Georgian Public Broadcaster

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Adjara

Calls to impeach Adjara TV head raise concerns about media freedom in Georgia

by OC Media

•3 min read

NGOs and opposition parties have said they fear media freedom might be at risk after two members of Adjara TV’s Board of Advisors requested that the channel’s director, Natia Kapanadze, be impeached. Adjara TV and Radio is a public broadcaster in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, in west Georgia. The requests came six months before Kapanadze’s term as a director was set to expire. Despite positive assessments in reports from local and international watchdogs on the channel’s balanced cov

censorship

Georgian broadcasters told to remove Zurabishvili attack ads

by OC Media

•4 min read

Georgia’s National Communications Commission (GNCC) has ordered broadcasters to stop airing three attack ads aimed at presidential candidate Salome Zurabishvili. The commission told broadcasters the adds, one of which calls Zurabishvili a traitor, violate Georgian legislation. On Tuesday, Tamta Muradashvili, a lawyer for opposition-leaning TV channel Rustavi 2, published a letter the station received from the commission on Facebook. The GNCC is the official body regulating broadcast and ele

Bidzina Ivanishvili

Backlash against zero-hour contracts at Georgian Public Broadcaster

by OC Media

•4 min read

The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) has announced plans to move a large number of their staff to zero-hour contracts. As employees protested the decision, local rights groups have called for parliament to step in. On 9 September, rights groups the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) and Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre (EMC) put out a joint statement criticising the GPB’s plans. According to them, the new contracts would be ‘especially damaging’ to journalists at the

Freedom of the Press

Parliament overrides president’s veto on controversial GPB law

by OC Media

•2 min read

Georgia’s Parliament has overruled President Giorgi Margvelashvili’s veto of a package of controversial amendments to Georgia’s Law on Broadcasting. Parliament voted on 21 February to adopt the original draft 83 votes to 13. The president’s proposed changes to the bill were supported by just 13 MPs, with 75 voting against. The bill, which passed its third hearing in Parliament on 22 December, has faced opposition from other broadcasters and civil society, as well as Parliament’s Commit

Freedom of the Press

Calls for resignation of head of Georgian Public Broadcaster

by OC Media

•3 min read

More than 70 Georgian NGOs and prominent cultural figures have published a plan to ‘resolve the crisis’ in the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB). The 6 point plan includes a call for the resignation of the head of the GPB, Vasil Maghlaperidze. In a statement published on 9 February, signatories including the Open Society Georgia Foundation, rights group EMC, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, and Georgia’s Reforms Associates (GRASS) expressed concerns over the ‘deep in

Freedom of the Press

President vetoes controversial bill on Georgian Public Broadcaster

by OC Media

•3 min read

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has vetoed a controversial bill which would have allowed more advertising to be aired on the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB). Parliament can now choose consider comments from the president, or to overrule the veto. The draft law to amend Georgia’s Law on Broadcasting, which passed its third and hearing in Parliament on 22 December, has faced opposition from other broadcasters and civil society, as well as Parliament’s Committee of Sectoral Econo

Freedom of Expression

Adverts on Georgia’s public broadcaster set to go ahead despite backlash

by OC Media

•2 min read

A controversial law to allow advertising to be aired on the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) has passed its second hearing in Parliament. The draft has faced opposition from other broadcasters and civil society as well as a parliamentary committee. Despite a parliamentary committee objected a controversial draft law which would allow the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) to air advertisements, the Parliament passed it in its second hearing. Eighty-five MPs voted in favour with only six