Georgia in Safety of Journalists Platform Report 2024
The Council of Europe’s Platform for the Protection of Journalism and Safety of Journalists published its 2024 annual report entitled “Press Freedom in Europe: Time to turn the tide,” which assesses the main issues undermining press freedom, including threats and intimidation, detention, restrictive legislation, abusive lawsuits, media capture and attacks on public service media. The report also mentions Georgia’s cases in several contexts.
The report reads that in 2023, platform partners issued 285 alerts on serious crimes or attacks on media freedom in Europe, slightly fewer than the 289 alerts issued in 2022. However, it highlights an increase in the diversity of threats, pressures, and constraints faced by journalists.
With regard to abusive administrative measures against the work of the media, the report refers to the cases of several Russian journalists who were denied entry to Georgia for unclear reasons. Some of them alleged that their denial of entry was related to their past journalistic work.
Indeed, since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Georgia has refused to allow some anti-Putin media to enter the country, as this newspaper reported on several occasions.
- 02/06/2023 – Russian Anti-Putin Publicist Denied Entry to Georgia
- 10/05/2023 – Chechen journalist tortured in Russia denied entry to Georgia
- 08/09/2022 – Another Russian Journalist Denied Entry to Georgia
Georgia, along with the country’s Public Broadcaster, is also cited as a case of pressure on the media through funding mechanisms. The report stresses that the denial of adequate funding for public media “often jeopardizes news operations and weakens their capacity to engage in challenging and investigative journalism.”
In November 2023, Georgia’s Parliament attempted to change the funding system for the Public Broadcaster (GPB) from a fixed percentage (at least 0.14%) of the state budget to an annual allocation. This move sparked controversy, with concerns that requiring GPB to justify its funding could compromise its independence.
Referring to this case, the report stresses that the legislative changes were adopted “without prior assessment, without consultations with the Public Broadcaster, and without an open public debate with stakeholders and experts.”
The report omits, however, that these amendments were only passed in the first reading. In the end, GPB’s board was consulted, and the funding system was further modified: from 2026, the Public Broadcaster’s funding will be determined by multiplying the number of people employed in Georgia by 64.
The report also mentions Georgia in the context of police obstruction of media work, although it does not refer to any specific cases.
As a positive moment in the Georgian media environment in 2023, the report mentions the pardon of Mtavari Arkhi TV founder Nika Gvaramia by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili in June.
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