The Press and its Guardian Angel

TeePee despises the media. This is no hyperbole. Da Man used that precise term to describe his feelings towards the press just a few days ago. To be sure, this was not news to anyone who has followed the man over the years. The truth is, TeePee despises pretty much everyone - not just the media; but we will leave that for another day.

What exactly is TeePee's view of the role of the media in society? To get a clearer view, let's cruise down memory lane to 1960. In April of that year, Antonis Farmakides, one of the editors of "Alithia" newspaper, was kidnapped and held hostage for nearly two weeks after he published an article criticizing the Makarios government. It is an accepted fact that the kidnappers were working for the then Minister of the Interior, Polycarpos Yiorkadjis, who also happened to be TeePee's koumbaros and best friend, as well as the husband of his future wife.

(Young readers: do not be shocked; this kind of thing was very common in the early days of our Republic. For more on this particular incident see this article by Makarios Drousiotis (in greek.)

Why is this relevant to our story? What follows, in greek, is a quote from TeePee, following Farmakides' kidnapping:

"Το κράτος [...] δικαιούται να αναμένει από πρόσωπα ασχολούμενα με την υψηλήν αποστολήν της δημοσιογραφίας να αρθούν εις το ύψος της αποστολής των και να ακολουθούν τα πλαίσια της κοσμιότητας και αξιοπρέπειας, συμπεριφερόμενοι ως υπεύθυνα και πολιτικώς ώριμα άτομα. Εκφεύγοντες των πλαισίων τούτων και ασκούντες αντί της υπευθύνου και εντίμου αντιπολιτεύσεως κακόβουλον και υβριστικήν επίθεσην εναντίον των αντιπάλων των, πρέπει να έχουν υπόψη των, ότι η τοιαύτη ανεύθυνος δημοσιογραφία εξεγείρει και εξάπτει τα συναισθήματα ατόμων τα οποία με πολλήν αγάπην και εκτίμησην περιβάλλουν τους αντιπάλους των".

If you don't speak Greek, or if the katharevousa is a bit challenging, let me give you the gist of it: journalists should be careful not to say anything that may offend their opponents. If they do, they get what they deserve.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the president of the Republic of Cyprus.