Journalist Sheds Light on Imedi Shutdown Talks

A group of leading Imedi TV journalists tried, before quitting themselves, to convince the station?s management to suspend broadcasts, according to an account published by one of the reporters in the weekly Kviris Palitra on December 31.

Dachi Grdzelishvili, who along with five journalist colleagues publicly quit Imedi TV on December 26, said Imedi TV management had no choice but to suspend broadcasts following their departure from the station.

?After covertly taped conversation between Gelbakhiani and Kodua was released [on December 24], wherein host of our [weekly] program [Droeba] and head of political programs [Giorgi Targamadze] was also mentioned, I got upset and shared my concerns with some colleagues. It turned out that they were concerned as well and we decided to meet Giorgi [Targamadze],? Grdzelishvili wrote. ?We told him that conditions were extremely unfavorable for [journalists], that our impartiality could have been misused and in order to save the TV station it was necessary to sharply distance ourselves from that political dirtiness. Giorgi responded that he was distancing himself from any type of politics and was ready to take responsibility for the station?s editorial policy. He also suggested we share this responsibility. Later, tapes involving Patarkatsishvili were also released and we again met with Giorgi? We spoke till 2 am [December 26]. Giorgi told us that he had suggested to Patarkatsishvili that he withdraw from the presidential race and give up his shares in the television station in order to resolve the impasse. He also told us that he was expecting [Patarkatsishvili?s] response the following day. But for me and my colleagues it was unclear why Patarkatsishvili would have said No to a company in which he had invested tens of millions of dollars. And doubts emerged suggesting it would have been impossible to resolve the issue till January 6 and Imedi TV would have been involved in the dirty political games of its founder [Patarkatsishvili] and the authorities. We immediately suggested to Giorgi that he suspend news programs before the [the January 5] elections and meanwhile clarify issues with the founder and owner. Giorgi, however, argued that suspending broadcasts or news programs would have created problems in terms of [the television station?s] license. He also said it would have been a blow for pluralism and democracy ahead of the polls. We thought much that night? Next morning we again met with Giorgi and told him that Patarkatsishvili would not give his response till after the election and we suggested he join us. Giorgi told us that he had expected this decision [about quitting the television station] from us and also said that he wished us well… After our public statement the TV management announced the suspension of broadcasts. Five days have gone since then and nothing has been heard so far about the possible hand over of shares [by Patarkatsishvili] and Patarkatsishvili has not yet officially asked the Central Election Commission to suspend his presidential candidate status. So I want to ask those who still question our decision to publicly quit the television station: would Imedi TV have suspended broadcasts and hence would it have survived the dirty political games if it hadn?t been for our decision??

Meanwhile, Giorgi Targamadze said in an interview with Kviris Palitra that the Imedi staff and him personally had two demands: firstly, Patarkatsishvili should have no connection with the station and should give up his shares in the stations; and secondly, if there is a change in ownership, there must be guarantees that ?Imedi will not be under the control of the authorities and will not turn into a television station like Rustavi 2, Mze TV or other national channels.?

He said that if these two demands were not met he and many of his colleagues would quit.

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