Critical television news: Another war casualty for Georgia?

Molly Corso: 9/17/08

Television has played a critical role in shaping public opinion about Georgia's recent war with Russia, but some media analysts and journalists state that patriotism has outweighed objectivity or critical reasoning in broadcast coverage of the war.

Georgian journalists have willingly forgone their watchdog role to boost public morale during the Russian occupation, noted Davit Paichadze, head of the journalism program at Tbilisi State University's Department of Social and Political Sciences.

Paichadze noted that television coverage on both commercial and publicly owned stations has one constant "motif:" Georgia will recover, Russia will suffer.

"If you look at programs, especially the news programs of Georgian television, commercial and public, that thought motif is obvious," he said. "I have the impression that they [journalists], even without any sort of pressure, 'understand' the government. They are in agreement, they have solidarity."

That solidarity has resulted in certain topics such as the government's plans for internally displaced people or the military's conduct of the war being deemed off-limits for critical or detailed coverage. Instead, Georgian television focuses on potential war repercussions for Russia or Georgian businesses' charity drives as more acceptable news coverage.

"All journalists are focused on domestic political problems, the domestic political context. Most of the television, the television news programming, is occupied with that," Paichadze said. "I think they [journalists and politicians] believe that is a more likely path to lighten the heavy moral situation that the population is in after the military actions."

Tengiz Gogotishvili, a reporter for the pro-government private television station Rustavi-2, agrees that patriotism has dictated coverage of the war, but sees no problem with that situation.

Gogotishvili said that he strongly felt that his role as a journalist had changed after Georgia was invaded.

"I was not – and I think I should not – be objective because I had to cover the occupation of my own country. It affected my whole life and the future of the country. So I didn't pretend to be objective," he said.

"I have had the experience of working in the Middle East, in Iraq, in Kosovo and I reported in a different way, I reported in different words, I made different stories. Now my main aim was to help my people, to help my audience to recover and to keep them fighting."

The lack of a strong, independent media has long been an opposition focal point. Now, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and former Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burjanadze are pushing the topic as well.

In a late night speech to parliament on September 16, Saakashvili called for the "institutionalization of debates" on the state-financed Georgian Public Broadcasting, calling for the shows to take place "twice a week or as you decide ..."

Meanwhile, Burjanadze, now the head of a think tank, has reportedly created a working group to analyze Georgian media's state of health.

Many Georgian viewers contend that the government already de facto controls the two remaining privately owned national broadcasters, Rustavi-2 and Imedi.

Rustavi-2's Gogotishvili, however, said that no one from the government pressured him about how he covered the war and recovery efforts.

Maia Mikashavidze, dean of the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management, believes that the lack of critical reporting is more a reflection of society's desire to avoid shifting blame for the war away from Russia.

"The future of the country is up in the air," Mikashavidze said. "I do not think that media is in the mood – or the population is in the mood – to ask hard questions about the past. I hear hard questions about the future ... but I do not really hear hard questions about this time period."

She added that limited access to the Russians' buffer zones, and no access to Abkhazia and South Ossetia have influenced how local journalists work during the conflict.

Allegedly drastic cuts in television financing have also factored into the coverage. Advertising revenues at Imedi nosedived immediately following the August 8-12 war, according to Imedi General Director Bidzina Baratashvili. Rustavi-2 senior management has made similar statements.

Baratashvili noted that financial restraints and personnel issues – not government pressure – were to blame for the lack of political debate talk shows that previously dominated Imedi's evening line-up.

Similarly, one prominent TV journalist, Inga Grigolia, the host of Rustavi-2's popular Prime Time talk show, told the daily Rezonansi on September 16 that the company had cited a "financial crisis" as its reason for canceling her show.

The lack of debate-style talk shows makes it harder for Georgians to hear diverse views and opinions, noted Tbilisi State University's Paichadze.

"I think they are needed," he said in reference to the talk shows.

A year ago, Imedi was considered Georgia's most critical news outlet, but Paichadze contends that the station has now fallen into line ideologically with the pro-government station Rustavi-2.

Imedi resumed its news programming on September 1, approximately nine months after it voluntarily ceased its news coverage in the wake of allegations that its founder, Badri Patarkatsishvili, was involved in a plot to overthrow the Georgian government. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive.]

The station has since received a reported 3.5 million lari (approximately $2.5 million) from the government in compensation for equipment damages incurred during a police raid on November 7, 2007, when opposition protestors and police clashed in Tbilisi.

But while Imedi may have lost its opposition image, the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management's Mikashavidze noted that newspapers have been much more aggressive about questioning the events leading up to the war and its impact on the country. Print media, however, have only minimal readership outside of Tbilisi.

As yet, though, there is little indication that people are unhappy with television's lopsided reporting, she added.

"I do feel this is very temporary because we just had a major hardship which is not over. When there are certain positive developments, then people will feel it is time to set back and start reviewing," Mikashavidze said.

Paichadze, however, noted that the overall situation indicates that the media in Georgia is not developing as it should.

"Journalists, as a minimum, should ask hard questions even if [no one] answers them," he said. "Those questions are not being asked."

Editor's Note: Molly Corso is a freelance reporter based in Tbilisi.