Politis hits the news stands

THE FIRST edition of Greek-language daily Politis entered the media fray yesterday after much hype and anticipation.

The tabloid-sized paper packed separate culture and sports sections plus a well-designed TV magazine which is likely to hurt competitors such as Phileleftheros.

In style, Politis, the sixth Greek-language daily on the market, looks a lot like the Athenian newspaper Ta Nea and has the same typeface and layout as its Greek cousins.

Yesterday’s issue ran a front-page story concerning allegations that the state oil refinery was illegally exporting oil, leaving the electricity authority to pay above the odds for its crude supplies and thus hurting consumers.

The publishers of Politis are apparently going for the high-brow end of the market with the onus on consumer-driven issues and political scandal.

Whether Cypriot readers are ready for such an approach in sufficient numbers to keep the paper going remains to be seen.

But the paper has invested heavily in state-of-the-art technology and some of the island’s most respected and experienced journalists.

Politis has yet to find its feet, but the competition will be looking nervously over its shoulder.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.