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On 20 November 2009 Transparency International Georgia published "Television in Georgia - Ownership, Control and Regulation".

The document is an unremitting indictment of Mikheil Saakashvili's record as president, about the corruption of the public sphere in Georgia, about how the law is bent to suit the political interests of Saakashvili and his allies and how journalistic integrity and ethics are under threat or already in tatters in Georgia.

At the very outset TI make it clear how bad things are:

Today, Georgia's media is less free and pluralistic than it was before the Rose Revolution in 2003 and the ousting of President Eduard Shevardnadze. While the country enjoys a pluralistic, albeit small print media, Georgia lacks a truly pluralistic television sector. Television remains the dominant source of information for most Georgians.

The report systematically dissects the broadcast media under Saakashvili and just how the system of control works without ever having need to shoot to beat a journalist.

"No questions asked"

The three major channels are reluctant to air shows that would provide a platform for factual and informative debates between members of the administration, the ruling United National Movement party and opposition politicians. The national newscasts aired by Rustavi 2, Imedi and the Public Broadcaster's Channel 1 are pretty much identical and there are indications that newscasts are coordinated.

As one example of the evidence that the three channels are centrally controlled the report cites the case of Otto Luchterhandt, a member of the Tagliavini Commission, and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, then German Foreign Minister and leader of the Social Democrats, who were both accused of being in the pay of the Russian state gas monopoly by all three channels on the successive days 7 and 8 October on, "without", as the report says "providing any evidence for their claims".

The report states that the three national broadcasters share the habit of never questioning the authorities, of not seeking to investigate what is really behind the news and even of sharing the same correspondents outside Tbilisi - meaning that the story is guaranteed to be the same.

"Media consumption and perception"

Television is by far the most important media sector in Georgia, driving the political agenda and thus steering public opinion. The average Georgian spends three hours and 58 minutes a day in front of the TV set – more time than the European average of three hours and 45 minutes. 96 percent of Georgians receive their political information from television, according to an IRI/USAID poll carried out in June 2009. The news seen on TV is perceived as credible information by a large share of the population, as trust in the media is high: 63 percent of Georgians say that they have a favorable opinion about the media in general (28 percent state an unfavorable opinion) – the church, the army and the police are the only institutions that enjoy higher trust among the population. Similarly, 65 percent of Georgians are convinced that their mass media is “totally free” (20 percent) or “somewhat free” (45 percent) from government control; 19 percent perceive the mass media as “not very free” (16 percent) or “not free at all” (three percent).

There can be no doubt all this matters: the three national TV stations dominate the dissemination of news in Georgia, yet they are centrally controlled and do not even compete for exclusives in the hope of raising ratings.

"Georgia's television landscape"

The Georgian TV market is largely dominated by Rustavi 2 and Imedi, two privately held national stations that are regarded by many as mouthpieces of the Government. With a market share of 35.6 percent in the first six months of 2009, Rustavi 2 is the most popular station in the country; Imedi comes in second, with a market share of 25.4 percent. Together, the two channels have combined market share of 61 percent, meaning that during 61 out of every 100 minutes of television watched in Georgia, the programs of Rustavi
2 and Imedi are on.

Mikheil Saakashvili loves to boast he lets the opposition broadcast in Georgia - but just what impact can two small cable channels - Maestro and Kavkasia - hope to make? (see graphic)

"Financing of television stations"

Although Georgian TV stations have been suffering from financial difficulties ever since the Rose Revolution, ownership of both Rustavi 2 and Imedi has changed several times – at least on paper – in the past few years. This fact could be seen as an indication that the individuals controlling and subsidizing the national channels have goals beyond an immediate return on their investment.

As the report makes clear over one third of income of Georgian TV stations comes in some form of non-commercial subsidies (they estimate a minimum of 37% of TV income is some sort of subsidy).

In the past some of that was subsidising a national pro-opposition TV station: Badri Patarkatsishvili and Imedi - now we must assume all of it or nearly all of it goes towards pro-government stations.

The financially weakest of the three national stations is the public broadcaster which, despite being state owned, also does broadcast some political discussion programmes and where - the impression is left - some of the staff are genuinely committed to building a public service, as opposed to state, broadcaster.

