Generation as a key factor in the diversity of journalistic cultures in Greece

. Although everything is running extremely fast in today's age, is undoubtedly interesting the fact that people are always able to maneuver, adapt and adjust to new situations, one way or another. The same applies for the journalistic field. Amidst the rapidly ongoing developments and the evolution progress of technology, the traditional journalists observe enormous changes, often frightening, in front of their eyes. Their professional lives have undergone great changes and adaptations. Generations come and go, facing at the same time elements of convergence and divergence. How have these journalists managed to balance between the past and the future of journalism? What helped them to adapt in a world that is quite unidentified to them? What are the big differences that lay between today's and yesterday's field of journalism? What are the positive and the negative effects of the technological and educational revolution in the field of journalism? And finally, how do the different journalistic cultures influence the produced journalistic material? This study aims to investigate the different journalistic cultures in Greece, how journalists are affected by the ongoing changes, but also how they affect the profession itself, through an overview in a theoretical framework, but also through the personal experiences of journalists who have been professionals in different periods of time over the last 40 years in Greece.


CULTURE, JOURNALISM AND JOURNALISTIC CULTURES
In most Western languages culture commonly means "civilization" or "refinement of the mind" and in particular the results of such refinement, such as education, art, and literature. This is culture in the narrow sense. Culture as mental software, however, corresponds to a much broader use of the word that is common among sociologists and, especially, anthropologists (Giddens, 2001;Hofstede et al., 2010).
As Anthony Giddens (2001) argues, in social anthropology, culture is a catchword for all those patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting referred to in the previous paragraphs. Not only activities supposed to refine the mind are included, but also the ordinary and menial things in life. In any case, culture influences the way we think, feel, act and work. So, learning details of our culture but also others' might be the key to adapt and move on to progress. According to Hofstede (et al., 2010:6): Culture is always a collective phenomenon, because it is at least partly shared with people who live or lived within the same social environment. Culture consists of the unwritten rules of the social game. It is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from others. (…) Culture is learned, not innate. It derives from one's social environment rather than from one's genes. Culture should be distinguished from human nature on one side and from an individual's personality on the other, although exactly where the borders lie between nature and culture, and between culture and personality, is a matter of discussion among social scientists (Hofstede et al., 2010:6).
Culture does not have geographical or national limits and borders but it varies even inside the same groups, parties or even families. 'As almost everyone belongs to a number of different groups and categories at the same time, we unavoidably carry several layers of mental programming within ourselves, corresponding to different levels of culture' (Hofstede et al., 2010). As regards employment, culture has the same impact. Employees are socialized by their work organization and as this world is always changing and technology gives birth to new roads, culture change can be very fast and new practices can always appear. Culture in not stable and this fact at times causes instability even on the workplace.

Journalistic Cultures
We cannot explain the journalistic culture out of the theoretical perspectives on journalistic practices and output, because our understanding would be woefully incomplete. Starting with the definitions, Starkey and Crisell (2009:101), claim the "Journalism is a product of the world which is trying to bring the private and public sphere closer together, to create more mirrors so that people can see and understand what is happening around them and of course to represent citizens and give them voice and step".
In order to analyze with more insight the different journalistic cultures, we should keep in mind that journalistic practices fortunately differentiate and vary. Why we claim that this is a positive element of journalistic approach? Because the different perspectives of journalists' preserve, compose and frame the gatekeeping concept. As Starkey and Crisell (2009:106) notice, "behind every journalistic representation lies an act of selection that separates what is newsworthy from what is not". This is essential because it is not possible just for one media or type of reporting to convey the sum of human and natural activity taking place in the world.
Based on the approach of Hofstede (et al., 2010) on culture, we can easier understand the nature of journalistic culture, which appears all the characteristics of this particular definition and explanation.
Journalists often live and learn in the same environment, they obey in many unwritten rules, especially Studying the culture of journalism cannot be explored outside the context of a particular culture. This is also supported by the words of Snow (1998), who mentions that intellectual activity, including the meta -activity of reflection on the forms of knowledge, is shaped by different national traditions and anchored in a range of social practices. What we can easily grasp from this approach is that one way of identifying the different culture is to examine the "distinctive development of the social institutions within which education and research are carried out" (Snow, 1998).
Journalism is a mediator between the facts and the factors. What is required is a link connection.
Culture is the textbook on which this relationship is defined. Culture indeed works as the mental software for humans, which play a significant role in forming the ways of feeling, thinking, and acting (Hofstede et al., 2010). As expected, in the globe sense, cultures differ from nations and regions, so it is upon the researchers to start all over from the beginning.
There in one more very important reason why examining a specific culture, especially through an empirical approach, can provide safe conclusions. In a world full of confrontations between people, groups, and nations who think, feel, and act differently, cooperation is needed for solutions. One of the reasons why so many solutions do not work or cannot be implemented is that differences in thinking among the partners have been ignored (Hofstede et al., 2010: 4). Understanding the differences in thinking, feeling and acting, sets the conditions for bringing about solutions that work for the benefit of journalism. In the journalistic field, constant changes impose the understanding diversity in thinking and in personal experiences of the journalists themselves.

