Presentation at the 22nd International Conference of Europeanists, Paris 8-1

1. !
@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

2. 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

3. The research question
What are the social, political and technological logics
that underpin alternative online media in
Austerity-ridden Greece ?
Case study

4. The method
Interviews with founders and members
Participant observation
Study of content, website and internal documents
Study of Twitter hashtags
Period: 2008-2015

5. 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

6. 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)

8. 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

9. 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”

10. 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.

11. 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