MP Nodar Grigalashvili, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Education, unleashed criticism against a journalist from Tbilisi-based Imedi television for, as he put it, providing ?unprofessional and biased? coverage of the situation surrounding Georgian schools in breakaway Abkhazia?s Gali district.
Imedi TV?s weekly program Droeba (Times) broadcasted a story about teachers and schools in this predominantly Georgian-populated district of the breakaway region on December 10. The program showed angry teachers complaining about low salaries ? GEL 30 per month (about USD 17,5) – and the failure of authorities in Tbilisi to pay even these small salaries for over a year.
?When a journalist misrepresents the facts, he either lacks professionalism, or is simply hired by the enemies of Georgia,? Grigalashvili said at the session of the Parliamentary Bureau on December 11. He added that the lawmakers should not hesitate to ?request? that the television station sack the journalist, who is misleading viewers.
But Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze responded by criticizing MP Grigalashvili.
?I cannot dictate to any newspaper editor or broadcaster which journalist should be sacked or replaced. This is not admissible in a democratic country,? Burjanadze said.
Burjanadze instructed the relevant parliamentary committees, including the Committee for Education, to study the issues related to salary arrears of Gali district teachers.
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