Generations
The study of generations has been timeless for many reasons among which that they don't only provide data for groups, but rather they are used 'as vehicles by which older generations are able to comment upon changes within society that they see in younger generations. In each specific generation, there are events-social, political, and economical-that shape the ways that each generation is named and even perceived. Generational legacies are formed out of major events like wars, economic stability and instability, or population growth, according to Strauss and Howe (1991). Additionally, "major public events, like assassinations, moon landings, and/or terrorist attacks, shape the way generations are perceived years later" (Howe, 2015). Also, generations have a lot in common but many differences as well, because of external factors such as global demographics, education and living costs, and other economic factors. All these major events often impact the culture within each generation, making the experiences in each generation unique.
A great danger that appears on this issue is that of homogenization and generalization. Very correctly Troksa (2016), clarifies that the "general approach of any generation does not cover all the aspects of the individual members in each generation with any purpose". She argues that the purpose of using generations to study history is less to learn about individuals own sense of identity and more to examine the nature of public commentary concerning the changes in direction of the country as well as popular understandings of hopes and anxieties about the future. This is as well our effort in this study; Generations indeed have power as they influence the ways that history is studied and even understood.
So, in order to discover deeper aspects of the diversity of journalism, we need to understand the differences between generations.
Although it is risky to limit the concept of a generation, there are some additional basic, acceptable criteria that are evident in each generation. Among them is that "the start of each generation marks the end of the prior generation" and also that "the start of each new generation sees progress that the generation before it did not experience" (Troksa, 2016:11).

Journalistic Cultures in Europe and Greece
While culture and generations clearly appear to influence journalistic development and evolution, the industry is obviously not the same progressive in all countries. So, the journalistic outcome is also influenced by the age and history of journalism in each place.
What many academics agree on, is that journalism blossomed much faster in northern than southern Europe. The instrumentalization of the media is also related to prevalence of clientelism in the Southern Europe. Clientelism has also affected the content of the media, especially newspapers, as means of negotiation among conflicting elites rather than means for the information of the public and therefore, mass circulation (Kevin, 1997;Obijiofor et al., 2011).
More precisely, clientelism forces the logic of journalism to merge with other social logics -of party politics and family privileges, for instance. A sense of public interest transcending particular interests has been more difficult to achieve in societies where political clientelism is historically strong and this contributes to the difficulty of developing a culture of journalistic professionalism (Papathanassopoulos, 2009:223) Journalism in Greece has not avoided adopting a state-dependent identity. The reasons vary. For example, as Hallin and Mancini (2004:121) state, "tensive indirect subsidies have been provided to the press as a whole in the form of tax breaks, reduced utility rates and the like". They also note the Referring more specifically to the journalistic conditions of southern Europe, Hallin and Mancini (2004:112) note that "formal journalism in Southern European countries developed relatively late since in most cases the access to the profession was rather through families or friendship ties". Fortunately, things have gradually changed. The number of journalism education programs and institutions has grown rapidly since the mid -1980's, and more and younger journalists nowadays are graduates from related studies in several universities (Papathanassopoulos, 2009:225). This fact has added to the change of the journalistic culture in Europe.
As regards Greece, the current situation in the field of journalistic practice is anything but encouraging and optimistic, though some developments have appeared in the recent years. The challenges seemed more powerful than the facilities. Siomos Journalism cannot be studied as an independent and autonomous field, but must instead be integrated into the broader environment defined by factors such as culture but also the educational system.

Journalistic Culture and Education
Up until the late nineteenth century, journalism education was a little discussed topic (Obijiofor and Hanusch, 2011:63). Things however have gradually changed. As Deuze (2006)  Which is the point that differentiates journalism based on whether it has professional features? In talking about professional standards in journalism, one is referring to the 'recognition of and adherence to standards of technical competence, of ways of working and of codes of ethics that are generally accepted in the business (Terzis (2009:14). Of course, many people claim that journalism can be learned on the field, during the battle and that it is an ongoing process that never stops, so official education is not obligatory. Terzis (2009:15), gives an answer by arguing that "the main purpose of the formal journalism education has been to convey such professional standards to those who wish to work in the media in a more systematic, efficient and rapid way than would be the case just by learning on the job".
Franklin (et al., 1998:127-128), explains that 'journalism education may be either vocationally oriented or more conceptual in nature, or even a mixture of both. The different ingredients of this mixture may broadly be categorized as skill training, a critical engagement with ethical issues in journalism and as academic exploration of issues and controversies around professional practice'.
Practice without a theoretical underpinning is likely to be shallow, uninformed and more preoccupied with routines than an intelligent profession requires. On the other hand, theory without practice is naked and exposed to threats that are caused by inexperience (Starkey et al., 2009:102).

