Doomsday ads ahead of Greek referendum

The ads come close to suggesting that the apocalypse could be just around the corner if Greeks make the wrong choice in a referendum on Sunday.

Against a blue background, a cheery cartoon rendering of an ATM appears and an announcer asks: Will there be cash on Monday? A big red "X" crosses it out. Will there be gasoline? Will there be medicine? Will pensions be paid? As the ad continues, a dozen such questions are answered with a resounding "no", before the tagline appears urging voters to say "yes" in Sunday's referendum. "Now that we know how many nos a no can bring," the voice-over says, "On Sunday, we say yes."

In the referendum, Greeks will be asked to decide whether to vote "yes" to accepting a bailout package that would keep Greece solvent and in the eurozone - but impose more taxes and pension cutbacks - or to vote "no" and demand a better deal or, possibly, be kicked out of the eurozone. (GREEK REFERENDUM)

On Friday, a day of duelling "yes" and "no" rallies, when a top Greek court swept aside a constitutional challenge to the referendum, the role of the news media emerged as one of the most contentious issues. Ads predicting doomsday scenarios and long newspaper articles on the plight of retirees have been coming fast and furious from Greece's oligarch-dominated news organisations, which critics say are all in on the "yes" side. Whatever their ultimate impact on the vote, the hothouse news media atmosphere and, critics say, scaremongering have helped perpetuate the chaos and confusion that has been rampant since the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, called for the referendum a week ago.

"There is no discussion of the real issues," said Nikos Leandros, a news media expert at the Panteion University in Athens. "They are exaggerating the feelings of fear and agony and creating an atmosphere that makes it impossible for anyone to think clearly." Voters are being subjected to a heavy barrage of ads, many of them suggesting that to follow the call of Tsipras for a "no" vote would unleash forces that would see Greece cast out of the European Union altogether, with disastrous results. Tsipras himself has been campaigning for a "no" vote, most likely in the hope that it would give him new leverage in dealing with creditors who he says are offering harsh terms that would only drive Greece deeper into the economic abyss. Tsipras, whose political career is on the line in the vote, took time to criticise the news media. During a televised interview, he complained of unbalanced coverage. When challenged by a reporter, he offered official figures showing that the six main stations in Greece had given about eight minutes to a "no" rally and 46 minutes to a "yes" rally.

The bulk of the coverage of the "no" rally came from one station, ERT, he said, which had been shut down by the previous government and which gave both sides about equal time. He said one station, Skai, gave zero minutes to the "no" rally, which drew thousands to a square in front of the Parliament building and more than seven minutes to the equally well-attended "yes" rally the next day.

On Friday, Tsipras renewed his call for Greeks to reject the terms of the bailout offer from the country's European creditors, warning voters against caving in to "blackmail".

Just who is financing the frightening" yes" ads is unclear, according to Christos Xanthakis, the media editor for Newpost.gr, a right-leaning news site. He says the major opposition parties, who all favour a "yes" vote, have no money. But, he says, beyond the ads, major news outlets that in the past have largely ignored the troubles of average Greeks are now offering story after story on their troubles, heightening a sense of fear before the vote.

Tsipras's no ads are more an extension of his original campaign, which rallied people's sense of pride and resistance. One pictures a series of energetic young people giving their reasons for saying "no". One says, "I vote no because democracy cannot be blackmailed." Another, "I vote no because austerity policies exhaust Europe." Tsipras has countered the "yes" ads with frequent use of his office, addressing the country several times, including on Friday, when he took advantage of a new report from the International Monetary Fund that maintained, as the prime minister himself has for months, that Greece will need debt relief to get back on its feet.

Leaders from the major centre-left and centre-right parties, including the former prime minister, Antonis Samaras, have had no trouble finding news media exposure to make their case that Tsipras has brought the country to ruin. Both sides have had celebrities make guest appearances in the campaign, including a son of the deposed Greek king who urged citizens to vote "yes", and the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who urged them to vote "no".

When Tsipras ran for office in January, Greeks were also subjected to ads and newspaper coverage suggesting a vote for his Syriza party would be the undoing of Greece. One official even suggested that Greeks stock up on toilet paper. Nonetheless, Greeks voted for him. This time, however, with the banks closed and European Union officials themselves campaigning against him, polls suggest it is too close to call.

©2015 The New York Times News Service