"Transparency of television ownership"

In Georgia, anybody can apply for a broadcasting license, as long as the natural person or legal entity resides within the country. Licenses should not be held by administrative authorities, officials or employees of administrative authorities and legal entities related to – or controlled by – an administrative authority or political parties, according to article 37 of the broadcasting law. However, this paragraph seems to be interpreted quite generously by the GNCC or is simply not enforced. For example, Akhmeta TV-1 is fully owned by the municipality of Akhmeta, according to documents TI Georgia obtained from GNCC; several other regional stations are officially owned by people who are closely connected to members of national or regional administrative bodies and high-ranking party officials.

In Georgia the collapse of the rule of law is nothing new: the courts system in the country is seen by the people of the country as one of the most corrupt in the world.

But the list of media owners - supplied by the Georgian National Communications Commission shows just how blatant the abuses of the law have become.

But there are plenty of other ways to evade the provisions of the law, for instance methods being used in Georgia today or in the recent past include:

• Installing a "straw man" as the owner while exerting real control from elsewhere
• Hiding the ownership through a company registered abroad
• Creating a holding company to indirectly hold shares so escaping any control

"Media concentration: Rustavi2 and the Georgian Industrial Group"

Article 60 of the broadcasting law aims to prohibit media ownership concentration: “A person/legal entity may posses independently or with an interdependent person/legal entity no more than one terrestrial broadcasting license for television and one for radio in any one service area.” However, this regulation does not prevent a person or entity from owning shares in several companies that hold a broadcasting license. There is no regulation in place that would limit the amount of market share that may be under the control of one media group or one owner.

The Georgian Industrial Group uses precisely this loophole to own substantial shares in three broadcasters - Rustavi2, Mze and I Stereo - and has even considered buying up Imedi in the recent past.

"The case of Imedi"

In February 2008, Badri Patarkatsishvili, the businessman who had funded and controlled Imedi, died unexpectedly from a heart attack in London. Gogi Jaoshvili, a close friend of Patarkatsishvili, who officially held 51 percent of Imedi's shares (with 49 percent owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.), later claimed that he was forced by the authorities to give up his share in Imedi and that he had to hand over control of the TV station to Ioseb Kakiashvili, also known as Joseph Kay, a Georgian businessman with U.S. citizenship. Kay, a half-cousin of Patarkatsishvili, claimed ownership over Imedi and other assets, based on copies of a disputed will of the late tycoon that granted him power of attorney to manage Patarkatsishvili's assets. Within a week after Patarkatsishvili's death, Kay took over Imedi; immediately, the Georgian government lifted the freeze it had put on the station's shares and allowed Kay to bring Imedi back on air. A court in New York did not recognize the evidence presented by Kay;51 a disputed decision by a Tbilisi court in May 2008 and an upheld appeal banned Inna Gudavadze, Patarkatsishvili's widow, and his daughter, Liana Zhmotova, from claiming the property and granted Joseph Kay the rights to take whatever action he deemed necessary to manage Patarkatsishvili's Georgian assets and properties. The legal dispute over Patarkatsishvili's assets continues in several courtrooms all over the world.

"Difficult working conditions for journalists"

Journalists in Georgia do not enjoy any special protection in their labor agreements and can be easily laid off. As a result of this lack of legal protection and the concentrated media landscape, journalists working for the major Georgian TV channels are facing tremendous economic pressure. If they quit or loose their job at one of the national channels, they often face long-term unemployment as there are no media outlets that would be able to provide alternative employment opportunities for critical journalists. Neither regional television stations nor newspapers can compete with the salaries offered by the three major channels. Mamuka Ghlonti, co-owner of Maestro TV, says he is only able to pay the salaries of his employees with a three month delay – half of his team of 15 reporters are interns.

In countries with a free media journalists who break stories that expose the lies and cheating of the powerful get promoted, in Georgia they get sacked.

In Georgia there are three production outlets - Reporter, Monitor and GNS - that are funded by Western donors and produce investigative documentaries and reports. They also provide some hope of employment for journalists who refuse to buckle to political interference and so lose their jobs elsewhere. But despite the fact that they all lose money hand over fist the three national broadcasters will not use the output even though it is provided free. Only Kavkasia and Maestro use the material.