Journalistic Culture and Technology
Technology is another focal point that is complementary to journalism. The introduction of new technologies in many newsrooms has not been without well -founded fears and some form of resistance (Obijiofor et al., 2011:177). The impact of new technologies on journalism practices has received extensive attention from researchers across the world. Technology of course has always been a part of the journalistic practices. As Pavlik (1999:54) states, 'journalists' routines have always been affected by technology'. Thus, technology has been the past but also is the future of this profession. As Crook, (1998:21) mentions, 'no modern journalist will be able to survive in the twenty -first century without a full grounding and understanding of information technology, the power and research potential of the Internet and World Wide Web, and the application of digital systems.' When we speak about technology in journalism, we do not mean only the techniques and equipment. Basically, we mean the attitude of the journalists on something new that comes to change completely their job (Crook, 1998:26). Although the rapid and accelerating changes in computer technology are breathtaking, the most difficult part is for journalists to adopt the new methods, to deny the old and obsolete techniques and to move forward. The boundaries of journalism have been constantly eroded by new forms of media and journalistic thematic and journalists who were active at this dawn of a new era had one-way to adopt and transform (Terzis, 2009:20).
More specifically, another important reason of journalism's revision was the technological change, including the changes associated with the internet and the World Wide Web. It was at that time, that a few journalism -based websites started experiments with the new possibilities available (Terzis, 2009:13). But, in general, these websites lost significant sums of money in the process.

Methodology
The empirical part of this study focuses on the interviews of three journalists who represent different generations, according to the elements that we analyzed above. The first journalist is K. M. and she is 29 years old. The second is G. T. and he is 50 years old. The third journalist is D. M. and he is 60 years old. All three journalists have many common characteristics. They have all started working right before they became 20 years old, they have all worked in all types of journalism and also at all media -such as radio, television, newspapers and websites -, they have all been working their whole life exclusively as journalists, meaning that journalism is their main profession, and they have all studied at the university but on different fields. K. M. has studied journalism in the Aristotle University, G. T. has studied Political Studies and D. M. has studied Physics. As for the methodology that was used, the journalists gave in-depth interviews in which they were asked to refer on issues such as: • The periods in which journalism can be divided in Greece and the characteristics of each one • Α comparison of the past and the present journalism, but also journalistic practices and conditions in Greece

Journalistic Periods in Greece and their Characteristics
In the first part of this study we reviewed some basic characteristics that are differentiated based on different cultures and generations. We keep in mind that Troksa (2016:11) mentions that "the start of each generation marks the end of the prior generation" and also that "the start of each new generation sees progress that the generation before it did not experience".
The opinions of the journalists on the different journalistic periods in Greece are quite converging.
For the younger one (1s journalist, 29 years old), the journalism in Greece is pre-crisis and mid-crisis.
He divides journalism on the basis of what she has lived through: "For me, journalism in Greece is precrisis and mid-crisis. The post-crisis period does not exist because for the journalism the crisis is still here and it is intense." On the other hand, the 2nd journalist (50 years old), who has been working for 30 years as journalist focuses more on the differences in ethics and practices regarding morality: "An important point about journalistic stuff was when private television started in Greece in 1989. There, we started having journalists who were TV stars. (…) the revolution came with the internet and sites where journalism took on a whole new dimension, and so did the end of newspapers as we knew it".
Finally, the 3rd journalist (60 years old), who works for 40 years in this field, find it more suitable and attractive to comment on the practical and technical differences of the journalistic profession: "When television exploded, it did not cause any trouble in the newspapers. (…) The milestone was when private media was created."

Α Comparison of past and present: Journalistic Cultures, Practices and Conditions in Greece
Hofstede (et al., 2010:5) has focused on the importance of culture and how the things we learn and the environment in which we work in, shapes and forms our personal journalistic attitude and practices, saying that "every person carries within him-or herself patterns of thinking, feeling, and potential acting that were learned throughout the person's lifetime". He points out that as soon as certain patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting have established themselves within a person's mind, he or she must unlearn these patterns before being able to learn something different and unlearning is more difficult than learning for the first time. This fact is in harmony of what makes journalistic culture strong and powerful but also how hard it is for things to change. All journalists focus on the differences they personally faced throughout the years they are working as journalists. It is impressive that they all try to emphasize both the negative but also the positive developments in the journalistic field. While G. T. who has been working for 30 years as journalist focuses more on the differences in ethics and practices regarding morality, D. M., who works for 40 years as a journalist, find it more suitable and attractive to comment on the practical and technical differences of the journalistic profession. More specifically, the time for a newspaper to be produced. As a result of the change, the news transmission speed was greatly reduced."

