Champions of Truth: The Essential Function of an Independent Press

Petros Papasarandopoulos PhD in Balkan Studies, editor and author writes for ET

In many countries, societies seem to be magnetized by populist demagogues and vote for them. The democratic acquis of Western civilization is faced with an internal challenge, discredited and discredited. The result of the German elections in Thuringia and Saxony is a bell of serious danger.

Based on the above, the fundamental dilemma of those who support liberal democracy is whether they will settle for a procedural conception of democracy or decide to defend it decisively, according to the imperatives of democracy in struggle. The oscillation between these two options leads, in many countries, to leave the initiative of the movements to the populists, who may be fewer, but with the cries of demagoguery and activism they win the battle of impressions.

What could those who truly believe in democracy do?

The first one and more importantly, to remind us of its fundamental principles: tolerance, respect for rights and minorities, the value of compromise, its superiority over any other system of social coexistence that has ever been proposed. The invocation of earthly paradises by demagogues, even though it has been proven false, continues to fascinate.

The second is that political parties, as well as politicians, must stop behaving as hapless victims of opinion polls and “common popular sentiment”. They must be active shapers of their own destiny and political decisions.

The third is that they should not avoid, due to political costs, taking institutional measures, such as increasing the minimum rate of entry into the Parliament or referring illegal acts, such as those of Golden Dawn, to Justice. Institutional measures are most effective when applied at the initial stages of the formation of populist and extremist parties.

The fourth is that all of the above have a basic premise: The confrontation with extremism and populism must be done without the supporters of democracy using the means and practices of its enemies. Without falling into the trap of a reverse populism that divides Manicheans into “good” and “bad”. A difficult but necessary observation.

These observations are of particular importance, as in all Western societies a new dividing line is emerging between the defenders of democracy and its enemies. This division cuts across the political system and fades, without abolishing, the classical dichotomy of Left and Right.

/* — PerfOps by Nuevvo (nuevvo.com) — */

// Utilities
const allScripts = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’);
window.lst = allScripts[allScripts.length – 1];
window.isMobile=(function() {var ua=navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera;return ((/Android/i).test(ua) && (/Mobile/i).test(ua)) || (/BlackBerry|iPhone|iPod|Opera Mini|IEMobile/i).test(ua);})();
function asyncLoadScript(url) {
var alScript = document.createElement(‘script’);
alScript.src = url;
alScript.async = true;
//window.lst.parentNode.insertBefore(alScript, window.lst);
document.body.appendChild(alScript);
}
function asyncLoadModule(url) {
var alScript = document.createElement(‘script’);
alScript.src = url;
alScript.type=”module”;
//window.lst.parentNode.insertBefore(alScript, window.lst);
document.body.appendChild(alScript);
}
function displaySlot(id) {
if (document.querySelector(‘#’+id)) {
googletag.display(id);
}
}

// Fix OCM JS errors
window.defineSlots = function(t, r){};

/*! instant.page v5.2.0 – (C) 2019-2023 Alexandre Dieulot – */
(function(){
let t,e,n,o,i,a=null,s=65,c=new Set;const r=1111;function d
})();

// InMobi Choice. Consent Manager Tag v3.0 (for TCF 2.2)
setTimeout(() => {
var host=”eleftherostypos.gr”;var element=document.createElement(‘script’);var firstScript=document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0];var url=” uspTries=0;var uspTriesLimit=3;element.async=true;element.type=”text/javascript”;element.src=url;firstScript.parentNode.insertBefore(element,firstScript);function makeStub(){var TCF_LOCATOR_NAME=’__tcfapiLocator’;var queue=[];var win=window;var cmpFrame;function addFrame(){var doc=win.document;var otherCMP=!!(win.frames[TCF_LOCATOR_NAME]);if(!otherCMP){if(doc.body){var iframe=doc.createElement(‘iframe’);iframe.style.cssText=”display:none”;iframe.name=TCF_LOCATOR_NAME;doc.body.appendChild(iframe);} else {setTimeout(addFrame,5);}}return !otherCMP;}function tcfAPIHandler(){var gdprApplies;var args=arguments;if(!args.length){return queue;} else if(args[0]===’setGdprApplies’){if(args.length > 3 &&args[2]===2 &&typeof args[3]===’boolean’){gdprApplies=args[3];if(typeof args[2]===’function’){args[2](‘set’,true);}}} else if(args[0]===’ping’){var retr={gdprApplies: gdprApplies,cmpLoaded: false,cmpStatus: ‘stub’};if(typeof args[2]===’function’){args[2](retr);}} else {if(args[0]===’init’ && typeof args[3]===’object’){args[3]=Object.assign(args[3],{ tag_version: ‘V3′ });}queue.push(args);}}function postMessageEventHandler(event){var msgIsString=typeof event.data===’string’;var json={};try {if(msgIsString){json=JSON.parse(event.data);} else {json=event.data;}} catch (ignore){}var payload=json.__tcfapiCall;if(payload){window.__tcfapi(payload.command,payload.version,function(retValue,success){var returnMsg={__tcfapiReturn: {returnValue: retValue,success: success,callId: payload.callId}};if(msgIsString){returnMsg=JSON.stringify(returnMsg);}if(event && event.source && event.source.postMessage){event.source.postMessage(returnMsg,’*’);}},payload.parameter);}}while (win){try {if(win.frames[TCF_LOCATOR_NAME]){cmpFrame=win;break;}} catch (ignore){}if(win===window.top){break;}win=win.parent;}if(!cmpFrame){addFrame();win.__tcfapi=tcfAPIHandler;win.addEventListener(‘message’,postMessageEventHandler,false);}}makeStub();var uspStubFunction=function(){var arg=arguments;if(typeof window.__uspapi!==uspStubFunction){setTimeout(function(){if(typeof window.__uspapi!==’undefined’){window.__uspapi.apply(window.__uspapi,arg);}},500);}};var checkIfUspIsReady=function(){uspTries++;if(window.__uspapi===uspStubFunction && uspTries 0) {
//asyncLoadScript(‘
adSenseSlots.forEach(function(e){