There is little journalistic solidarity either: colleagues who are faced with the sack for defending journalistic ethics or for reporting a story thought to be unhelpful to the authorities are shunned by other journalists fearful for their own future.

And it is ethics and good reporting that is under threat: the report lists the examples of how journalism is twisted:

[Imedi] management had ordered journalists to refrain from covering problems of internally displaced people (IDPs) and ordered reporters to use biased wording: IDPs should be referred to as “affected” people, the cells used by the opposition during the protests had to be described as “cages” on air. The management also did not air parts of a speech by the Patriarch in which the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church called on the Georgian army not to use violence against protestors. Furthermore, cameramen were instructed not to show pictures of large groups of people when covering opposition protests.

"From politics to media management"

There is a revolving door between politics and the major TV stations: Immediately before becoming Imedi's news director in March 2009, Nana Intskirveli served for four years as the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense, Reporters Without Borders regarded her nomination as “further affirmation of the government’s desire to control Imedi’s editorial content.” Giorgi Arveladze, the head of Imedi's holding company, Georgian Media Holding, is a former chief of staff to President Saakashvili.

"Small channels facing big problems"

In July 2009, Maestro received a license from the GNCC to broadcast its signal via satellite on Georgian territory. So far, the station has not been able to come up with the funding of USD 18,000 per month to pay for the transmission of the signal. “Already, we have given opposition-controlled broadcast stations licenses to transmit across the nation”, President Saakashvili said in his September 2009 UN General Assembly speech, referring to Maestro. Mamuka Ghlonti complains that while the president was speaking in New York, in Georgia, political pressure was put on cable television providers to refrain from carrying the signal of stations like Maestro; the stations signal has been dropped by cable companies in Akhmeta and Rustavi.

"The Georgian National Communications Commission"

The broadcasting law requires the GNCC, the regulatory body charged with overseeing electronic communication, to supervise license holders and, in case of breach, “impose appropriate sanctions.” Several observers told TI Georgia that they perceive some of the GNCC's decisions as politically motivated or arbitrary, with sanctions imposed on stations outspokenly critical of the government while the major, government-friendly stations, face few regulatory problems. Alania, a well-funded station broadcasting in Russian catering to Ossetians, was able to remain on air for well over a year without any license before it finally obtained one.

Once again the GNCC ignores the law when it is politically helpful to Mikheil Saakashvili.

To make matters worse the chairman of the GNCC, Irakli Chikovani, had had a substantial commercial interest in one of the stations he was meant to be regulating:

In June 2009, Irakli Chikovani was appointed to lead the GNCC; immediately before becoming head of the body that is charged with regulating Georgia's private broadcasters, Chikovani not only served as director general of Rustavi 2, but from November 2008 he also held 30% of the station's shares (with a mysterious off-shore company called GeoMedia Group, registered on the Marshall Islands being the other major shareholder at the time). Chikovani sold his shares a few weeks before starting as the head of the GNCC.

"The Georgian Public Broadcaster"

The GPB now airs several political talk shows every week after an amendment of the broadcasting law in late 2008 legally forced the broadcaster to introduce them. According to [chair of board of governors, Levan] Gakheladze, Channel 1 will soon start airing a couple of new shows, aiming to provide a platform for factual, political discussions on socio-
economic problems and on other current issues. For the moment, the public broadcaster remains without any programs airing investigative reports.

There are clearly some people close to the GPB who want it to become a genuine public broadcaster and not just another branch of the state propaganda system. But they are losing the battle as the president makes control more political and exercises ever greater financial control over the station.

In the summer Gia Chanturia was appointed director general of the station - "many observers regard him as the authorities favorite".

And the president by then had announced plans to restructure the board of governors:

However, the new composition of the board is likely to contribute to a further politicization of the public broadcaster, now with several political parties seeking to ensure that little criticism of them is aired on public TV. This, in turn, will contribute to an even tamer GPB, reluctant to take on controversial political issues and consequently unable to attract and inform a larger audience.