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The New Acropolis Museum has increased positive perception of Athens

The city of Athens & Greece as a whole had a huge infrastructure upgrade in the run up to the 2004 Olympics. Since then though the area has continued moving forwards – something that many people are starting to notice when their attention is drawn to the country again by the publicity surrounding the New Acropolis Museum.

From:
People’s Daily, China [1]

Greece’s positive image further enhanced and solidified following world media coverage of the new Acropolis Museum
15:06, July 06, 2009

Greece’s Culture Minister Antonis Samaras and the Secretary General of Communication of Greece’s Interior Ministry Panos Livadas presented the positive impact of the mass media coverage all over the world on Greece’s international image, in the context of the opening of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens on June 20, 2009. Speaking during a Press Conference in Athens on Monday June 29, the Greek Culture Minister A. Samaras told Media that the authorities’ target to attract attention through the international media was successfully met. Mr. Livadas presented in detail facets of the media coverage of the widely anticipated event, noting that the opening of the new Acropolis Museum has undoubtedly added value to the country’s positive image that had been already significantly upgraded after the safe and successful organization of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

Over the last two years, he added, Greece had monitored an increased interest in the new Museum on the part of intl. mass media and opinion makers all over the world; over the same period of time the Secretariat General of Information with its 33 Press & Communication Offices all over the world has done everything possible to facilitate news gathering on the event, arrange interviews with knowledgeable individuals such as the President of The Organization for the Construction of the New Acropolis Museum Prof. D. Pantermalis; finally the Secretariat General invited media representatives from all over the world in order to report on the event.

China, he added, was one of the first countries to dispatch journalists, and CCTV, as well as other major electronic and print media, covered extensively the event. In total, 167 intl. mass media from 36 countries sent 440 journalists to Athens, producing over 760 news pieces. Among them, 234 were foreign journalists and photo-journalists. The role of international News Agencies (including XINHUA) was pivotal as they transmitted news on the event to many more media outlets.

As for the topics most covered by world media (notably newspapers, magazines, internet, TV and News Agencies), the Greek Sec. Gen. Panos Livadas noted that these included not only interviews of government officials and experts (such as those of Culture Minister Samaras and Prof. Pantermalis) but also news on the significance of the museum expected to further the cause of the return of the Parthenon Marbles from Britain, as well as news on its unique architectural characteristics and functions, including its proximity to the Parthenon and its unique incorporation, in both historic and aesthetic terms, with the glorious monument.

As there are ever more news on the opening of the Museum and its content arriving every single day, the Secretariat General of Communication will soon release an updated report on the patterns of news reporting on the new Acropolis Museum.

During the Press Conference, it was noted that the New Acropolis Museum received more than 90,000 visitors during the first seven days since its official inauguration on June 20, while visits to the new museum’s website exceeded 260,000 from 169 countries, from the Americas to Nepal and Mongolia, Culture Minister Antonis Samaras announced. The cost of the inauguration events, which were attended by several foreign heads of state and government, was far less than the anticipated sum of €3 million.

Source: Embassy of Greece in Beijing