Makis Triantafyllopoulos

Efthimios "Makis" Triantafyllopoulos (; born 14 August 1954) is a Greek journalist and publisher. He was, along with Themos Anastasiadis, the publisher of Proto Thema newspaper and host of two television programmes, Zougla and Kitrinos Typos on Alter Channel. He uses his TV programmes to expose political scandals on television, usually using techniques like hidden cameras. He founded his own Sunday-newspaper VETO and is the owner of "zougla.gr" (jungle.gr), an internet newspaper in Greece.

Some of his exposés include the Paranga football scandal, the Paradikastiko judicial scandal in 2005, and the Fakelaki within the personnel of the Greek National Healthcare Service.

Biography Triantafyllopoulos was born in Thessaloniki in 1954 and is the son of Konstantinos Triantafyllopoulos, a major general in the gendarmerie, who hailed from Leontio in Achaea, and Eugenia. His father, who died in January 2012, was an officer and had served for many years in the personal security detail of the late prime minister Georgios Papandreou, at one point as head of the detail. During the period of the junta, he was court martialed and exiled.

His first cousin was Dimitris Triantafyllopoulos, a journalist who had run for political office with New Democracy.

He studied at the University of Bologna, Italy, before transferring to the law school of the University of Athens.

He worked as a journalist and became known through his television shows Zougla (Jungle) and Kitrinos Typos (Yellow journalism) and collaborated with several television stations: New Channel, Star, Skai, Ant1, Alpha, Alter, Zoom, Extra and Epsilon.

Along with his broadcast television and publishing activity, he had radio shows and maintains a news website, Zougla.gr. In August 2008, he became vice-president of Iraklis.

Career In 2005, along with Tasos Karamitsos and Themos Anastasiadis, he co-founded the newspaper Proto Thema, the first issue of which was published on 27 February 2005. In March 2008, it was announced that Triantafyllopoulos had sold his share of the newspaper to the Pegasus publishing company of the Bobolas family.

In November 2009, along with Thanasis Lalas, he issued the weekly newspaper Veto, which shut down in December 2010, due to financial problems. Thanasis Lalas had earlier left the newspaper.

Problems with the justice system During his journalistic career, Makis Triantafyllopoulos has been convicted by Greek courts several times and has often been disciplined by ESIEA, the Union of Journalist of Athens Dailies, Greece's largest journalists’ union. On 22 October 1995, ESIEA's disciplinary council imposed a six-month suspension of his membership following the charges of ailing people that were featured on his television programme Yellow Journalism. The appellate disciplinary council, pursuant to a petition by Triantafyllopoulos, decided to uphold the initial penalty. The petition for annulment submitted by Triantafyllopoulos was rejected by the Supreme Court. Also, Adam Regouzas, a former New Democracy MP and deputy finance minister, has been vindicated by Greek courts regarding statements on Triantafyllopoulos’ shows.

Meanwhile, television channels with which he collaborated have been punished with fines by the National Radio and Television Council (ESR) over reports and the use of concealed cameras. Specifically, on 26 November 1996, Skai television was slapped with a five-million drachma fine for the use of concealed cameras on Triantafyllopoulos' shows Zougla and Kitrinos Typos. On 1 April 1997, Skai was punished with a 20-million drachma fine, for the use of concealed cameras. In addition, the Hellenic Data Protection Authority imposed a 35mn drachma fine on Triantafyllopoulos and the television station for which he worked for the broadcasting of a cassette.

At various times, Triantafyllopoulos has clashed with criminal lawyer Alexis Kouyias and with his former collaborator Sokratis Giolias, whom he accused over his stance in the clash between publisher Yorgos Kouris and Alpha television owner Dimitris Kontominas. Triantafyllopoulos alleged that Giolias was the owner of troktiko.blogspot.com. Triantafyllopoulos has also been criticised for dodging mandatory military service, invoking mental health reasons. He claims that he did not serve because the Greek junta removed his father from the gendarmerie. For this, Triantafyllopoulos was criticised by a segment of the press and of the political establishment, as well as by ESIEA.