Opposition Sets Conditions for Free Media
Seven opposition parties have demanded that the authorities meet five conditions to secure media freedom.
The conditions laid out by the New Rights Party, Movement for United Georgia, Conservatives, Republicans, Labor Party, Georgia’s Way and Party of People at a joint press conference outside the Georgian Public Broadcaster on October 6 are:
• Primetime, a political talk show, should be restored;
• Group of independent journalists, trusted by society, should be given time on public TV for journalistic inquiry;
• Imedi TV should be returned to its, as the opposition put it, "legitimate owner";
• Maestro TV should be given a license on political programming;
• Ownership of all Georgian TV companies should be made public.
They said that almost all TV channels broadcasting countrywide have turned into “a propagandistic tool” of the authorities and instead of objective information, mass media provides society with “a virtual reality.”
“Media freedom first of all means independence from the authorities,” the opposition said in the statement.
Currently the Parliament is considering a proposal, envisaging making the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) legally binding to air political debates. The debates on GPB were resumed on October 3 after its bi-weekly program Comment of the Day was suspended under the pretext of summer holidays.
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