Reporter George Georgiadis passes away at 62

Widely recognised by peers and viewers for his courage and passion in covering conflict zones for 30 years

One of the iconic figures of Greek journalism, George Georgiadis, has passed away at the age of 62. The veteran war correspondent, who successfully covered conflicts throughout the Middle East, including in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and across north Africa, died Saturday morning after a long battle with cancer. Born in 1955, George got into journalism in 1981 and reported for 30 years from all the hotspots around the world. He worked for the public broadcaster ERT from 1987 to 1989, then left his mark at the newly created private channel Mega Channel, which he was instrumental in setting up with other colleagues. His coverage of historic moments, like the overthrow of Romanian dictator Ceausescu, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the velvet split of Czechoslovakia, the war in the former Yugoslavia, the war in Iraq, as well as reporting on natural disasters in Pakistan, Turkey, India and the Sri Lanka tsunami made him synonymous to objectivity and courage in the eyes of his colleagues and viewers. During the same period he also worked for daily newspaper “Ta Nea”. Greek OPM Alexis Tsipras tweeted that Georgiadis was a shining example for the younger generation of journalists. The Journalist’s Union of Athens daily Newspapers (ESIEA) released a statement expressing its sorrow over the loss of the veteran reporter. “George Georgiadis was a colleague with integrity, honesty and humility” the announcement read. Over the past few years he had been offering his invaluable and long experience as a journalist contributing to regional TV station “Ionian TV” and the Imera Zakynthou site. His funeral will take place at 3.30pm on Monday, November 14 at the Holy Temple of Saint Basil in Peristeri.

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