Greeks strike over state TV

Greece was gripped by another general strike today.

Despite the closure of state television to save money, their journalists did manage to report on the political crisis.

ITV News Europe editor James Mates explains how:

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has attempted to defuse a growing political crisis by inviting coalition partners for talks over the government's decision to to close the state broadcaster ERT.

Greek workers are staging a 24 hour nationwide strike in protest against the government's abrupt decision to suspend the state broadcaster ERT in order to cut costs.

The two left-wing coalition partners who were invited to the meeting welcomed the opportunity to liaise with the Prime Minister, but insisted the ERT should remain open.

Greek workers are staging a 24hr nationwide strike in protest against the "sudden death" of state broadcaster ERT, Reuters reports.

It was suspended by the government late on Tuesday, just hours after the decision was announced as part of cost-cutting measures.

Two of the biggest labour unions plan to bring the country to a standstill in response to Prime Minister Antonis Samaras' decision which they describe as "coup-like move... to gag unbiased information."

Protesters sang songs and waved flags outside Greece broadcaster ERT's Athens headquarters, after it was shutdown by the country's government to save money.

Earlier, government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said ERT is a case of an exceptional lack of transparency and incredible extravagance".

Giannis Mamouzelos, a retired ERT Journalist, who worked at the station for around 36 years said: "I feel that a public service is being cut and sold out".

A Finance Ministry statement said the broadcaster has been formally disbanded, and authorities would "secure" the corporation's facilities.

Greece's government has shut down the state broadcaster ERT, as part of a cost-cutting drive.

TV and Radio broadcast were pulled off the air just hours after the government said it would temporarily close all state-run broadcasts

Greek state TV and radio were gradually taken off the air late on Tuesday, hours after the government said it would temporarily suspend all state-run broadcasts

The ERT broadcast blackouts began in several parts of the country around 11 pm local time (2000 GMT), about an hour before the government said all signals would go dead, although satellite broadcasts continued.

Around 2,500 workers will lose their jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive aimed at helping the country tackle its recession.

Thousands of media workers and supporters protested the closure outside the company's headquarters in the Athens suburb of Aghia Paraskevi.

Thousands of people have gathered outside the main building of Greece's state broadcaster after the announcement of its surprise closure by the government.

According to an article on the broadcaster's website, government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou confirmed that ERT will close down tonight.

Mr Kedikoglou is said to have described the service as a source of "public wastage" and accusing it of delivering poor value for money.

The broadcaster said that more than two thousand jobs are to be lost as a result of government cuts.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has urged Greece's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to "use all his powers to immediately reverse" the decision to suspend the nation's public broadcaster ERT.

In a letter to Mr Samaras, two EBU executives wrote that "national broadcasters are more important than ever at times of national difficulty".

A statement on the EBU website said:

Read: Greek government suspends state broadcasters

Large crowds of employees are gathering outside the Athens headquarters of Greek state broadcaster ERT to protest the government's decision to suspend its service.

Some have called for a general media blackout in protest at the decision.

Read: Report: 2656 jobs to be axed at Greek state broadcaster

More than two thousand jobs are to be lost at Greece's state broadcaster ERT as a result of government cuts, according to an article on the organisation's website.

The article says that its TV and radio services will fall silent at Midnight tonight local time.

It also cites government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou describing the service as a source of "public wastage" and accusing it of delivering poor value for money.

Read: Greek government suspends state broadcasters