tilburg University and blogs for Univers