Georgian Public Broadcaster asks its critics to stop ‘discreditation and pressure’

The Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) responded to critics' demands for dedicating daytime airtime to the ongoing political processes in the country.

The broadcaster disagreed with the raised claims, saying in its statement that the GPB already operates a ‘special regime’ during both daytime and evening airtime, and that the group of critics has the opportunity to select representatives who speak on the channel about issues that are important to them.

The statement further asserted that the administration of the GPB views the critics’ demands as ‘deliberate discreditation and pressure’ aimed at turning the broadcaster into a political actor and forcing it to take responsibility for matters ‘that are not its function or obligation’.

The demand for dedicating daytime airtime to socio-political discussions has not only come from outside critics, as a similar request has been made by a group of GPB employees, some of whom held a press briefing yesterday on the issue.

‘Current events oblige us to devote television airtime to dialogue on socio-political issues rather than films that have no connection with today's reality’, the statement said.

In recent days, several protests have taken place near the GPB’s building to protest the broadcaster’s editorial policy, which is widely seen as being pro-government, as well as to demand more airtime.

The channel has responded to previous pressure by allocating late-night ‘special broadcasts’ to discuss current events, featuring both government representatives and critics.

However, critics argue that the late-night broadcast is not enough and that daytime airtime should also be allocated.