TV Formula

6 Posts

•

0 Followers

A screenshot purportedly of the Georgian President’s website published by Publika.

Cybersecurity

‘Russian hackers’ take down websites of Georgian media and president

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

The websites of Georgia’s President and two leading TV stations have been temporarily taken offline in an apparent cyberattack by Russian hackers. The website of Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili was offline on Friday morning, with local media reporting that the site initially displayed a message attributing the attack to a Russian hacking network. Screenshots purportedly of the site showed the message ‘HACKED BY COZY BEAR SLAVA [glory to] RUSSIA’ on a black background with an image of

Formula released CCTV footage of who they say was SSG agent Giorgi Mumladze (left) overseeing the attack.

Freedom of the Press

TV Formula says attack on founder was organised by Georgian Security Services

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

An investigation by TV Formula claims to have found that employees of Georgia’s State Security Service (SSG) organised and supervised an attack on the station’s co-founder and prominent government critic, Misha Mshvildadze. According to an investigation published on Wednesday, one of the people seen in CCTV footage of the area near the attack obtained by the channel is Giorgi Mumladze, an investigator of the Security Service, born in 1998. Formula additionally claimed that Giorgi Mumladze’s

Davit Kezerashvili

Georgian former Defence Minister gives up controlling share of Formula TV

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•4 min read

Georgian former defence minister and media magnate Davit Kezerashvili has announced he is transferring half of his controlling share of TV Formula to the company’s ‘collective’, but will continue to finance the channel. In a statement on Tuesday, Kezerashvili announced that he would transfer the other half of his 51% stake to the company ‘after the end of oligarchic rule’ in Georgia, a reference to the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili. Prior to his

Georgia

Georgian TV channel Formula fires 23 camera operators after illegal strike

by Shota Kincha

•1 min read

TV Formula has fired 23 of its camera operators who had been on strike demanding better pay. The camera operators were let go on Friday night after unsuccessful negotiations with Formula, according to the TV channel’s lawyer Eto Katamadze. ‘Their demand was a salary raise. They were informed that it was not being discussed at this point due to financial reasons and the budgetary plans of the company,’ Katamadze told OC Media. Netgazeti has quoted a letter penned by the fired camera operato

Davit Kezerashvili

Georgian Dream vs Kezerashvili: the end of Formula TV?

by Shota Kincha

•4 min read

Formula, a pro-opposition TV channel, potentially faces foreclosure as the Georgian government seeks millions of dollars in damages from its owner, sparking concerns over media freedom in Georgia among watchdog groups. Founded in 2019 by Davit Kezerashvili, Formula quickly became an influential opposition television channel in Georgia. Government officials and members of the ruling Georgian Dream party have refused to appear on Formula’s programmes and have often accused it of belonging to

Alt Info

Two attacks on journalists in two days in Georgia

by Mariam Nikuradze

•2 min read

News crews from two TV Channels — Mtavari and Formula — have been attacked while on duty in two separate incidents over the past two days in Georgia. In the early hours of Friday morning, Ema Gogokhia, a Zugdidi correspondent from opposition TV channel Mtavari, reported that she and her camera operator were attacked outside the office of the Conservative Movement, a party established by the extremist pro-Russian group Alt Info. Gogokhia said that she was injured and their equipment was dest