});
}

// Phaistos Adman
//asyncLoadScript(‘
window.AdmanQueue=window.AdmanQueue||[];
AdmanQueue.push(function(){Adman.adunit({id:338,h:’

// OneSignal
window.OneSignalDeferred = window.OneSignalDeferred || [];
OneSignalDeferred.push(function(OneSignal) {
OneSignal.init({
appId: “487cc53b-3b66-4f84-8803-3a3a133043ab”,
});
});

// Disqus
var disqus_config = function() {
this.page.url=”
this.page.identifier = 1513571;
};
setTimeout(function(){
(function() {
var d = document,
s = d.createElement(‘script’);
s.src=”
s.setAttribute(‘data-timestamp’, +new Date());
(d.head || d.body).appendChild(s);
})();
}, 3000);

function cmpActionCompleted() {
// OCM & DFP
//asyncLoadScript(‘
asyncLoadScript(‘
asyncLoadScript(‘

/*
// CleverCore
(function(document, window) {
var a, c = document.createElement(“script”);
c.id = “CleverCoreLoader57097″;
c.src = ”
c.async = !0;
c.type = “text/javascript”;
c.setAttribute(“data-target”, window.name);
c.setAttribute(“data-callback”, “put-your-callback-macro-here”);
try {
a = parent.document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0] || document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0];
} catch (e) {
a = !1;
}
a || (a = document.getElementsByTagName(“head”)[0] || document.getElementsByTagName(“body”)[0]);
a.parentNode.insertBefore(c, a);
})(document, window);
*/

// Taboola/Project Agora
asyncLoadScript(‘
asyncLoadScript(‘

// For Google AdSense
if (document.querySelectorAll(‘.adsbygoogle’).length) {
asyncLoadScript(‘
}

// Phaistos Adman
asyncLoadScript(‘

// Glomex
if (document.querySelectorAll(‘glomex-integration’).length) {
setTimeout(function(){
asyncLoadModule(‘
}, 2000);
}

// Dalecta
setTimeout(() => asyncLoadScript(‘ 800);

// Vidoomy
//asyncLoadScript(‘

// Weather
setTimeout(() => asyncLoadScript(‘ 1000);

/*
// Facebook Pixel
!function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return;
n = f.fbq = function() {
n.callMethod ? n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments)
};
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n;
n.loaded = !0;
n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = [];
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.src = v;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s)
}(window, document, ‘script’, ‘
fbq(‘init’, ‘618972382017166’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
*/

// OneSignal
setTimeout(() => asyncLoadScript(‘ 5000);
}

// Microsoft Clarity
(function(c,l,a,r,i,t,y){c[a]=c[a]||function(){(c[a].q=c[a].q||[]).push(arguments)};t=l.createElement(r);t.async=1;t.src=”https://www.clarity.ms/tag/”+i+”?ref=wordpress”;y=l.getElementsByTagName(r)[0];y.parentNode.insertBefore(t,y);})(window, document, “clarity”, “script”, “l14tw277rg”);

// Yandex Metrica
(function(m,e,t,r,i,k,a){m[i]=m[i]||function(){(m[i].a=m[i].a||[]).push(arguments)};m[i].l=1*new Date();for(var j=0;j<document.scripts.length;j++){if(document.scripts[j].src===r){return;}}k=e.createElement

#Defending #Democracy #Free #Press

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.