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POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND PROFESSIONALISATION IN GREECE | 137

importance to enhancing their visibility by appearing on television. At the same time,
the authority of traditional governmental institutions – the Parliament and the
Presidency of the Republic – has declined. Research shows that the Greek Parliament,
whose sessions at one time used to attract the interest of the nation, has now been
downgraded. Images of the empty seats of ministers and deputies emphasise this
change. The President of the Republic, Constantine Stephanopoulos, observed that the
members of the Parliament preferred TV stations to Parliament. Demertzis and
Armenakis (1999), in their research on the Press,Television and the Hellenic Parliament,
note that, although the amount of political news coverage increased considerably
between 1987 and 1997,since 1987 it has decreased in comparison to other news items
and coverage. News coming from Parliament has decreased, even in the political
sections of the newspapers and is mostly focused on individuals and tends towards
sensationalist treatment. The Parliamentarians have welcomed television, but are wary
of its effects. They dislike the way that both private and commercial channels cover
Parliament and the political world. Most of them believe that a parliamentary television
channel should provide better coverage of parliament (Demertzis & Armenakis,1999).

These developments clearly point to the fact that politicians in the age of the media are
desperately seeking to increase (or stabilise) their visibility through the TV camera.The
deputy leader of the New Democracy party,Yannis Varvitsiotis,justified this:

Previously, a new Member of Parliament used to become known through his work
there. Nowadays, no young Member of Parliament bothers. They prefer to become
widely known by adopting a heretical point of view on TV. The best proposal in the
Parliament sessions can only be read by 300,000 readers [the total sales of Greek
newspapers]. A dissident view becomes widely known to the three million viewers of
the television channels (Kathimerini, 1995,p.4).

It is probably no coincidence that, since January 2004, Parliament officially has its own
TV channel,Vouli, transmitting on the most sought after UFH frequencies.

But can we legitimately interpret these developments as a sign of professionalisation of
the political parties and amongst its members? Or are they merely the result of the Political Communication and Professionalisation in Greece
need politicians have to survive and exist within a more media-saturated social life? Is
this a professionalisation process or some unplanned, unstructured effort for media
visibility?

The increasing dissidence artificially created by politicians, aimed at attracting media
attention, provides important arguments in support of the second interpretation.While
in the past politicians had to follow the party line, they nowadays present dissenting
views just to attract controversy and appear on ‘telly’. In January 1982, less than a year
after the Socialist Party PASOK came to office, party leader Andreas Papandreou
announced a rule of public behaviour for his deputies. In a ten-page document, he 139