Riots in Athens

by Elena G. Simon

How it all began…

• One of the most poignant current events in Europe recently was the uproar caused in Athens, Greece when a 15 year old Athenian boy was sot by a police officer.

• This ignited not only the hearts of teenagers all over Greece, but Athens itself was on fire in December or 2008

• Soon, the issue became not just one involving the death of the 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, but that of the Greek government and its lack of concern for the future generation.

Issues

• These issues revolved around the well-being of students as well as the education facilities like the public universities.

• The protests also expressed the frustration with the government and its mounting economic worries.

The riots increased in violence and fervor as the days went on…

• “In the riots, several hundred protestors set up burning barricades and attacked police with rocks and flares. Riot police fired teargas and chased the youths through parts of the Greek capital. The protestors chanted ‘murderers out’ and used lazer pointers to target police officers for attack” – Jenny Princival

Social Media

• How did the news spread so fast without any means of traditional reporting?• How did the throng of protestors

increase at such a rapid pace?

The Answer

• “The spontaneous protests and riots were organized largely by young people who text-messaged and phoned each other, and who used social networks such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter”

• The growing throng of rioters was fascinating to the mass media because the charge behind them was not already predisposed to them through biased news casts.

• Each protestor reacted on their own feelings in response to the death of Alexandros and the issues pertaining to the Greek government.

• “We need to think about the future of our trade in an era where new travels faster (among society) than TV or radio. People turned out on the streets before radio and TV can air stories” – Pavlos Tsimas, well-known Greek columnist and TV commentator

• Bloggers everywhere would be happy to know that they had out-sourced hundreds of new reporters on a soon-to-be global story

• Twitter and other blog sites have proven some credibility for news reporting after seeing this stunning example in Greece

• This is empowering for the protestors because they were fully making a stand on their own solid beliefs and not what one network or news site or radio program told them to believe