The prominent non-government organisation, media advocacy coalition from national capital Georgia has termed state action against media condemnable. The NGO called general pubic to raise their voice against state atrocities against media house to stifle independent media voices.
The representative of organisation said, “The Media Advocacy Coalition is very shocked with recent development to stifle independent media voices. The NGO expresses concern over the developments surrounding the main channel Mtavari Arkhi and assesses the ongoing processes as a serious threat to the functioning of free media.”
He further underlined, It is especially worrying that this negative trend is taking place during the most important historical period for Georgia.This is time when continuous protests are taking place throughout the country every day, mass violence and lawlessness are being committed against the media and participants of the protests.
In such a situation the full coverage of the processes by critical media is vital. However, state action against the media houses is an attempt to stifle independent media voices working to raise awareness among the public about such action.
On January 27, the TV company “Mtavari Arkhi” announced that the television they decided to suspended satellite broadcasting in the regions of Georgia and abroad. In addition, broadcasting through cable operators is being restricted, which directly affects the level of public awareness.
The receipt of advertising revenues and ratings monitoring services have been suspended. It is particularly problematic that journalists have limited opportunities to conduct live coverage from the epicentre of current events.
It is worth to note that the restricting the functioning of critical media threatens not only the functioning of specific media outlets, but also directly harms the coverage of ongoing processes in the country and the public’s right to be informed about important events.
The Media Advocacy Coalition calls on Zaza Okuashvili, co-owner of the TV company “Mtavari Arhi” and Director Gogi Kurdadze, to stop taking steps that are will go against strengthening the activities of the television.
It is especially important that the rights of the media are protected during this critical period, including those of your television employees, added NGO.
