The Canberra Greek community has sent a strongly worded letter to the organisers of the Pan Hellenic Games, unhappy with one-sided coverage as it states and lack of acknowledgement.
The community wanted to express its “extreme disappointment” to media coverage in Sydney, which they say lacked any balanced reporting and failed to mention the performance of other non-Sydney based teams.
The community also hit back at comments by World Council of Greeks Abroad of Oceania (SAE) coordinator, George Angelopoulos, to Neos Kosmos in the October 26 English Edition.
“I think we have to take it to a big town now,” Mr Angelopoulos said to Neos Kosmos on the future of the Pan Hellenic Games.
“In Sydney we’ll get more athletes, and we’ll try and organise it in a different way.”
The community highlighted these comments as making a “mockery of the whole concept of the games”.
President of the Greek Orthodox Community of Canberra Paul Levantis personally hit back at media coverage he believes was poorly executed after results were provided to them “days after the Games”.
“Canberra is proud of what it achieved in hosting the 2013 Pan Hellenic Games, but it is a great pity that the dedication and pride felt by the almost 50 volunteers, the local sponsors, and the whole of the Canberra Greek community that made the Games happen has been soured by the media follow up,” he said in a letter.
Neos Kosmos published three major articles on the Pan Hellenic Games over three weeks, and included coverage on all major state participants, interviewed volunteers and organisers and published the full results (sans the football results as they came after deadline) and multiple photos.