The Relationship of Journalism with Education and Technology
There is a widespread of opinions that argue on the point that journalists now have to cope with the new trend of people no longer trusting traditional media and doing online research on their own. The changes in the patterns of both the production and the consumption of media brought unprecedented changes in the journalistic sphere and journalists had no other choice than to adjust to a totally new environment.
All three journalists agree on the point that technology has changed the journalistic scene completely. New media is a new era. The 1 st journalist (29 years old), who has never worked as a journalist at a time before internet came into our lives, refers to the excessive use of the internet and the deterioration it can bring to the journalism profession: "When computers suddenly came, it took us 2 hours to type a 300 words text. We were typing with one finger. This was a scary change for the profession".
As regards the second part of this specific topic that relates to the effect of education on journalism and whether it is a necessary condition, all journalists agree on the same; education is vital and irreplaceable, although they all consider journalism' studies as a field that needs improvement. This fact is in harmony with the opinion of Obijiofor and Hanusch (2011:62) that the way in which journalists are trained and educated is related to the quality of journalism around the world and also that in recent years there has been a clear trend towards university education for journalists. The 1 st journalist (29 years old) says: "Experience cannot balance the lack of education. When a journalist starts with experience only, he will make mistakes that will become reality for him and he will never be able to correct them." The 3 rd journalist (60 years old), who has studied Physics at the university, but works for 40 years as a journalist, says: "Journalism requires a great deal of knowledge but this is not certified with a paper or degree (…).
It is good for a journalist to have studied journalism."

Financial Situation in the Journalistic Fields in Greece
As regards the financial situation in the journalistic field of Greece there is harmony and total agreement in the answers. Reductions, reductions, reductions. The 1 st journalist (29 years old) argues that the situation has improved in recent years: "For me, financial income is better today than in the past. But this is a personal case. My example is not a representative one." The 2 nd journalist (50 years old) is not so optimistic and provides some details based on numbers: "The financial income of the Journalists in Greece is terrible and of course this fact has a strong effect on journalism. There is a great difference on the income of journalist compared with 20 years ago. .(…) Journalists are delayed if paid. In Athens they sometimes take 5 or even 6 months to get paid.
There is a site in Thessaloniki that pays their authors 250 euro a month." The 3 rd journalist (60 years old) also focuses on the reductions: "Journalists' financial earnings have changed for the worse. There is a reduction of up to 40%".

The Role of the Journalists' Unions and Federations in Greece
In times of distress and crisis all professional teams need support. Journalism in Greece has been irreversibly affected in recent years and the profession itself is endangered by many exogenous and endogenous factors. Do journalistic unions serve as shelters for difficult times? Do they serve and protect the rights of the journalists? All three respondents agree with each other when they say 'no'.
The 1 st journalist (29 years old) focuses on the difficulties that a new journalist encounters, trying to become a member of a journalistic union: "While working for 10 years as a journalist, I never fulfilled the requirements to become a member.
I believe that associations should work differently. They must strive to secure the rights of all journalists, of all ages and from all media. Unions should take the initiative to approach the young journalists, rather than waiting for the journalists to come to them".

CONCLUSIONS
This study has attempted to examine three different journalistic generations in Greece, in order to clarify the differences and similarities that lay between them and to check how the exclusions in these generations, influence the perspective of journalists, their way of working, and the final journalistic product. From the examined literature, we have understood the key distinctive features we find in the concepts of 'generation' and 'culture', but also how these concepts are addressed in the case of journalism. As regards the second part of the essay, that is dedicated to the journalists themselves, one of the basic standpoints of all those who gave the interviews, is that today's situation on Greece's journalism is anything but positive and added to that, freedom, independence, and objectivity are intensively looming.
We conclude that the differences in the practice of journalism in Greece are exacerbated, not because of the differences as regards the generations or the educational status, but both because of the economic and political culture and situation within the country, as well as by the technological conquests that open new, alternative journalistic paths, but on the other hand, they also created new challenges due to the openness of the profession to those who lack the formal qualifications and traditional characteristics of a journalistic profile. We also conclude that basic journalistic principles and ethics, especially in issues related to research, information crossing and resource management, remain the same and indelible in all generations of journalists. In addition, journalists' attitude towards education and training is common and quite positive. As regards the role of the journalistic federations and unions, there is nothing but disapproval and distrust.
Finally, all generations of journalists agree that new media and new forms of journalism, not only are not a threat to the profession, but they are tools that can leverage the development of journalism and the dominance of a new journalistic generation, which should lead the profession into flourishing again. The journalistic field needs to be examined thoroughly, on a case-by-case basis and within specific contexts in order for the conclusions to be secure. Further researches are needed in order to study the journalistic profession in Greece in depth, and then identify ways in which it will be protected and saved from extinction.