'Pro-Government' media accused of provocations by opposition

Oppositional protest rallies forecasting revolution in Georgia have caused confrontation between the protesters and the media. Expressing his mistrust towards particular TV stations Levan Gachachiladze, co-leader of the Georgian Party suggested the necessity of establishing media accreditation for journalists. Accusing the journalists from Rustavi 2, Imedi TV and other TV stations they call “pro-Governmental” of being provocative Gachechiladze advised them to leave the territory of the protest rally.

It was on May 23 when ITV operator Irakli Khizanishvili was blocked from covering the rally. Finally the protesters were reported to have insulted the operator and broke the camera. Badri Bitsadze the husband of Nino Burjanadze co- initiator of the protest rallies with the Representative Public Movement also expressed his mistrust towards the journalists. According to other ITV journalist Giorgi Chkhaidze drunken Badri Bitsadze prevented him from covering the rally situation. “Eyewitnesses can prove that I had done nothing special. I was just trying to make the story,” Chkhaidze stated.

The consequences of similar clashes between the protesters and journalists caused disagreement between the organizers of the rally. Emphasizing that the Georgian Party had been their only supporters, Nino Burjanadze announced that the ties of the rally where in the hands of the Representative Public Assembly. She also stressed that if the executive council of the Assembly would discourage any decision made by the Georgian Party they would resist such “inadmissible” steps.

As Gia Gachechiladze (Utsnobi) [owner of 25% of the shares of Maestro TV] said in front of the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) he was going to start a reality show straight from the rally through Maestro TV. But Mamuka Glonti the founder of the TV station said that it would not become part of the event. “Maestro TV is an independent media outlet and is not intending to take into consideration the interests of any political party. Maestro TV is following its professional duties and is covering developments based on the interests of viewers and in line of its specific news programs,” Maestro TV said calling on the politicians to refrain from manipulating with the station.

Clarifying Maestro TV’s positions in the open radio discussion at Palitra, Glonti criticized aggressive activities from both the Government and the opposition at the same time. Glonti also disapproved the necessity for imposing accreditation for covering the protest rally related issues. “When a person starts imposing censorship before his arrival to the Government he would act in a much terrible way when he becomes the part of the Government,” he said in Levan Gachechiladze’s and Nino Burjanadze’s reference.

Encouraging the opposition to simply refuse to give comments to the media, the founder of Maestro TV said “one should give freedom of action to others when he/she is fighting for freedom himself”. “There are definitely particular journalists oriented on receiving grants from the NGO’s for their “fairness” but why don’t they say no to violence when they face the Governmental aggression,” Glonti said discouraging “pro-Governmental” media outlets in falsification of the news.

Media analyst Ia Antadze spoke of the reasons for aggression towards media. “Participants of any rally are always interested in getting the fair information about the number of protesters for further consideration thus they have the right to express their aggression [towards the non-objective media outlet], while the political figures are obliged to maximally keep their patience and at least refuse to comment on particular issues,” Antadze told The Messenger.

Worrying that no reports can be balanced without the introduction of democratic institutions in our country the media expert wondered why particular TV stations have failed in asking Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava why Tbilisi City Hall had removed the rubbish boxes from particular streets. “The media is always responsible for showing all the sides of the conflict situation in a balanced way. But what can the journalists do when the authorities hardly ever give comments to the media,” she worried.

Public Defender Giorgi Tugushi said he would learn from the individual cases of violence. Explaining that it is less important who shows aggression, Tugushi stressed that all the offenders should be punished. At the traditional Tuesday briefing at the President’s Administration Manana Manjgaladze Mikheil Saakashvili’s Press Speaker said that “no one has the right to insult police, army and journalists” even in the frames of democracy in Georgia. “The right of speech and expression is fully protected by the Georgian State Constitution throughout the country but everyone should understand the frames of these rules,” Manjgaladze said encouraging the citizens to follow the elementary principles of citizenship.