The contestation of state authority: media discourse and crisis management during the pandemic in Greece

During the Covid-19 pandemic, governments adopted emergency measures to protect public health, intensifying communication efforts and centralising decision-making authority. In Greece, this involved a close alliance between the government and the scientific community, presented as an evidence-based response to an unprecedented crisis. This article examines how pandemic management was contested in Greek online and social media, and how authorities justified restrictions through strategic framing and appeals to individual responsibility. Contrary to expectations based on Greece’s traditionally confrontational public sphere, marked by partisan divides and frequent protest mobilisation, the findings show that contestation remained comparatively marginal. Instead, a paternalistic communication scenario prevailed, in which state authorities and scientific experts dominated public discourse, effectively monopolised the crisis debate, reinforcing state authority during the emergency period.