Pavlos Nerantzis

Pavlos P. Nerantzis (1952-) is a Greek journalist, war correspondent, television presenter, writer and documentarist. Since 1982 he has been covering wars and crises in Latin America, the Balkans, the Middle East and Asia [1], investigating major issues of concern to Greek and international public opinion (refugees, terrorism, human rights, media, food chain, climate crisis, etc.) and several of his 50 documentaries have won awards at international festivals.

Biography

Born on October 28, 1952, in Thessaloniki, Nerantzis pursued his studies at the University of Bologna, followed by journalism at the University of Urbino. He later earned a Ph.D. in Propaganda and Media Reporting in Post-modern Wars from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, where he also taught for several years. Nerantzis began his career on Radio Alice, Italy's first non-state radio station. Upon returning to Greece in the late 1970s, he became a correspondent for the Italian newspaper Il Manifesto, a role he maintained until 2015 [2]. His early career also included collaborations with the Greek magazine Anti and the newspaper Avgi, where he was the sole Greek journalist to cover the civil war in El Salvador in 1982. At the same time, in the realm of radio, Nerantzis began working with ERT, the Greek public radio and television network. Thenceforward, he contributed to the creation of non state radio stations in Greece [3], [4], he served as the Radio Director of ERT3 (2011-2012) [5], [6] and since 2013 he collaborated with RAI 3 Mondo [7]. In 1987, with the establishment of the third channel of public television, ERT3, Nerantzis worked as a political and diplomatic editor and in 1996 he takes over as director of news broadcasts, a position he holds until 2000, when he resigns. He covered major global events as a correspondent for Greek and Italian media, including the fall of Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime in Romania (1989), the conflicts in Iraq (1991, 2003), Afghanistan (2001), the Balkans (1991-1999) and Middle East (2000, 2009). Additionally, he reported on European Union Summits and elections in Greece. In the mid-1990s, Nerantzis created, produced and presented the documentary series Mixer [8], known for its investigative journalism on contemporary issues. The series received critical acclaim, with the Greek newspaper Kathimerini naming it one of the six best TV programs on Greek television. Nerantzis's documentaries, such as "The Truth is Bombed" (2003), "The Kitsch in the Junta of colonels (2004)," and "My Life in the Red Brigades" (2003) received positive reviews for their depth and insight. Nerantzis has been recognized for his work with several awards, including the CIRCOM Award from the European Association of Regional Television for his travelogue on occupied Cyprus (2003), and the International Academy of Television and Radio Award (IATR) [9] for his documentary "Abduction in Baghdad" (2006).

His documentary work has been featured internationally, including excerpts shown by the BBC and German television. In 2006 he was in Sumatra, at the epicentre of the tsunami, to investigate the scandal of humanitarian aid to the affected people for the documentary "Tsunami: Where did the aid go?". In the same year, at the Patras International Film Festival, he received the Best Human Rights Film Award for the documentary "In the Spider's Web", which revealed the illegal CIA flights in Greece [10]. After the screening of these documentaries, the administration of ERT3 decided to almost annihilate the monthly production costs, resulting in the discontinuation of Mixer. A relevant question was submitted by MPs Tasos Kourakis (SYRIZA) and Haris Kastanidis (PASOK), with the then Minister Theodoros Roussopoulos answering (12/11/2007) that "the Mixer programme was not interrupted by ERT3's director, but by the production rate (or pace of production?), for which it is responsible”. In that time Greek media characterized the decision as “censorship”. The documentary "The List of Silence" [11] that followed as an independent production presented for the first time the testimonies of relatives and the list of Greeks murdered by the Videla junta in Argentina, winning the best editing prize at the Granada Festival (2011). Nerantzis, throughout his career, has contributed to numerous Greek and Italian newspapers and magazines. One of the most notable achievements was his coverage of the Israeli bombing of Gaza in 2009, where he exposed the transfer of banned American-made white phosphorus missiles to Israel. This investigation contradicted the official claims of the Greek government at the time. He is the creator of the news website pressinaction.gr (2010-2012) [12] and since 2013 he collaborates as columnist with websites such as tvxs.gr and parallaximag.gr [13], [14]. As a research associate at the ENA Institute for Alternative Politics [15], [16], he has written extensively on topics like the refugee crisis (17) and the propaganda war in Ukraine [18]. [19]. In recognition of his contributions to journalism, Nerantzis has received various honors, including the Botsi Foundation Prize, awarded by the then President of Greece, Kostis Stephanopoulos (2004). In 2016, Nerantzis drafted the Charter of Idomeni, a code of conduct for journalists covering vulnerable groups [20], which was adopted by several journalist associations, the European Federation of Journalists [21], the UNHCR and other international organizations. Nerantzis has authored several books, including I alithia vomvardizete, 2022 (Truth is Bombed) [22], (23) ISBN 978-960-02-3679-8, which examines the role of media and war correspondents in covering armed conflicts, Ratsismos ke xenofovia, 2017 (Racism and Xenophobia in the Greek Media in Public Sphere in Crisis) ISBN 978- 960-02-3318-6 and Ichni Polemou, 2007 (Traces of war) ISBN 978-960-6602-52-8.

