Crisis & Communication: The Case of Greece George Petalotis Ex Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister and Government’s Spokesman

Greece before the Crisis  15 years of growth  Participation in the Economic & Monetary Union  Important infrastructure projects  Social development  High standards of living

Greece in Crisis  Global crisis affects Greek economy  2008: Greek economy in recession  Misleading statistics given to the EU by the previous government  Greek statistics become a “quick joke”

Greece in Crisis  National elections on the 4 th October bring PASOK to power  PASOK government and Eurostat discover a deficit of 15,6% instead of 3% stated by the previous government  International credibility comes to zero

PASOK’s Actions Communication strategy in two levels 1.Communication Policy abroad  Restoring international credibility  Diplomatic marathon  Development of task force in order to inform leaders, international opinion makers and media Result: the development of EFSF

PASOK’s Actions 2. Communication Strategy in Greece  Participation in EFSF created a unique reality in Greece  Communication strategy focused totally on presenting the absolute truth with clarity and transparency

Situation in Greece  While other EFSF countries reached a minimum consensus in crisis resolution, Greece did not  Greek parties knew the situation but chose to act in an irresponsible way in order to gain votes  Greek citizens in the middle of two opposite sides: the government trying to talk to their logic and opposition trying to talk to their emotions and subconscious with rumors, conspiracy theories and magical solutions Result: Greek people blamed the “fireman” not the “arsonist”

Communication Strategy verified  For 2,5 years PASOK was struggling alone while the other parties doubted its political choices  Today three parties, New Democracy, PASOK & Democratic Left, govern Greece and continue the same political choices they doubted before  There was no shift in policy. The two other parties followed the same policy.

Communication Model of the PASOK Government  Dominant doctrine: We speak the truth as it is  Formation of crisis management team  Producing a clear, simple message  Spill over of the governmental message via the media  Daily briefing to the Greek and foreign journalists  24/7 communication of the crisis management team

Social Media & Crisis  Social Media is a new reality that can’t be ignored  Social Media offer high speed in expanding ideas and views  Social Media work in favor when you want to distribute your idea, but it is impossible to deal with, when they turn against you  PASOK Government created Social Media accounts for the Prime Minister and the Ministries.

Digital Presence of the Government