References

1. Ζαφειρόπουλος, Κώστας (29 Νοεμβρίου 2022). «Τα ΜΜΕ, τα fake news και ο πόλεμος με το βλέμμα ενός πολεμικού ανταποκριτή» (https://www.efsyn.gr/media/369010_ta-mme-ta-fake-news-kai-o- polemos-me-blemma-enos-polemikoy-a ntapokriti), efsyn.gr (in Greek). 2. «ilmanifesto.it» (https://ilmanifesto.it/archivio?autore=Pavlos%20Nerantzis). Archivio. 3. https://www.amarc-international.com/. 4. «Δίκτυο Δημοσιογράφων: Το πρόγραμμα της Ευρωπαϊκής εβδομάδας» (https://esiemth.gr/diktio-dimosiografon-to-progr amma-tis-evropaikis- evdomadas20/). esiemth.gr. 20 Μαρτίου 2006 (in Greek) . 5. «ΕΡΤ-3 – Αλλαγή πάνω «στη ρωγμή του χρόνου»» (https://asyntaxtostypos.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/%CE%B5%C F%81%CF%84-3-%E2%80%93- %CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%B3%CE%AE- %CF%80%CE%AC%C E%BD%CF%89- %C2%AB%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7- %CF%81%CF%89%CE%B3%CE%BC%CE%AE-%CF%84% CE%BF%CF%85-%CF%87%CF%81%CF%8C%CE%BD%CE%BF/). asyntaxtostypos.wordpress.com. 18 Απριλίου 2011 (in Greek). 6. «Ευχές για τους εργαζόμενους του Ρ.Σ.Μ της ΕΡΤ3» (https://www.typosthes.gr/arheio/17707_eyhes-gia-toys-ergazome noys- toy-rsm-tis-ert3). typosthes.gr. 30 Δεκεμβρίου 2011 (in Greek). 7. https://www.raiplaysound.it/programmi/radio3mondo 8. «Mixer (2004-2007) ‒ Greek-Movies» (https://greek- movies.com/shows.php?s=1638). greek-movies.com. 9. http://interatr.org/en/. 10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJmWghTCQV0. 11. Μαγκλινης, Ηλιας (17 Φεβρουαρίου 2008). «Οι Ελληνες desaparecidos της Αργεντινής» (https://www.kathimerini.gr/cultu re/313621/oi-ellines- desaparecidos-tis-argentinis/). kathimerini.gr (in Greek). 12. «pressinaction.gr» (https://web.archive.org/web/20131219004009/http://www.pressinaction.gr/). 2013. Αρχειοθετήθηκε από το πρωτότυπο (http://www.pressinaction.gr/). 13. «tvxs.gr» (https://tvxs.gr/authors/paylos-nerantzis/). Παύλος Νεράντζης. 14. «parallaximag.gr» (https://parallaximag.gr/author/paylos-nerantzis). Αρθρογραφία. 15. https://www.huffingtonpost.gr/author/institouto-enallaktikon-politikon-ena 16. https://www.enainstitute.org/ 17. «Η προσφυγική κρίση εν μέσω πανδημίας στα ΜΜΕ» (https://www.enainstitute.org/%ce%b7-%cf%80%cf%81%ce%b f%cf%83%cf%86%cf%85%ce%b3%ce%b9%ce%ba%ce%ae- %ce%ba%cf%81%ce%af%cf%83%ce%b7-%ce%b5%c e%bd- %ce%bc%ce%ad%cf%83%cf%89-

%cf%80%ce%b1%ce%bd%ce%b4%ce%b7%ce%bc%ce%af%ce%b1%cf %8 2-%cf%83/). Ena Institute. 12 Απριλίου 2021 (in Greek). 18. «Ο πόλεμος της προπαγάνδας στην Ουκρανία: Αναπόφευκτες συγκρίσεις, μισές αλήθειες και βολικά ψέματα» (https://w ww.enainstitute.org/%ce%bf- %cf%80%cf%8c%ce%bb%ce%b5%ce%bc%ce%bf%cf%82- %cf%84%ce%b7%cf%82-%c f%80%cf%81%ce%bf%cf%80%ce%b1%ce%b3%ce%ac%ce%bd%ce%b4 %ce%b1%cf%82-%cf%83%cf%84%ce%b 7%ce%bd- %ce%bf%cf%85%ce%ba%cf%81%ce%b1%ce%bd/). Ena Institute. 1 Αυγούστου 2022 (in Greek). 19. «War through the media and the role of journalism» (https://www.enainstitute.org/en/publication/war-through-the-media- and- the-role-of-journalism/). Ena Institute. 17 Οκτωβρίου 2022. 20. https://esiemth.s3.amazonaws.com/wp- content/uploads/filebase/diakapofaseis/Charter_of_Idomeni.pdf 21. «Greek journalists draft ethical code to fight racism on refugees coverage» (https://europeanjournalists.org/blog/2016/0 5/12/greek-journalists-draft- ethical-code-to-fight-racism-on-refugees-coverage/). europeanjournalists.org. 2016. 22. IANOS (2022-10-13), Παύλος Νεράντζης | «Η αλήθεια βομβαρδίζεται» | Εκδ. Παπαζήση | IANOS (https://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=eodpmtOR0v0), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eodpmtOR0v0. 23. «"Η αλήθεια βομβαρδίζεται"! Παύλος Νεράντζης» (https://www.militaire.gr/i-alitheia-vomvardizetai-paylos-nerantzis/). militaire.gr.